Issue 190
May 3 - 9, 2004
Volume 4
page 2
 

Orange group details casino plan
As reported by The
Courier-Journal

INDIANAPOLIS - The bid by Orange County Development to operate a casino in French Lick could provide 682 jobs with a payroll of nearly $19 million annually.

Michael Messaglia, a spokesman for the partnership that includes former basketball star Larry Bird, did not release the total the company proposes to invest in the Orange County project, but he said the indirect economic impact would top $138 million and create more than 1,100 jobs in other area industries.

The additional details about Orange County Development's proposal came one week after the company submitted a confidential bid to operate the riverboat casino, which will be located on a manmade waterway near two historic hotels in French Lick and West Baden Springs.

Two other companies - Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts and Lost River Development - also submitted bids.

The Indiana Gaming Commission has not released information from the proposals because state law requires confidentiality until a contract is awarded. But the companies are free to release information, and some details have been dribbling out.
Initially, Orange County Development said its bid includes a 50,000-square-foot casino, up to 1,200 slot machines and 24 gaming tables, three restaurants, a 600-seat showroom and a Larry Bird museum.

The company also plans to provide "significant financial support" to French Lick Springs Resort, which is struggling to remain open, and a former hotel in West Baden Springs that is only partially renovated.

Trump announced last week that its proposal includes purchasing the West Baden hotel and providing financial help to the French Lick Springs Resort.

Trump proposed a total investment of $123.5 million, including a casino with 1,000 slot machines. The casino would employ 600 workers and give 1percent of its adjusted gross revenue to local officials.

The Lost River Development proposal includes a $40 million investment, plus the renovation and possible purchase of the West Baden Springs hotel, if the commission agrees to let the partnership locate the riverboat adjacent to the hotel.

Lost River did not make a specific proposal regarding money for local officials, choosing instead to wait until negotiations with the preservation commission are completed.

Lost River's bid includes a 50,000-square-foot casino with 600 slot machines and room to add more if the demand is there. The company projects it would hire 400 gambling employees with a $10.4 million payroll.

The Indiana Gaming Commission plans to have a public hearing in July in Orange County, during which the bidders will present their full proposals. The commission plans to choose an operator in late summer.

 

 

 


Support hots up for Horse Racing Channel
As reported by The Racing Post

The Horse Racing Channel, a proposed new daily TV service being set up by individual racecourses, continued to gain momentum on Monday, when seven more tracks revealed they have signed, or are on the verge of signing, a contract. Their approval takes the number of courses lined up behind the intended subscription channel, which is seen as a satellite and cable successor to Attheraces, to 27, out of 59 possibles.

Together they account for 564 meetings on this year's fixture list of 1,341. With a 42 per cent share of the racing calendar, the THRC promoters already regard this as sufficient to put together a reasonable programme of fixtures, offering a minimum of two meetings on most days, though they expect the numbers to grow in the coming days. The latest courses to join comprise six in Yorkshire - Beverley, Catterick, Pontefract, Redcar, Thirsk and Wetherby - and Musselburgh.

Doncaster and York were among the original founder members of THRC, leaving only Ripon's executive, among the nine Yorkshire tracks, still to make up its mind.

Doncaster chief executive John Sanderson, whose IRM management company also operates Catterick, Redcar and Wetherby, said: "This may be the courses' last chance to control the destiny of our media rights. There are many issues to be resolved in the next few years, not least the question of betting-shop pictures, and though the returns from THRC might be thin in the short term, if you take a five-to-ten-year view, I believe this is the way to go."

Sanderson said he would not rule out negotiating with BSkyB, which has put a counter deal to racecourses with its NewAttheraces partner Arena Leisure.

 

Saratoga slots ring
As reported by The Nevada Appeal

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Tucked amid the wooded outskirts of this bucolic, upstate city of Victorian architecture and historic spas, a 63-year-old harness racing track is experiencing a renaissance.

Saratoga Gaming and Raceway's stables are full and winner's shares have more than tripled in recent months, but racing has little to do with the track's quick comeback from the brink of a long, slow death. The true catalyst is a horse of an entirely different color: a new $15 million casino jammed with video slot machines, electronic versions of the trademark casino game, made possible in late 2001 by a state law allowing eight race tracks - including Saratoga and Yonkers - to partner with the state in a foray into the lucrative video gaming market.

The Saratoga "Racino," as it's called, has in its first 2 1/2 months of operation all but validated the success predicted for eight New York tracks allowed to open slots casinos under a 2001 state law. In its first 75 days of operation, Saratoga made a profit of nearly $15 million and drew about 50,000 visitors a week, state and track officials said.

Those numbers have track owners, horsemen and politicians alike salivating over the potential windfall that awaits next year, when much larger casinos open at tracks like Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct in Queens. Almost two-thirds of revenue generated by the slots go to the state for education purposes, with the majority of the remainder going to bolster racing purses.

Jewel

Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort: Singer and songwriter, Jewel, performs a solo acoustic show for the "Schick Intuition Tour" at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.

Date: May 7, 2004

Price: $50

Time: 9:00pm

 

For more information please call: (609) 449-5150

 
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