Hard Rock International and Sioux City Entertainment find themselves in a pickle not of their own making in Iowa. Due to a rupture between Penn National Gaming and nonprofit Missouri River Historical Development, holder of the casino license, Penn found itself having to rebid for the casino. It made the mistake of dividing its forces in the face of numerically superior opposition (there were at least two rival bids), submitting two projects. The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission chose neither — in no small part because they weren’t downtown. Instead it went with the in-progress Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (below), which had partnered with MRHD.
And it may get taken away — or sold under duress. (“As far as the city goes, there is not going to be any negative,” said Mayor Bob Scott.) A planned July opening is now off the table and must await the resolution of litigation between Penn and state regulators. The former maintain that they have exclusive rights over the market, even if their Argosy Sioux City riverboat has to be retired. Of course, Penn parent Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. could try to make the whole thing go away by purchasing the Hard Rock project, but there’s been no hint of any such thing taking place. Since Sioux City Entertainment has been restoring the historic Battery Building as its casino site, Scott and others will have a vested interest in having somebody’s casino go in there, especially since the city is on the hook for millions in development incentives.
MotorCity Casino is creeping up on MGM Grand Detroit. It’s also defying the trend of losing business to Ohio. MotorCity was up 3%, while MGM Grand Detroit and Greektown Casino were both down by the same percentage.
VLTs continue to trump slots in the Buckeye State. Caesars Entertainment‘s ThistleDown racino is dwarfing the casino competition with $361/slot/day. Now two more racinos are preparing to crash the party. Hard Rock Rocksino in Northfield Park (whew!) offers such piquant attractions as heated sidewalks and outdoor VLTs. Just 10 miles away from ThistleDown, Northfield Park has its work cut out for it. Today is also the first day of VLT play at Miami Valley Gaming, near Lebanon. The latter is touting recliners on the slot floor and what it regards as a state-of-the-art bonusing system. Good luck to both.
Stat of the Day: “Robert Chamberlain, senior vice president of design and construction [for Seneca Niagara Casino], said the new subfloor beneath the carpeting conceals 61 miles of all-new cables: 27 miles of wire for the surveillance system and 34 miles for the slot machines.”
