Mets Owner’s $8 Billion Casino Plan Hinges on Coveted Gaming License

It’s truly all or nothing in Mets owner Steve Cohen’s ambitious effort to build an $8 billion casino and entertainment complex adjacent to Citi Field.

For the past 16 months, Cohen and Hard Rock International have actively pursued a large-scale development that includes a hotel and casino, 25 acres of green space, playgrounds, a 5,000-seat indoor music venue, a rebuilt transit hub, and a locally inspired food hall. Many of the facets of the proposed Metropolitan Park, targeted for a 2030 opening, are modeled after other sports-related real estate developments—including the South Philadelphia sports complex, the Braves’ Battery in Atlanta, and the Bucks’ Deer District in Milwaukee.

Metropolitan Park is also designed to complement a forthcoming stadium for Major League Soccer’s NYCFC and the ever-expanding USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, both near Citi Field.

The Queens, N.Y., initiative, however, rests on the consortium succeeding in obtaining one of three coveted downstate gaming licenses—which are set to be awarded in December. Metropolitan Park is one of 11 major entities pursuing those three licenses, with rival projects proposed for other iconic New York locales such as Times Square, Coney Island, Hudson Yards, and Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. 

There is no downscaled version of Metropolitan Park envisioned if the casino licenses go elsewhere, Metropolitan Park officials said, as the gaming revenue that would be generated is a key source of the project’s private funding.

Cohen and Hard Rock have pursued what Metropolitan Park officials call a “bottom-up” approach to securing local support, and the project has already cleared six different community boards that have a key advisory role in land use and zoning matters in the city. Earlier this month, the New York City Council also approved the project. Cohen and Hard Rock are still working on gaining the support of influential state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a longtime opponent of Metropolitan Park. 

How High Is High?

The Mets, meanwhile, are projecting a sizable increase in Citi Field attendance this year—continuing a ticket sales lift that initially happened after the record-setting $765 million signing of Juan Soto and then was followed by the retention of fan favorites such as first baseman Pete Alonso and pitcher Sean Manaea. 

The club’s 2025 spring training attendance in Port St. Lucie, Fla., reached a record 106,027, and season-ticket sales for Citi Field games are at the highest level in franchise history. Overall, Mets ticket sales are up by nearly a third compared to this time last year. Even with that, Mets president of business operations M. Scott Havens stopped short of predicting three million in attendance this season, something that hasn’t happened for the club since Citi Field’s debut year in 2009. 

“I don’t know [about three million]. There are still a lot of variables,” Havens said. “We’re very confident that we’re going to have a significant lift, and enthusiasm is very high coming out of last season, our playoff run, and what we did in the offseason. But we’ll have to see. We’re still selling.”