A panel of three judges of the Iowa Court of Appeals recently heard oral arguments regarding the Argosy of Sioux City riverboat casino’s challenge of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s granting of a state gaming license to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City and its then-nonprofit partner, Missouri River Historical Development, as well as later judicial rulings that upheld those actions.
Des Moines attorney Mark Weinhardt, representing Belle of Sioux City, a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, owners of the Argosy, said the IRGC claimed the Argosy no longer had a valid license, the result of a lengthy contract dispute between Argosy and MRHD, but the casino continued to operate while the IRGC granted a land-based casino license to the Hard Rock developers. Only later the commission voted to shut down the Argosy, which closed July 30, 2014. “If they believed it was unlicensed, illegal gambling, they would be obligated under law to shut it down. It was an audacious case of bait and switch. They wouldn’t let us file an application. They wouldn’t send us a form. We did have a valid operating agreement with MRHD.” Weinhardt added, “Put bluntly, the IRCG created this mess and the IRGC can fix it.”
Still, the Argosy did not have a license, Judge Amanda Potterfield pointed out. “That’s the rub. When the Belle filed an application, it didn’t have a license. The Belle failed to have an operating agreement in addition to the application, which made it insufficient on its face.” That led to the IRGC’s decision in April 2013 to accept bids for Woodbury County’s first land-based casino. The IRGC selected Hard Rock for the license, which by then had partnered with MRHD.
Des Moines attorney Guy Cook, representing SCE Partners, owners of the Hard Rock, said the IRGC had never faced such a situation before and allowed the Argosy to remain open for the sake of its employees. He said only after Belle realized its “heavy-handed conduct in order to squeeze out profits” wasn’t working, it attempted to reach an operating agreement with MRHD. “These folks were warned repeatedly, you need to reach an agreement,” Cook said.
Chief Judge David Danilson said the court would issue a written ruling as soon as possible.
Weinhardt said if the appeals court rules in Belle’s favor to reverse the IRGC’s decisions to award the Hard Rock license and take away Belle’s, “many options present themselves for gaming in Sioux City.”
The Argosy riverboat and associated structures have since been removed from the Missouri riverfront. The riverboat was sold to an Illinois shipyard.
