INDIANAPOLIS — If Gary officials are willing to allow one of the city's two casino licenses to be redeployed elsewhere in the state in conjunction with a new development at Buffington Harbor, what's to stop the Indiana General Assembly from reallocating both and leaving Gary without a casino?
State Sen. Jon Ford, R-Terre Haute, said Wednesday that Hoosier lawmakers need to consider the possibility that Indiana could reap greater financial benefits if the new Majestic Star owner was permitted to relocate both Gary casinos to other communities.
"From an economic development standpoint, we need to really think about the Gary licenses and are we best using our state assets, in terms of the licenses, at that location where it is now," Ford said to a room of gaming industry insiders at the annual Bingham Greenebaum Doll Legislative Conference.
"It's been my belief that if we're going to be a gaming state, let's be a gaming state, and maximize our revenue. I personally believe that moving the licenses is a way to do that."
In 2017, Ford filed legislation to split off 750 gaming positions from the Rising Star casino near the Indiana-Ohio border and place them in a new casino that would be built in Terre Haute, near the Illinois border in west-central Indiana.
That proposal did not advance out of a Senate committee. But Ford has renewed hope for a hometown casino now that Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson is one of two principals in Spectacle Entertainment, the investment group that last month agreed to purchase the Majestic Star casinos.
"I've long believed that moving positions, moving a license, is something that eventually we will have to do to keep being competitive with other Midwest states," Ford said.
Officials in Hammond and Portage also have expressed interest in obtaining one of Gary's gaming licenses. Northeast Indiana lawmakers in prior years have suggested bringing a casino to the underserved Fort Wayne area.
The two Gary licenses are a remnant of the early days of casino gaming in Indiana when the boats were required to sail Lake Michigan. Having two boats allowed Gary, which led the 1993 push for Hoosier casinos, to always have one at the dock open for boarding.
Gary leaders have proposed relocating the Majestic Star to a Borman Expressway exit, perhaps on a single gaming license, to clear Buffington Harbor for what they believe is a potentially transformative intermodal transportation development.
Last month, Spectacle General Counsel John Keeler said the new casino owner is "committed to leaving one license in Gary."
Though Keeler also noted that any decisions on moving casino licenses ultimately will be made by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
According to the Indiana Gaming Commission, Spectacle on Monday filed its application for state regulatory approval to acquire ownership of the Majestic Star casinos.
Besides Gibson, Spectacle is led by former Centaur Gaming Chairman Rod Ratcliff, who last year sold Centaur's two central Indiana horse track casinos for $1.7 billion to Caesars Entertainment, the parent company of Hammond's Horseshoe Casino.
"Many of the individuals are already known to us, but it's still going to be a lengthy investigative process," IGC Executive Director Sara Gonso Tait said.
Tait said commission staff are investigating all the individuals at Spectacle, its ownership structure and reviewing its financing to determine whether the new company is a suitable Indiana casino owner.
"That's ongoing as of Monday," Tait said. "I don't want to make any promises, but we're hoping to consider (approval) on our March agenda."
Tait pointed out that the commission only can assess Spectacle in connection with current Indiana law, which specifies two casino boats in Lake Michigan at Gary's Buffington Harbor.
"While there has been much discussion about moving the licenses outside the footprint in Gary, or moving a license to another location in the state, that's not relevant to us," she said.
The General Assembly convenes Jan. 3 for a four-month session that's likely to see legislation on sports wagering and gaming taxes, in addition to potential casino license relocations.