Bills in General Assembly would ease costs for casinos
The Indiana General Assembly is taking its first steps toward restructuring Hoosier gambling law.
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Hoosier Park owner misses $13.4M loan payment
Indianapolis-based Centaur LLC, owner of Anderson’s Hoosier Park horse track and casino, missed a $13.4 million interest payment due Tuesday on its more than $400 million in outstanding debt, putting the company in default with its lenders.
Cash-strapped Hoosier Park racing to restructure $400M in debt
Despite rampant speculation, Anderson’s Hoosier Park is not facing imminent bankruptcy, according to its owner, locally
based Centaur Inc.
Slots revenue revives hopes of state’s horse breeding industry
Purses at Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Downs in Shelbyville have swollen since the two tracks added slot machines
in June 2008.
Hoosier Park quarantines 59 horses over illness concerns
Fifty-nine horses have been quarantined because of a suspected contagious infection at central Indiana’s Hoosier Park race
track.
Indiana casinos facing more competition from other states
Indiana’s casinos are facing increasing competition from gambling ventures in Michigan and Ohio that could pose a threat to
the $900 million in tax revenue the industry generates for the state.
State gambling revenue expected to stay flat
Indiana’s share of tax money generated by the state’s 13 casinos is expected to remain relatively flat for at
least the next few years, a state fiscal analyst told Gaming Study Committee members this morning.
FEIGENBAUM: Historic milestone in gambling industry approaches
Indiana has made billions on gambling in nearly two decades, funding key programs, cutting excise and property taxes, and
avoiding tax hikes. The state has seen more than $2 billion in investment without any government incentives,
and more dollars committed in our history than by any industry outside of steel, power and autos.
Legislature snubs casinos, but forms study committee
Indiana’s struggling gambling industry didn’t get the relief it sought during the special session of the Indiana General Assembly. But embedded within the budget bill approved June 30 is a provision creating a gambling summer study committee. Its recommendations, due by Dec. 1, may make or break several of Indiana’s casinos.
Gambling habit puts state at risk
The state’s overreliance on gambling, what once seemed like easy money, is becoming a major concern to taxpayers.
State’s gambling jackpot may have reached its limit
Hoosiers’ long ride on the gambling gravy train finally may be coming to an end.
Cash-strapped gambling firm pushing bill in Legislature; Centaur trying to recover from Pennsylvania setback
Centaur is lobbying the Indiana General Assembly to let it transfer 500 slots from its Hoosier Park horse track in Anderson
to the Fort Wayne area.
Two central Indiana racinos debut amid tough economy
The next few weeks will be critical for the state’s two new racinos, which need to open with a splash to meet their ambitious
projections of drawing more than 3 million visitors apiece annually. Hoosier Park in Anderson will open June 2, and Indiana
Downs in Shelbyville will follow a week later.
Gambles paying off for Centaur CEO
Through persistence and sheer pluck, Rod Ratcliff has become a player in the gambling industry–one many businesses try to
break into, most without success. On Oct. 30, his Indianapolis-based company, Centaur Inc., closed a $1 billion financing
deal that will fund gambling projects in three states.
Indiana Downs buyout nearing finish line
The high-stakes competition for control of Indiana Downs has entered the homestretch. And South Bend-based Oliver Racing LLC
is poised to win.
Horse track owners vie for control
Indiana’s two horse tracks could change hands as investors race to come up with the $250 million required to add thousands
of slot machines. The steep cost of a state license combined with the potential of a lucrative payoff has stakeholders in
Shelbyville-based Indiana Downs and Anderson-based Hoosier Park jockeying for position.
Racinos may push gambling’s limits
During their first half-decade in operation, the state's casino slots machines grew their total sales to $22 billion,
according to Indiana Gaming Commission records. But in the last five years, slot sales grew just 18 percent, reaching $25.9
billion in 2006. That's what business textbooks call a maturing market.
Off to slow start, French Lick fears threat from ‘racinos’
French Lick Resorts & Casino is already struggling, less than four months after its launch. And the casino’s owners are downright
terrified legislators soon will allow both of the state’s horse-racing tracks to become “racinos” and add up to 5,000 slot
machines.