Author: Casino Connection Staff

Hard Rock took Atlantic City’s shuttered Taj Mahal and turned it into a successful hotel and casino under its brand, in the hometown of Jim Allen, chairman of the company owned by Florida’s Seminole Tribe. While Atlantic City’s property hums along, Allen now has set his sights a little farther north.

The company would love to get the coveted license expected to be available for New York City, one of three expected in the Metro New York area. In addition to New York, look for licenses in Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, or Putnam counties.

Allen also hopes to land a casino at the Meadowlands eight miles away if a change in the state constitution permits casinos outside Atlantic City.

Hard Rock and other interested parties have until December 10 to make their intentions about New York known to the New York State Gaming Commission, Allen said at the East Coast Gaming Congress at Harrah’s Atlantic City. Other major casino companies anticipated to toss their chips into the ring include Caesars Entertainment, Bally’s, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts.

While Caesars wants in, CEO Tom Reeg isn’t sure the terms would allow for a profitable venture.

Ironically, Hard Rock’s bid for a Chicago casino would compete with a Hard Rock casino already approved in Rockford, Illinois and also operates Hard Rock Northern Indiana, less than an hour from Chicago, demonstrating that Allen is not adverse to multiple casinos in close proximity.

The long-awaited bidding process for a Chicago casino began earlier this year and reached the midpoint this week when three companies bid for casinos in five locations around the city. Bally’s Corp., Hard Rock International and Rush Street Gaming submitted bids. Bally’s and Rush Street entered to separate bids. While all of the bids are quality and high-class proposals, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s desire to get the larger gaming companies like Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts or Las Vegas Sands involved failed, even though she was able to negotiate a lower tax rate and extended the deadline for bids.

Details of the bids include:

• Bally’s Corporation submitted proposals for two sites and would self-manage the facility. One site would be Chicago Tribune Publishing Center, at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. The second site would be the McCormick Place Truck Marshaling Yard near 31st Street and DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
• HR Chicago added a proposal for a undisclosed single site that would be managed by Hard Rock International;
• Rivers Chicago at the McCormick Place Lakeside Center is for a single site managed by Rush Street Gaming adjacent to ; and
• Rivers 78 Gaming submitted a proposal for a single site, Chicago 78, a 60+ acre site south of the Loop, that would also be managed by Rush Street Gaming.

Despite the lack of bids from the major gaming companies, Lightfoot was excited to move the process forward.

“We are thrilled to have received five high-caliber proposals from Bally’s Corp.; HR Chicago LLC; Rivers Chicago at McCormick LLC; and Rivers 78 Gaming LLC,” she said in a statement. “The submission of bid responses represents a major step toward the thoughtful development of a casino-resort that uplifts our businesses, employs and empowers our residents and encourages tourism. We look forward to the next phase of discussions to bring this world-class entertainment experience to our city.”

The process began in 2019, but an initial tax rate of 70 percent was not well received by the potential bidders so Lightfoot went back to the legislature. The current tax rate is expected to be around 40 percent.

Some believe Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming has the inside track, particularly because it’s majority owned by billionaire Neil Bluhm. Lightfoot denies that she’s favoring any bid, but Bluhm’s daughters have contributed more than $200,000 to Lightfoot’s campaigns. In addition, Rush Street, along with Churchill Downs, operates the state’s most successful casino, Rivers, in Des Plaines.

Names of the investors in the casinos have not been released, but Bally’s says 25 percent of its investors include “philanthropists, business owners, sports stars, celebrities, and everyday Chicagoans.”

“This property will be built, owned, and operated by Chicagoans, with a focus on minority and women investors, contractors, suppliers, consultants, and employees,” Bally’s chairman Soo Kim said. “It will generate tax revenue, create good-paying jobs, and attract international, national, and local visitors for generations to come.”

The city will now set up a casino review committee that will evaluate the bids. No timeline was given for a final decision, but Lightfoot will have the final say about which proposal will be presented to city council for the ultimate nod.

Deal yourself a new career at Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady. If you’re looking for a fun, hands-on, and fast-paced profession, then becoming a table games dealer at Rivers Casino might be just the job for you.

Rivers Casino’s next Dealer Academy, a $5,000 value offered FREE of charge, begins on Monday, November 15, at the Rivers Casino training center located at 220 Harborside Drive, Suite #201, Schenectady, NY 12305. Training classes will be held from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Another Dealer Academy is scheduled to begin on December 27^th with classes to be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older.

This program welcomes fun, energetic, and reliable participants of all levels—from beginners with no knowledge at all of table games to those with more experience.

The Rivers Casino Dealer Academy teaches students a range of popular games beginning with Blackjack and other novelty table games. Once they pass their final audition and obtain their NYS gaming license, participants will be offered a part-time or full-time position as a table games dealer at Rivers Casino.

Rivers Casino offers table games dealers hourly wages and tips in excess of $20 an hour along with a generous benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision plans, a 401(k) plan with company match, tuition reimbursement, and more.

Complimentary shuttle bus service from the local CDTA blue line stop is also provided.

Candidates must be able to work all shifts, including weekends and holidays.

Interested dealer school participants can learn more details and apply online at https://www.riverscasino.com/schenectady/careers/dealer-school.

The Las Vegas Strip will get a little less congested—at least in terms of ownership of the resorts there—now that the two companies that control the majority of the properties have committed to selling one each.

The announcement by MGM President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle was a surprise. Although the Mirage was “sold” to the MGM REIT spinoff MGM Growth Properties (MGP) several years ago, there was no warning that the company was considering a sale of the original property of Mirage Resorts. Any sale would only include the operations as MGP, which is being sold to rival VICI Properties (a Caesars spinoff), will surely retain the property. The sale comes just a week after MGM announced the purchase of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas from Blackstone, the company that owns the property. That purchase seems to have triggered a sale of the Mirage.

“Doing so will allow us to maintain our existing Las Vegas exposure while focusing on the complementary and diverse nature of our offerings in our hometown,” Hornbuckle said. “It’s a storied property with great brand recognition and a strong customer base and loyal following. Mirage has served us well over the years, and we’re certain it will remain a success with a new operator in the future.”

Hornbuckle said the central location of the Mirage and its 77 acres makes it more valuable than any other MGM Strip property.

“But as we looked at capital allocation, and we looked at the notion of diversification, we have enough of Las Vegas,” Hornbuckle said. “And we’re looking at the marketplace right now. Obviously, we’re buying and selling at the same time, so we understand the marketplace. We think there is an opportune time, and we think this might be it to sell an asset in Las Vegas. So the Mirage, for us, became the obvious one.”

“It’s an amazing property,” he continued. “I’m excited for somebody to come in and make it their marquee property.”

Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment will sell off one of its Las Vegas Strip resorts early next year, according to company CEO Tom Reeg.

“You should expect us to put that into motion in the early part of (2022),” Reeg said last Tuesday during a call with investors.

The plan was first announced in 2019, when Eldorado Resorts prepared to acquire Caesars. At that time, Reeg said the company would “be a seller of a Strip asset.” Like so many other best-laid plans, this one was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal suggested that the delay may not have affected the potential value of the sale. As proof, it noted that in September, the Blackstone Group announced it was selling the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for $5.65 billion, nearly $4 billion more than its 2014 purchase price. And in July, MGM Resorts International announced that it was buying out its partner in CityCenter for $2.1 billion, in a move that gives it full ownership of the Aria and Vdara resorts. MGM then sold the two hotels to Blackstone for $3.9 billion in a leaseback deal.

“The playing field has been cleared with the Cosmo and Aria trades,” Reeg said. “We should encounter pretty robust demand for a center-Strip asset that frankly may be one of the last to trade for quite some time.”

Caesars operates Caesars Palace, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Flamingo, Bally’s, the Linq Hotel, the Cromwell, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood and Rio. Analysts have speculated that selling Planet Hollywood could make the most sense for the company.

Reeg said 2022 will be a “massive cash generation and deployment year for the company.” The company expects its sale of its William Hill non-U.S. assets to close during the first quarter of 2022, a deal that would bring in about $1.2 billion in net proceeds for Caesars.

Overall, Reeg said the company expects to have “in excess of $5 billion in cash” to deploy in 2022. Some of that will be spent on their digital business and capital projects, “but the vast majority of that is going to go to pay down debt,” Reeg said. The goal is to pay off half of the company’s conventional debt, Reeg said, thereby reducing its cash interest payments by up to $400 million a year.

According to MSN Market Watch, Caesars posted a surprising loss Tuesday, sending shares lower in after-hours trading, but the stock rebounded after the sale plan was announced. An October 22 assessment by Truist analysts said, “While we think many of Caesars’ markets were strong in September, non-recurring events (e.g. wildfires in Tahoe and flooding in New Orleans) along with increasing interactive investment likely had a meaningful impact on the quarter’s trajectory.”

Reeg agreed. “On the brick-and-mortar side, if (Hurricane) Ida didn’t hit New Orleans and we didn’t have the fire in Tahoe, we would have done $1.1 billion of brick-and-mortar EBITDA in the quarter. We had an extremely strong quarter, demand remains particularly robust, and in regards to New Orleans and Tahoe, Tahoe has pretty quickly recovered back to above 2019 levels, not quite as strong as it was pre-fire, but continuing to build.”

President and COO Anthony Carano said room occupancy at its Las Vegas properties reached 89 percent for the third quarter, with weekends running at 97 percent. “As we look to 2022, we see several tailwinds in our business,” Carano said. “We remain optimistic about further visitation gains as consumers return to our properties once COVID fears have fully subsided and the eventual return of convention customers to Las Vegas and our destination markets.”

The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced it will hear a case that could end the Tigua (Ysleta del Sur Pueblo) and the Alabama Coushatta tribes’ decades-long battles to offer gaming on their reservations. A ruling for the tribes would support the claim of any federally recognized tribe that cannot offer gaming due to laws predating the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

The Department of Justice urged the Supreme Court to grant the Tigua’s challenge to a 2019 decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the bingo games offered at the tribe’s El Paso casino were illegal.

The Supreme Court also will review other district court decisions, including a 1994 ruling that the federal 1985 Texas Restoration Act oversees the tribe’s gaming rights, not IGRA.

The Texas Restoration Act recognized the sovereign status of the Tigua and the Alabama Coushatta tribe, based north of Houston, and restored their lands. But it included a non-gaming clause. It was bad timing. Two years later, IGRA protected federally recognized tribes’ rights to offer Class II gaming on sovereign land, provided this type of gaming was legal elsewhere in the state; that is the case in Texas.

The two tribes have long claimed they were pressured into signing the Texas Restoration Act, believing it was their only chance to regain sovereign status. They argue IGRA should supersede TRA. The two tribes have opened casinos on their lands, but Texas has sought to close them, and they have occasionally been forced to close.

Meanwhile, for 20 years the Kickapoo Tribe has offered bingo operations without state interference at its casino near the Mexican border. The tribe was recognized in 1985 by a law that did not include a non-gaming clause.

Observers believe the Tigua could be victorious. The Biden administration has made it known it wants Texas to address the situation. Also, for the first time in U.S history, the Department of the Interior is headed by a Native American, Deb Haaland. Additionally, in an August letter to the Supreme Court, Acting U.S. Solicitor General Brian Fletcher recommended the court take up the case. Fletcher said the 5th Circuit ruling was “an error,” and he said these issues have “impaired the uniformity of a federal regulatory scheme, and has uniquely disadvantaged two Indian tribes.”

Nova Southeastern University Law Professor Bob Jarvis said, “If the Supreme Court takes the case, and if it finds for the tribe, then every other tribe that currently is foreclosed from offering gambling because of a pre-IGRA law would have a basis for arguing that the court’s new decision supports their getting gambling.”

That would include the Passamaquoddy, the Penobscot Nation and the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians in Maine; the Narragansett Indian Tribe in Rhode Island; and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head in Massachusetts.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) last week announced that Hard Rock International Chairman and Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen will serve as the association’s next chairman. The AGA board of directors elected Allen to succeed Aristocrat Technologies CEO Trevor Croker, who has served as AGA chairman since January 2020. His two-year term begins in January 2022.

Allen has served on AGA’s board of directors since 2015, where his leadership and experience has played an integral role in driving association priorities. For 20 years, Allen has led all gaming, hospitality and entertainment operations for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, vastly expanding the tribe’s gaming operations across the state and country. Allen becomes the first representative of a Native American gaming enterprise to become AGA chairman.

“This is a pivotal juncture for the gaming industry and I’m honored to serve as the AGA’s next chairman,” said Allen. “The AGA has played an essential role in uniting the industry throughout the pandemic, and I’m thankful to Trevor and the AGA board of directors for entrusting me to help lead the industry’s continued recovery.”

“I’m thrilled to welcome Jim as AGA chairman,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “Jim brings decades of experience in commercial casino operations and tribal gaming—a perspective that will be invaluable as we work to set the industry’s agenda, accelerate gaming’s comeback, and strengthen our value to communities across the country.”

“Trevor has been a tremendous chairman of the AGA and trusted advisor to me over the past two years, guiding the industry through the most challenging time in its history,” continued Miller. “The AGA and entire gaming community are indebted to his service to the industry.”

“It has been a privilege to serve as AGA chairman,” stated Croker. “I’m incredibly proud of our success in laying the foundation for gaming’s recovery and ensuring our future is brighter than ever. I have the utmost confidence that Jim, Bill and the entire association will continue to lead the gaming industry forward.”

In addition, the AGA’s executive committee recently extended Miller’s contract to remain the association’s president and CEO for an additional three years. Since joining in 2019, Miller and the AGA have advanced important industry priorities, such as:

• Accelerating gaming’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the industry’s historic inclusion in the CARES Act.
• Securing a favorable regulatory environment for the industry to help pave the way for casino payments modernization and other industry innovation.
• Expanding responsible gaming efforts as the industry grows, including the establishment of AGA’s Have A Game Plan. Bet Responsibly.
• Amplifying gaming’s voice to the public and policymakers through communications and research and building gaming champions on Capitol Hill.

In a recently released report, the New Orleans-based Convergence Strategy Group stated a casino on the Lake Pontchartrain waterfront near Slidell, Louisiana area most likely would have a “moderately positive to negligible impact on surrounding businesses.”

Commissioned by the St. Tammany Corporation, the economic development agency for the parish, the report stated, “Through the research we see moderately positive impacts from similar developments across the country all the way down to just no impact, but we have not been able to uncover the negative impacts that many communities have feared.”

Peninsula Pacific Entertainment has proposed a $329 million casino resort, Camellia Bay, on vacant land near the Interstate 10 twin spans. St. Tammany Parish voters will decide the fate of the casino in a December referendum.

The anti-casino group, Stand Up St. Tammany, called the study “propaganda.” Spokesperson Chris Jean said, “They are not objectively doing the research for the community. Instead, they are a hired gun to tell you what St. Tammany Corp and P2E need you to believe going into the upcoming vote.”

Parish residents have expressed concerns that the casino would cause property values to decline and crime to rise. They have cited a National Association of Realtors report that projected a 4.6 percent drop in property values in Springfield, Massachusetts, following the opening of the MGM Springfield casino in 2018. However, the CSG study disputed that, noting Springfield property values actually rose 21.4 percent, compared to 2.3 percent to 14.3 percent growth in the surrounding area.

Suzanne Leckert, an author of the CSG study, added it showed sales tax revenue would increase. She said the study found no pattern of business closures or bankruptcies after casinos opened. CSG also analyzed the proposed casino’s impact on small businesses, tourism, crime and marriage/divorce rates.

CSG used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census, municipal governments and interviews with local leaders. It also reviewed studies from other casino communities and included a review of past studies. CSG found casinos have “a range of impacts on host communities, from positive to non-discernable.” However, the study stated researchers found no recently developed casino markets had negative correlations.

St. Tammany Corp. Chief Executive Officer Chris Masingill, said, “The community impact study provides an abundance of data and information for St. Tammany residents to take into consideration to help them make an informed decision about this project. This project has really been reviewed, has been scrutinized from every single angle. We know that there’s a significant campaign of misinformation and distortions and we want people to have all of the information.”

The Louisiana Racing Commission recently gave final approval for the sale of Harrah’s Louisiana Downs horse racetrack and casino in Bossier City to Rubico Gaming for $22 million. The Louisiana Gaming Commission previously approved the deal.

Rubico President Kevin Preston said, “We are prepared to bring this iconic track back to its iconic status.”

Caesars Entertainment Senior Vice President Joe Morris said the sale is expected to close November 1. “We’re completely committed to making the transition as smooth as possible,” Morris said.

The racetrack opened in 1974. In its prime in the early 1980s, up to 1.3 million fans attended the track throughout the racing season. Preston said Rubico will continue to operate the racetrack and the 12,000-square foot casino, and plans to apply for a sports betting license. Preston told regulators Rubico will add an RV park and make significant upgrades to both the casino and the racing campus.

The Gaming Control Board also voted unanimously to grant FanDuel a fantasy sports license, joining DraftKings which has been operating in Louisiana for several months.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission said the Iowa Greyhound Association has asked to drop the number of meets at Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque to 18 days and also to end greyhound racing after the season in 2022. The last remaining dog racetrack in the state, Iowa Greyhound Park has survived this long due to payment obligations made by other tracks.

IRGC Administrator Brian Ohorilko said, “As part of the original greyhound cessation legislation that was passed approximately seven years ago, the two racetracks that offered greyhound racing, Q-Casino and Horseshoe Casino, could opt out of greyhound racing and pay a fee over seven years. Those payments have been coming in every year and the last payment would be made in 2022.”

Dog races began at the Dubuque Greyhound Park June 1985, followed by Bluffs Run in Council Bluffs in February 1986 and Waterloo Greyhound Park in October 1986. Following the closure of Iowa Greyhound Park, if the greyhound industry remains the same, only three dog racetracks will remain operational in the U.S.: Mardi Gras Casino and Resort and Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack in West Virginia and Southland Park Gaming and Racing in Arkansas. Florida, once the capital of greyhound racing, banned the sport late last year.

In May, a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced to ban greyhound racing. U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas of California stated, “Greyhound racing is cruel and must end. These docile animals are kept in stacked cages for 20 hours or more a day and are subjected to brutal training practices and races, facing the risk of injury and death at every turn.”

The Indiana Gaming Commission will announce its choice of developer for the Vigo County casino in Terre Haute at its November 17 meeting, but will not be able to issue a casino license “as a practical matter,” said IGC Deputy Director Jenny Reske.

She said commissioners will be able to “evaluate the applicants and make a selection, but issuing a casino license is complicated by the fact that there is a Lucy Luck appeal pending and a stay has been granted by the administrative law judge.”

In June, the IGC voted unanimously to not renew the casino license issued to Lucy Luck Gaming LLC, which was planning to partner with Hard Rock to build a Rocksino by Hard Rock casino in Terre Haute. However, the commission denied the license renewal due to concerns about funding and staffing. Lucy Luck, formerly Spectacle Jack, appealed the commission’s denial. Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Gamboa has set a status hearing regarding Lucy Luck’s appeal for November 16; a formal hearing is scheduled for early December.

The IGC also reopened the license application process with a September 22 deadline. Four developers responded: Hard Rock, which has a resolution of support from Vigo County; Churchill Downs Inc.; Premier Gaming Group/Terre Haute Holdings LLC; and Full House Resorts, which recently announced it signed an agreement with a general contractor for its proposed $250 million American Place casino and hotel, should it be selected by the IGC.

Alex Stolyar, senior vice president and chief development officer for Full House Resorts, told about 55 people at a recent public presentation, “We will use local contractors. It is a big project and want to make sure it is built right.”

He said the property would include a 100,000-square foot casino with 1,000 slots and 50 table games, a 100-room hotel with a spa and a glass “greenhouse” restaurant. The project would create 1,800 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs, and would generate $58 million in revenue for the county, city and other groups over five years. Full House would open a smaller, temporary casino in the Haute City Center mall while the permanent facility is built in 18-24 months.