Sean Eberhart admitted using his position as a lawmaker “to enrich himself by soliciting and accepting gifts, payments, and other things of value” from Spectacle Entertainment in exchange for “favorable official action.”
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Kentucky-based developer Churchill Downs Inc.’s Terre Haute Casino Resort will officially open to the public at 10:30 a.m. Friday after two years of development and a changing of ownership.
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A feud between the General Assembly and the Indiana Gaming Commission escalated late Friday when lawmakers approved language blocking the commission from getting more money without their approval.
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Indiana saw gambling revenue slip last year, but the state remains among the top 10 gambling markets.
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Full House Resorts says Rising Star Casino Resort, in the Indiana city of Rising Sun, is the worst-performing location in its portfolio and it wants to move it to another location 150 miles away.
The Terre Haute Casino Resort will feature a 400,000-square-foot casino building with 56,000 square feet of gaming space that includes 1,000 slots and 50 table games, as well as a 125-room hotel.
Under the plea agreement, Sean Eberhart will pay restitution of $60,000, although it’s unclear if he’ll serve time in prison.
Last year, Indiana sports betting peaked at $4.4 billion worth of bets, but Hoosier sports wagers slowed in the first half of 2023 when Ohio joined the fray. For instance, in June, sports betting in Indiana was 13% lower than the $256 million registered in June 2022.
A proposal to legalize online casino gambling in Indiana has failed to gain traction for a third consecutive year despite earlier optimism about its prospects. A powerful confluence of factors led to its demise.
Rep. Ethan Manning, a Republican from Logansport, said he’ll introduce a bill to allow online casino games, taxing revenue at an 18% rate and sharing some of the proceeds with cities and counties where casinos are located.
Sixteen states reported quarterly highs in overall gambling revenue, including five of the six largest markets: Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Pennsylvania.
There are six states–Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia–that offer the full spectrum of online gambling, from virtual slot machines to online card games. Nevada also allows online gambling but limits it to online poker.
Indiana’s 12 casinos raked in $2.5 billion from July 2021 through June 2022, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission’s annual report.
Brent Waltz, 48, of Greenwood, pleaded guilty in April to helping route about $40,000 in illegal contributions to his campaign and making false statements to the FBI.
Once the Queen of Terre Haute Casino Resort opens, the city is expecting about $10 million in casino tax revenue every year for the next 10 years.
This spring’s decline in casino earnings largely tracks with the nation’s soaring inflation rate and the end of various federal COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus programs aimed at shoring up the post-pandemic economy.
The casinos collectively also had their best first quarter ever, falling just short of the $14.35 billion they won from gamblers in the fourth quarter of last year, which was the highest three-month period in history.
The expansion will add 30,000 square feet to the gambling floor and 100 jobs at the venue, plus additional slot machines and table games.
Caesars Entertainment Inc. on Tuesday changed the name of the venue from Indiana Grand Racing & Casino to Horseshoe Indianapolis Racing & Casino.
Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc. has filed to rezone nearly 50 acres near Interstate 70 and State Road 46 to build the Queen of Terre Haute Resort.
The Indiana Gaming Commission said the state’s online and retail sports wagering operations could accept bets on alpine skiing, bobsled, cross-country skiing, curling, ice hockey, short-track speed skating and speed skating.
Troubled Indianapolis-based casino company Spectacle Entertainment was at the center of multiple controversies in 2021, from its top executive being forced out to losing stakes in two new casino projects.
One of the companies that was pass over for the license, Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts, has sued the Indiana Gaming Commission, claiming it didn’t follow state law when it picked Churchill Downs to develop the casino.
Louisville-based Churchill Downs proposed a $240 million project known as the Queen of Terre Haute, to be built on nearly 21 acres west of the Haute City Shopping Mall.
