Gaming and racing operations veteran Kevin Kline has joined Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero, Illinois in the new position of chief executive officer of gaming. The facility recently began a $450 million development project and applied for a casino license.
The appointment, announced one month after Hawthorne applied for a casino license, is “in anticipation of its licensure,” the track said. The Illinois Gaming Board has until the end of the year to rule on the application.
Kline developed and managed casino and entertainment businesses including Resorts World Catskills Casino and Monticello Raceway in New York, Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Cincinnati, Turfway Park in Northern, Kentucky and the Horseshoe Casino Hammond in Indiana.
Hawthorne President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Carey said, “Our goal is to develop one of the nation’s premiere gaming experiences. The integration of casino-style gaming at Illinois racetracks is a tremendous opportunity that comes with unique challenges and responsibilities. An all-star executive team will be crucial. Kevin has a proven track record of successful ground-up developments of new casinos and multi-property management including at race tracks, plus direct experience with gaming in the Chicagoland market.”
Kline said the Carey family’s 110-year record of “customer service, integrity and excitement sustained their business and reputation in spite of a lack of casino-style gaming. That’s a true testament to the Carey family’s commitment to the Illinois racing industry. I’m humbled and honored to be part of that legacy now.”
With the casino facility under construction, Hawthorne will not conduct its winter-spring Thoroughbred meeting in 2020. Carey said he hopes the venue will be fully operating by late in 2020, with gaming revenue boosting purses by the following year. Looking ahead, Carey said a hotel, food hall, sportsbook and entertainment venue will be added.
In related news, Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution, approved by voters in November, opened the door for Oaklawn and Southland to expand their “electronic games of skill” into full-fledged casinos and offer sports betting.
The constitutional amendment also allows the Racing Commission to license casinos in Jefferson and Pope counties, as long as they have the support of local elected officials, and allow for sports betting at the casinos.
In June, the commission rejected all five applicants for the Pope County casino license because they didn’t meet a commission rule that specified that the endorsements had to be from current officials.
After the county endorsed Cherokee Nation Businesses in August, the commission opened a second 90-day window to accept applications, which closes November 18.
Arkansas is one of 13 states with live legal sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association. The other states are Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Tennessee is one of five states in which sports betting is authorized but not operational yet, the association reported.
Louisiana, Missouri and Texas are among 18 states in which sports betting legislation is dead for this year, and Oklahoma is among eight states that had no sports betting bills this year, the association said.
Six other states are still considering sports betting legislation or ballot measures this year, the association said.
Helped in part by the expansion of sports betting, the commercial casino gaming sector logged its fourth consecutive year of gaming revenue growth in 2018, surging nearly 3.5 percent to $41.7 million, the association reported in June.
Arkansas is the 25th state to legalize commercial gambling and the 41st state with legal casino gambling, including tribal casino operations, according to the American Gaming Association. Among Arkansas’ surrounding states, there are commercial casinos in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma, and there are tribal casinos in Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, the association reported.
