Vegas Casino Might Move Near Indianapolis

downtown indyIndianapolis isn’t exactly a city known for its flourishing nightlife, especially as far as casinos are concerned. While there are a handful of those in the city, none of them are particularly big or attract much attention. That’s about to change, if Full House Resorts’ CEO Dan Lee’s proposal is accepted by the state of Indiana. Full House Resorts is a huge Las Vegas-based casino operator owning several casinos, including the popular Rising Sun Casino Resort. Lee asks to move about half of Rising Sun’s 1400 approved gambling tables to Marion County – a move that requires the state’s permission. If said permission is granted, however, Lee has promised to build a $650 million retail center anchored by a casino just outside of Indianapolis, on a surplus parking lot next to Indianapolis National Airport. While this may sound like a win-win situation, the truth is far more complicated, as Indiana lawmakers are notoriously hard on any forms of casino gaming. That, combined with the fact that the owners of the few Indianapolis casinos that exist will most likely lobby against the move in order to avoid competition, makes it highly unlikely that the proposal will be accepted. On the other hand, if the plan does, indeed, get rejected, it will most likely land a critical hit on Full House Resorts, as Rising Sun has not been profitable for a while now due to its immediate competitors. “[The competition] is gonna kill us”, Dan Lee commented. If the legislators do decide to allow the move and the construction of the new casino, they’ll not only save Full House Resorts from what looks like certain demise, but also sponsor a business that’s estimated to generate $85 million a year for it in tax revenues while also creating 4,000 permanent jobs. It’s important to keep in mind that Dan Lee is a very experienced casino developer who has constructed 10 casinos over the past 25 years, so he most likely knows what he’s talking about. Whether the state of Indiana will listen or not is still up in the air.