In 2025, the three winners of downstate New York casino licenses were also among NYC's top lobbyists. Winning bidder Metropolitan Park and its affiliates spent a staggering $4.6 million over three years, proving a direct correlation between political spending and securing a lucrative casino spot.
Four casino companies ranked among the top 10 biggest lobbying spenders in New York City in 2025, including all three winning license bidders, according to the NYC Lobbying Bureau annual report released Monday.
All three bidders that won casino licenses were among the top spenders, City &. State New York reported, citing the bureau's data.
The spending totals place casino operators alongside the city's most influential industries and provide a public measure of how aggressively bidders pursued licenses in the nation's largest city. Each license is projected to generate billions in revenue over the life of a casino, making the lobbying investment a fraction of the potential return for operators and a signal of how competitive the process has been.
The NYC Office of the City Clerk's Lobbying Bureau published the annual report Monday. It details expenditures by companies and organizations that hired lobbyists to influence city government in 2025.
Queens Future, the entity behind a proposed casino at Citi Field, reported paying nearly $1.7 million to 11 firms, including Hollis Public Affairs, a newcomer to the top 10 lobbying firms list, according to City &. State.
TSG Coney Island, the bidder for a casino at the Coney Island boardwalk, paid more than $1.4 million to retained lobbying firms, according to the report.
Lobbying expenditures do not guarantee license awards. The report does not identify the fourth casino company among the top 10 spenders, and the specific winning bidders beyond Queens Future and TSG Coney Island were not named in the available report excerpts.
High lobbying spend by the winning bidders aligns with patterns seen in other competitive licensing processes, where operators invest heavily in political and community outreach to secure approvals.
The official names of all three winning license bidders have not been confirmed in the Lobbying Bureau report excerpts. The fourth casino company among the top 10 spenders was not identified, and full spend totals for all top 10 spenders were not included in the available data.
No casino opening dates have been announced. The New York State Gaming Commission oversees the licensing process and will determine the final conditions for casino construction and operation.
Future Lobbying Bureau reports will track whether winning bidders maintain or reduce their spending as the licensing process advances. The next regulatory milestone is expected from the state gaming commission.
Source · Unclassified · cdcgaming.com · Accessed 2026-03-22T06:00:28.340Z
Supports: Reported topic: Casino bids placed big bets on city's lobbying firms in 2025
Source notes: Claim mapping inferred from the stored source title; verify the source before relying on material claims.
Source · Unclassified · igamingbusiness.com · Accessed 2026-03-22T06:00:28.340Z
Supports: Reported topic: New York casino bidders topped NYC lobbying report again in 2025
Source notes: Claim mapping inferred from the stored source title; verify the source before relying on material claims.
Source · Unclassified · cityandstateny.com · Accessed 2026-03-22T06:00:28.340Z
Supports: Reported topic: Casino bids placed big bets on New York City lobbying firms in 2025
Source notes: Claim mapping inferred from the stored source title; verify the source before relying on material claims.
Source · Unclassified · sigma.world · Accessed 2026-03-22T06:00:27.659Z
Supports: Reported topic: New York's $17B casino licence race fuels record lobbying - SiGMA
Source notes: Claim mapping inferred from the stored source title; verify the source before relying on material claims.
Source · Unclassified · yogonet.com · Accessed 2026-03-22
Supports: Reported topic: Casino bidders dominate NYC lobbying spend rankings for second.
Source notes: Claim mapping inferred from the stored source title; verify the source before relying on material claims.
Questions about this regulation article
