{"id":316197,"date":"2024-04-02T17:38:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T22:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=316197"},"modified":"2024-04-03T10:00:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T15:00:52","slug":"ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Bally’s Credit Downgrades Won’t Keep Company From Pursuing Petersburg Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch Ratings on Monday lowered its outlook on the casino company from “B+” to “B.” <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bally's
A Bally’s sign goes up on the former Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport in Louisiana in 2021. Bally’s has been downgraded yet again, this time by Fitch, but the development won’t impede the company’s ability to pursue a casino project in Virginia. (Image: Shreveport Times<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The noninvestment grade implies Bally’s has a “negative” outlook<\/a> because of its murky financial situation. The company is scrambling to raise $800 million to fund the construction of its $1.1 billion casino resort scheme in downtown Chicago at the Freedom Center. <\/span><\/p>\n

Along with Chicago, Bally’s wants to build a smaller casino in Pennsylvania near the Penn State University campus. Bally’s officials have also expressed interest in building a casino in Virginia should an opportunity arise by way of Petersburg.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bally’s bid on the Richmond casino opportunity in 2021, but wasn’t chosen by local officials in the Virginia capital. Richmond’s casino plan was ultimately rejected by city voters.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Legislative efforts have since relocated the Richmond casino license about 25 miles south to Petersburg. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation last month to allow the Petersburg City Council to field proposals for a casino resort, but the bill hasn’t yet been signed by Gov. Glenn Younkin (R). The governor has until April 8 at 11:59 pm EST to act on the measure. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bally’s Remains Interested in Petersburg<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Fitch joined its “Big Three” credit rating counterparts, Moody’s and S&P, in lowering its grade for Bally’s. Despite the demotions, Bally’s brass told The Progress-Index <\/i><\/a>that the rating adjustments won’t impact the company’s ability to participate in a competitive bidding process should one occur in Petersburg.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

We remain confident in our proposal to construct a world-class casino resort in Petersburg,” a Bally\u2019s spokesperson wrote in an email to the Petersburg news outlet. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“The success of this proposal, however, is contingent upon our selection by the city and the city’s voters’ approval via referendum in November,” the Bally’s release continued. “We are optimistic and look forward to the next steps in the process.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Bally’s might still bid on the Petersburg casino license should the city become authorized to conduct a bidding period, the city council might be smart to go with a competitor due to the company’s situation<\/a>.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

It’s unknown at this juncture how many companies might bid on a Petersburg casino, but Maryland-based Cordish Companies has expressed interest. Cordish floated a $1.4 billion mixed-use development in Petersburg in late 2022 that would include a casino resort. The project would be built over many years through several construction phases. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Youngkin Mum on Casino Bill<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Youngkin is reviewing hundreds of bills the Virginia General Assembly passed during its 2023 legislative session, with one being Senate Bill 628<\/a>. The legislation seeks to qualify Petersburg as a host city for a commercial casino. <\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia has four other cities where casinos are allowed, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Danville.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There were recent rumblings in Richmond that the governor might use the Petersburg casino bill to rally support for his Potomac Yard Entertainment District. But after billionaire Ted Leonsis last week<\/a> agreed to keep his professional sports teams in Washington, DC, effectively ending the Potomac Yard project, that bargaining chip is off the table. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bally’s officials say the company is interested building a casino in Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":316207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10],"tags":[81998,82229,90420,90421,83326,81995],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBally's Downgrades Won't Keep Company From Petersburg Casino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bally's Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch lowered its outlook on the casino firm from "B+" to "B."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bally's Downgrades Won't Keep Company From Petersburg Casino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bally's Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch lowered its outlook on the casino firm from "B+" to "B."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-02T22:38:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-03T15:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/\",\"name\":\"Bally's Downgrades Won't Keep Company From Petersburg Casino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-02T22:38:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-03T15:00:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Bally's Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch lowered its outlook on the casino firm from \\\"B+\\\" to \\\"B.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"A Bally's sign goes up on the former Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport in Louisiana in 2021. Bally's has been downgraded yet again, this time by Fitch, but the development won't impede the company's ability to pursue a casino project in Virginia. (Image: Shreveport Times)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Bally’s Credit Downgrades Won’t Keep Company From Pursuing Petersburg Casino\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bally's Downgrades Won't Keep Company From Petersburg Casino","description":"Bally's Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch lowered its outlook on the casino firm from \"B+\" to \"B.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bally's Downgrades Won't Keep Company From Petersburg Casino","og_description":"Bally's Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch lowered its outlook on the casino firm from \"B+\" to \"B.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-04-02T22:38:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-03T15:00:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/","name":"Bally's Downgrades Won't Keep Company From Petersburg Casino","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-02T22:38:18+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-03T15:00:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Bally's Corporation suffered its third credit rating downgrade this week when Fitch lowered its outlook on the casino firm from \"B+\" to \"B.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ad23179e-4f13-492a-a33e-7bcd01340df0-MicrosoftTeams-image_3.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"A Bally's sign goes up on the former Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport in Louisiana in 2021. Bally's has been downgraded yet again, this time by Fitch, but the development won't impede the company's ability to pursue a casino project in Virginia. (Image: Shreveport Times)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-downgrades-wont-keep-company-from-petersburg\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Bally’s Credit Downgrades Won’t Keep Company From Pursuing Petersburg Casino"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316197"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316272,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316197\/revisions\/316272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}