Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) shares fell Tuesday, amid word the hotel chain is dropping its bid to land a casino license in New York.
The company said Monday it has become clear through the rezoning process that there are better uses for its capital. Wynn had partnered with Related Companies to develop an integrated casino resort in the posh Hudson Yards neighborhood of Manhattan, where high-end shops and restaurants already draw crowds.
Wynn Resorts has surrendered to the inevitability of “years of persistent opposition,” according to a company news release.
It is the second casino giant this spring to throw in the towel on a New York gaming license.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) announced alongside its first-quarter earnings in April that it would no longer pursue a license for the site it had been working to develop at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. It blamed the specter of competition from iGaming, or online casino games, should the state legalize such offerings.
Sands is working to find a third party to “transact the opportunity to bid for a casino license,” widely interpreted to mean another company that would pay to take over a project that has cost the company years of effort and tens of millions of dollars.
WYNN shares dropped off $1.25, or 1.3%, to $95.30, while those for LVS lost 81 cents, or 1.9%, to $41.49.