Tropicana Evansville<\/a> to Twin River Worldwide Holdings, now known as Bally\u2019s. Last month, the company received an extension from the IGC to sell Horseshoe Hammond until Dec. 31, 2021. However, the current deadline remained in place for the company to find a buyer for Caesars Southern Indiana.<\/p>\nThe commission will also have to approve the sales. While Caesars must sell the casino operation, Vici Properties, a publicly traded gaming real estate investment trust, will continue to own the property.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The divestiture comes about a year after the company transformed the property. It spent $90 million to move from its anchored riverboat to an 80,000-square-foot land-based venue.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also uncertain if Caesars will maintain management, or if the tribe will need to partner with another operator. Caesars currently operates EBCI’s two casinos in western North Carolina.<\/p>\n
The property also includes three restaurants, an entertainment hall, a 503-room hotel, and a nearby golf course.<\/p>\n
Cherokee Leaders Seek New Revenues<\/h2>\n
EBCI leaders say looming competition threatens their tribal gaming business. Its two casinos have enjoyed more than two decades of exclusivity in the region. However, casino gaming will be coming to nearby Virginia, likely within the next year, and a competing tribe may open a casino in North Carolina that could cause a loss of up to $100 million in revenue, Sneed has previously told council members.<\/p>\n
Sneed, in an e-mail response to questions from Casino.org<\/em> last month, said commercial gaming can help fill that void.<\/p>\n\u201cOur objective is to be able to offer the same benefits that we enjoy now to the next seven generations of Cherokees,\u201d <\/strong>he said.\u00a0\u201cOur top 3 priorities are Health Care, Education (Primary, Secondary, and Post-Secondary) and Housing.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nUnder Indiana gaming law, the EBCI LLC can only direct 25 percent of a casino’s revenues back to the tribe. However, the LLC could use the remaining funds to help fuel additional commercial growth.<\/p>\n
At the Dec. 15 meeting, Sneed told council members the tribe would need at least three properties of similar scope in order to offset the anticipated losses.<\/p>\n
EBCI Members Split on Commercial Gaming<\/h2>\n
Reaction within the EBCI to the news of the pending purchase of the Caesars casino was mixed.<\/p>\n
Evan Watty posted on the One Feather\u2019s Facebook page that the decision to venture into commercial gaming sets the tribe up for the long-term.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunding programs like healthcare and housing are really important right now,\u201d Witty posted. \u201cPlus, smaller things like having graves dug for free, wells and city water services for free, the list goes on and on. How isn\u2019t that helping the people?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kellie Lee Davis, though, wondered if the tribe could find a better use for that money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not put that money into your people directly?\u201d <\/strong>Davis wrote. \u201cFix your lands, clean up the streets, pay your employees who took pay cuts their money back.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two days after the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal council tabled a decision to purchase Caesars Southern Indiana, they reversed course. The sovereign nation\u2019s elected officials held a special meeting not publicized on its website to approve \u2013 by a reportedly narrow margin \u2013 the purchase at up to $280 million. On Thursday, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":159281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32093,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
EBCI OKs Buying Caesars Indiana Casino at Members Only Meeting<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n