Sullivan County Taking a $585 Million Gamble on Resorts World Catskills Casino

After seven years of financially underperforming, the Resorts World Catskills casino is about to get a new co-owner – Sullivan County.

The Sullivan County Resort Facilities Local Development Corporation (SCRFLDC) has agreed to issue a high municipal bond to acquire the majority of the non-gaming assets of the Resorts World Catskills casino in Monticello, NY.

The $585 Million deal is part of casino owner Empire Resorts Inc. (ERI) and its parent company Genting Malaysia’s, attempt to offload the expenses for the casino while still remaining competitive in New York state’s casino market.

In a statement of behalf of the SCRFLDC, Jennifer Flad, Executive Director of County of Sullivan Industrial Development Agency (IDA)  stated that SCRFLDC was recently formed as a not-for-profit on behalf of issuer, Sullivan County to continue the development of Adelaar, the 1,700 acres of land on which the resort is built.

While Resorts World will still maintain ownership and operation of the casino, as well as the maintenance of the Adelaar land, SCRFLDC will be purchasing most of the non-gaming aspects on the casino property, including The Alder Hotel and Entertainment Village, the Monster Golf Course and related facilities. SCRFLDC will also take on long-term lease rights for the land beneath these properties. Management of the Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark is not apart of the transaction.

In order to pay for the transaction, the IDA stated in their August 2025 Activity Report that its payments to the SCRFLDC will be funded by a general tax on the Adelaar land.

Resorts World Catskills was one of 4 New York State casinos that were approved through a 2013 state constitution amendment and were promised to generate revenue and economic development for upstate communities. Since opening in early 2018, the Monticello casino has generated nearly 1,400 union jobs.

However, it has been steadily losing money year after year and makes annual requests for tax write-offs to Albany. In 2019, Empire Resorts Inc. even argued it should be made into a private company as it “no longer believes(s) that the Company can become financially self-sustaining as a standalone public company.”

With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, a new bill allowed online gambling where people could place bets at the casino without having to travel to Monticello. However, this ended up reducing foot traffic and leading to even more revenue loss for the casino.

Legislator Matt McPhillips, Chairman of the Sullivan County Economic Development Committee who voted to approve the bond issuance in August, clarified that Sullivan County citizens will not be responsible to cover the cost of the casino buy out.

“I really want  to assure the people and the taxpayers in Sullivan County that they have no stake in this deal. There’s no collateral that the county or its taxpayers are responsible for,” said McPhillips. “This is more to allow the casino to reconsolidate, reposition itself, and really invest in this property.”

Still, with PepsiCo.’s February 2025 closure of the Frito Lay Factory in Liberty that left nearly 300 people out of work, as well as the continued rejection of the $8 Million Gateway Housing project that would work to alleviate Sullivan County’s homelessness, many in the community are questioning if investing in a casino is where the community should be directing its efforts.

McPhillips hears the concerns of folks in the county, and hopes to be able to make concrete adjustments to the issues, including building affordable housing around the Adelaar land. While Flad in her statement said that this transaction would help to spur the development of 1,300 unused acres of Adelaar, there has been no direct commitment from the IDA or SCRFLDC towards any types of housing projects at the time of this publishing.

At the same time, Genting Malaysia is bidding for NYC licenses to expand the Resorts World New York City location near John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. Reports show that over 30% of state revenue comes from downstate casinos.  The opening of just one more could mean big trouble to casinos upstate, as many of the Resorts World Catskills attendees were bussed in from New York City.

The transaction is expected to close this month, with a brief postponement happening at the end of August to secure legal counsel. While the community still has many unanswered questions, McPhillips and the Economic Development Committee are optimistic about what they can do in collaboration with the IDA in order to benefit Sullivan County.

“ I’m really excited to work with them [IDA],” said McPhillips. “Moving forward to address some of these concerns. I think we have a good partnership that can work strongly with them, and move in that direction.”

In an official statement, Meghan Taylor, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations of Genting Americas Inc. said “Resorts World Catskills took this action to further its commitment to the Sullivan Catskills region, along with New York State as a whole. Net proceeds from this transaction will enable us to purchase all lands currently leased from a national REIT, allowing us to play a more direct role in promoting growth and development in the area. In addition to our continued ownership and operation of the casino, this transaction will see us continue to manage non-gaming assets as part of a multi-decade agreement with SCRFLDC. RWC is thankful to our partners in Sullivan County for continuing to work with us to deliver positive economic development for this community.”

We’ve reached out to Empire Resorts Inc., but they have not responded at the time of this printing.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect the recent SCRFLDC Resolution as of Monday, September 8, 2025 that amended the closing costs of the transaction from $570,000,000 to $585,000,000.

Image: Resorts World Catskills in Monticello, NY (Credit: Genevieve Hartnett)