Gov. David Paterson is expected to announce today that he is selecting Delaware North as the operator of a 4,500-machine video lottery terminal racino at Aqueduct Raceway in Queens.
Delaware North, which already operates racinos in Saratoga Springs and in the Finger Lakes, offered $371 million as a down payment to the state. The funds will help closed a more than $1 billion budget shortfall this year.
Other bidders were SL Green, which was partnering with the Seminole tribe and the Hard Rock Casinos, and Capital Play LLC, which was working with the Mohegan Sun.
The two losing teams had promised much more in revenues to the state over the long run. The VLT betting proceeds are supposed to be split by the operator and the state, with the state using the funds for public education.
SL Green had also promised to give the state $250 million up front.
A spokesman for Paterson would not confirm or deny the report.
Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, D-Queens, said she has not been officially told of the decision but has heard from a number of people that Paterson had made calls to say Delaware North was getting the VLT rights.
"I'm disappointed. They were not my first choice, or my second choice,'' she said. She said the other bidders offered more "pizzazz''.
"We don't want just a fancy OTB parlor,'' she said.
"It'll work out. They need us and we need them."
