New York: Suffolk OTB won’t bid for full casino license for Jake’s 58 on Long Island

New York: Suffolk OTB won’t bid for full casino license for Jake’s 58 on Long Island

Article brief provided by Newsday
  • Carl MacGowan, Newsday
February 12, 2023 2:51 PM

Suffolk OTB does not plan to bid for one of three downstate gaming licenses that would have added a Las Vegas-style casino at Jake’s 58 in Islandia, OTB president and chief executive Phil Boyle told Newsday on Friday.

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Acquiring the license and building the casino would have cost Suffolk OTB at least $1 billion — far too much for the agency despite the enormous success of Jake’s 58, which includes 1,000 video lottery terminals, Boyle said.

“We’re not going to pursue that,” he said in a telephone interview. “Being a public benefit corporation, our profits go to the schools and New York State Education Department and Suffolk County … We think that the half-billion dollars is too much,” Boyle added of the license fee.