Intends to continue to work with Indiana legislators to ensure a fair and competitive process that will maximize benefits for Indiana and for Terre Haute.
Full House Resorts (Nasdaq: FLL) have announced its intent to reintroduce its proposal to allow for the relocation of unused gambling games from its Rising Star Casino Resort to a supplemental location in Terre Haute. During the 2017 Indiana legislative session, Full House’s proposal, which permitted it to relocate unused gambling games to Terre Haute, failed to advance after receiving a tie vote in the Senate Public Policy Committee. The central concern raised was that the 2017 bill unfairly favored a single casino operator. In response to that concern, Full House returned to the Indiana legislature in 2018 with a bill that would have allowed other casino owners to compete for a Terre Haute casino without eliminating the jobs or vacating the investments made in their original home communities.
Every casino owner in Indiana today is using fewer gambling games than the existing law allows, costing the State millions in unrealized tax revenues. A competitive process conducted by the State of Indiana would allow the State to authorize utilization of the existing gambling games in a way that would generate millions of dollars in new tax revenue.
“We continue to invest millions of dollars in Rising Sun, but the expansion of gaming in neighboring states has ensured that many of our authorized games will never be needed in that market,” noted Daniel R. Lee, President and CEO of Full House Resorts. “Rather than close and move the Rising Star Casino Resort, we would prefer to compete for the opportunity by relocating our unused games to a new facility in Terre Haute. We believe that creates a win-win for Rising Sun, Terre Haute, and all of Indiana.”
Alex Stolyar, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Full House Resorts, added, “Since we began exploring opportunities in Terre Haute three years ago, we have been overwhelmed by the level of support that the city has shown for a gaming facility. We worked with the Terre Haute City Council, Vigo County Commissioners, Chamber of Commerce, and many other organizations to demonstrate that support to Indiana legislators. We have seen the recent reports that the new Majestic Star casino owners intend to pursue legislation to move their gaming assets from a single integrated casino in Buffington Harbor to two new locations, potentially including Terre Haute. Their proposal supports our thesis that Terre Haute is a prime location to allocate the state’s unused gaming resources to maximize benefit for Indiana. We look forward to an opportunity to compete with all interested operators to present the best proposal for Terre Haute and for Indiana.”
