In a bit of good news for Caesars Entertainment, the government of South Korea is considering a relaxation of its casino-bidding rules. Specifically, the requirement of a BBB bond rating may be knocked down a bit 
— and bond ratings are Caesars’ weak underbelly. Gary Loveman isn’t the only big name trying to inch his way into the Inchon casino zone, with his $207 million project. Kazuo Okada‘s Universal Entertainment also was rejected in the early going, but hopes to get back in with a 3,000-room resort of unspecified cost. PNC Holdings is looking to clobber everyone with a $1 billion proposal. While Japan mulls the casino issue to death, South Korea is becoming the new land of opportunity.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City will get another day in court. The Iowa Supreme Court remanded the suspension of its license to Polk County District Court. The license had been stayed at the behest of Penn National Gaming, trying to cling to its Sioux City beachhead. Warner Gaming’s Hard Rock-branded project now gets a new look from a different district-court judge. Warner is $44 million into its project and understandably doesn’t want to leave it exposed to the elements.
Wrote the Sioux City Journal, “In its appeal to the Supreme Court, [Warner and] SCE Partners say [the previous] ruling amounted to an illegal, unconstitutional taking of property, arguing it would imperil the $128.5 million project under construction in downtown Sioux City, and expose the developer and others to ‘catastrophic’ damages.” Penn counters that it’s going to lose a $150 million riverboat and 100% of its Sioux City business. Somebody’s going to be heavily out of pocket, whatever happens.
I never thought I’d live to see the day when MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment were lionized in hard-left In These Times. However, both companies’ progressive commitment to using unionized labor forces in Maryland is winning them accolades. For instance, entry-level jobs at MGM National Harbor are expected to come with $17/hour wages and strong benefit packages. As long as you’re not talking about unionizing dealers, you’ll find receptive ears throughout most of the casino industry.
