The Meadowlands Racetrack plans on working together with Hard Rock International to create a new casino located just outside the New York City metro area. The new proposal is believed to be a huge project and one that could be the most successful in the US, with operators in the Atlantic City area now at fear of being knocked out of the gambling industry.
The new project will not be unveiled until next week but information already released on the proposal states that the new casino could bring in as much as $500 million in tax revenues for the state of New Jersey. The new project could also be a source of income for the struggling casinos located in Atlantic City.
Jeff Gural, the Chairman of the Meadowlands, stated that this casino would pay 55% in taxes while Atlantic City casinos pay only 8%. Gural believes that people will be surprised at the project as it is revealed, with the much higher tax rate. The plan, essentially, is to share some of the tax money with Atlantic City to help rebuild and recover the industry. A report by Deutsche Bank earlier this month contained essentially the same numbers.
Before the Meadowlands/Hard Rock proposal could come to fruition, the constitution within New Jersey would have to be amended with a vote statewide. Gural is optimistic that a referendum can take place in November if a bill for authorization is adopted by legislature within NJ by the end of next month.