fined Spectacle $530,000<\/a> \u2013 or $10,000 a day \u2013 for each day it failed to reach an agreement on breaking away from Ratcliff. Tait said that was the first time a casino owner failed to comply with a commission order.<\/p>\nInvestigation Impacted Casino Licenses<\/h2>\n
The investigation has had a profound impact on the two licenses that Spectacle held with the Majestic Star, which operated on two boats in Gary\u2019s Buffington Harbor.<\/p>\n
After selling Centaur, which owned the Indiana Grand and Hoosier Park racetrack casinos, Ratcliff, along with Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson, formed Spectacle Entertainment to buy the Majestic Star.<\/p>\n
In July 2019, it was announced that the land-based Gary casino would be operated by Hard Rock International in partnership with Spectacle<\/p>\n
The state law authorizing the move to an inland casino in Gary freed up the second Majestic Star license, which was awarded to Terre Haute in west central Indiana. Voters in Vigo County approved a referendum in November 2019 to allow casino gaming there.<\/p>\n
A month later, Spectacle and Hard Rock submitted the only application for Terre Haute.<\/p>\n
In early January 2020, Spectacle and Hard Rock, along with local and state officials, broke ground on Hard Rock Northern Indiana, a $300 million casino in Gary. Roughly two weeks later, IGC officials announced the start of their investigation into Spectacle.<\/p>\n
The investigation led to a three-month delay of the official award of the casino license for Terre Haute, and the IGC only approved that in May 2000 after Ratcliff and Keeler agreed to divest themselves from it. Gibson, now the lead for the Terre Haute project, named the venture Lucy Luck, with plans still to operate a Hard Rock casino an hour west of Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
However, that $120 million project did not move forward over the next year, as gaming commission officials raised concerns with potential leadership candidates and a lack of details on financing. In June, the IGC took the drastic step of not renewing Lucy Luck\u2019s license<\/a>.<\/p>\nA new submission process has started for the Terre Haute license, with applications due on Sept. 22.<\/p>\n
The investigation has also impacted Spectacle\u2019s standing in Hard Rock Northern Indiana. On Wednesday, the IGC approved a plan making Hard Rock International the majority owner in the Gary casino and substantially reducing Spectacle’s involvement.<\/p>\n
Even as the licensure situation has been resolved, Spectacle still remains under investigation, Deputy Director Jenny Reske told Casino.org<\/i> this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sara Gonso Tait will step down as the executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced on Friday. Tait was appointed to the position that oversees the day-to-day operations of the commission by then-Gov. Mike Pence in June 2015. Before she succeeded Ernest Yellon, she served a year as the commission\u2019s general […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":183532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33810,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Tait, Top Indiana Gaming Official, to Step Down Next Month<\/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