Caesars Bringing Harrah’s Brand to Florida in Rename of Isle Casino Pompano Park

Posted on: February 21, 2022, 04:00h. 

Last updated on: February 21, 2022, 10:36h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Caesars Entertainment is bringing the storied Harrah’s brand to Florida as it renames Isle Casino Pompano Park later this year.

Harrah's
The poker room at the Isle Casino Pompano Park. The venue is taking the Harrah’s name later this year. (Image: South Florida Sun Sentinel)

The gaming company said the venue will be known as Harrah’s Pompano Beach in the fall. The rebranding is part of a major overhaul of the property by operator Caesars and real estate owner Cordish Cos.

We don’t throw that name around lightly,” Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said at a groundbreaking ceremony last week, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “It was a lot of discussion into what shall we call this, and [Isle Casino] was obviously a Harrah’s to us.”

The first phase, forecast for completion in 2022, will include almost 680 residential units, 102,567 square feet of casino gaming space, a 300-person jai alai fronton, and a massive Topgolf practice range.

The full project has an estimated completion date of 2029, and will feature 4,100 residential units, 142,182 square feet of gaming space, and 950 hotel rooms.

Latest Rebranding in Caesars Portfolio

Isle Casino Pompano Park joined the Caesars roster of casinos in 2020 when Eldorado Resorts completed its $17.3 billion takeover of “old Caesars.”

News of the debut of Harrah’s Pompano Beach is the latest rebranding in the Caesars portfolio. Earlier this month, the gaming company said it’s bringing the famed Horseshoe brand to St. Louis, as it’s renaming and refurbishing Lumière Place Casino and Hotel. That plan emerged less than two weeks after the operator said it’s renaming Bally’s on the Las Vegas Strip as a Horseshoe venue.

Caesars is also planning to remove the Harrah’s name from its New Orleans casino and apply the venerable Caesars Palace name to that gaming property.

The Harrah’s brand is also slated to be applied to a Nebraska racino when that venue’s overhaul is completed.

Harrah’s History

The Harrah’s name trace its origins back to 1937, when William Harrah founded an eponymous bingo hall in Reno, Nevada. The company went public in 1971, and was acquired by the Holiday Inn hotel chain in 1980.

The Promus Companies took over in 1990, building Harrah’s casinos in a slew of regional markets, eventually taking that name in 1995. Harrah’s acquired an old iteration of Caesars in 2005 for $10.4 billion. The following year, a trio of private equity companies acquired the gaming company for $17.1 billion in cash and $10.7 billion in debt. That deal closed in 2008. Two years later, Caesars became the name of the parent company as it readied for another initial public offering (IPO) that debuted in early 2012.

Today, the Harrah’s name is on 17 casinos operated by Caesars, including three in Nevada.