Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb recently said he doesn’t know yet if he’ll sign Senate Bill 552, which was approved 38-11 by the Senate and now goes to the House. The measure would allow one of the two licenses of the Majestic I and II casinos to remain in Gary and the other to move to Terre Haute. It also would legalize sports betting.
Holcomb said, “I’ll need to take a deep dive into all the details because of how the conversation has expanded and what is all included, and I’ll be doing that in the coming days. I want to look at every word. I’m not opposed to looking at new ways with the existing licenses that are there. But this bill is far beyond just that, and, quite honestly, I need to do a lot more digging before I weigh-in on whether or not I’m for a final version of this bill.”
Holcomb said he’s aware that any change in gaming operations and locations impacts all the state’s casinos, plus casino gambling revenue the state and local governments depend on for funding public services.
The Senate bill also includes a “hold harmless” provision guaranteeing Hammond, East Chicago, Michigan City and LaPorte County would suffer no loss of gaming tax revenue for three years following the Gary casino’s move to a land-based facility. That likely would attract players from other regional casinos due to its more accessible location off Lake Michigan. The state and the city of Gary want to use the Majestic Star’s location in Buffington Harbor to develop an intermodal transportation and warehousing center.
Recently the Indiana Gaming Commission released a list of 16 companies, individuals and trusts that are investors in Spectacle Entertainment’s ownership transfer bid for the Majestic Star. The list of investors includes former state Rep. Dan Dumezich and family members and trusts in the name of the family members of basketball legend Larry Bird. The company wants to move the venue to Terre Haute.
Holcomb seems to support legalizing sports betting, observers said. He commented Indiana residents already bet on professional and college teams through illegal black market websites. “It’s happening now in Indiana. This bill would allow us to capture part of a market that already exists that we don’t now,” he said.
