ANDERSON — As the Indiana Horse Racing Commission prepares to consider approval of Eldorado Resorts Inc.’s $17.3 billion takeover of Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino’s parent company, some IHRC staff members have expressed concerns about the merger.
According to a published report at Casino.org, the staff members, in a report to the commission, declined to offer an “enthusiastic or unqualified recommendation for the approval of ERI’s permit application,” based in part on Eldorado’s track record at a property it already owns, Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio.
The transaction is on the agenda for the IHRC’s scheduled meeting on Monday in Indianapolis.
Their concerns, according to the report, stemmed from Eldorado’s perceived “lack of horse racing experience,” even though the company previously owned tracks in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The document describes Eldorado’s ownership as “clearly disinterested in horse racing since entering the industry in 2014.”
Since entering the pari-mutuel business that year via a merger with MTR Gaming, Eldorado has divested some racetrack assets and, according to the commission report, is “strongly averse” to spending the money needed to improve the horse racing facilities it currently owns.
Officials at Hoosier Park referred a request for comment to Eldorado’s main office in Reno, Nevada. A message left at that office went unreturned.
Caesar’s Entertainment, which owns Hoosier Park and its sister racino, Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, would become part of Eldorado’s portfolio pending regulatory approval in New Jersey and Indiana.
Earlier this week, Nevada casino regulators OK’d the deal. The Federal Trade Commission signed off on the merger last month.
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