Kansas Not Finding Any Takers For SE Casino Gambling License

Where the state of Kansas goes from here in regards to their casino gambling contracts is anyone's guess. One thing that is certain is today, another deadline had to be extended in the Southeast zone because there were no applicants.

5:00 PM on Wednesday was the deadline that was set for applicants to submit proposals to run a state owned casino in Southeast Kansas. At that time, with no applicants, the state had no choice but to extend the deadline to April 21st.

The Kansas Lottery Commission has its hands full with this zone in particular. Of the four zones in the state where casino licenses are up for grabs, the Southeast zone is the one with existing casino competition.

Penn National had originally won the rights to the casino, but later pulled out of the commitment because they felt their product could not compete with a neighboring tribal casino. The competition is one problem, the other is the amount of money that must be paid to the state.

Just for the right to operate the casino, an applicant must pay an up front fee to the state of $25 million. They then must make a large financial commitment to how much they will spend to bring the casino to fruition.

The state has not budged on their casino "privilege" fee, and if they continue to insist on that number, there is a strong possibility that the casino may never become reality. With the economy down, no casino operator has been willing to pay that kind of fee up front.

There is no limit to the amount of times the state may delay the deadline for applications, but the next time it happened in April it will have to be done by the Kansas Lottery Commission.

January 22, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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