The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission recently approved consolidating the three Iowa casinos owned in part by Dan Kehl into a single entity called Elite Casino Resorts. The three operations are in Davenport, Larchwood and Riverside.
Commission Chairman Jeff Lamberti said, “Certainly, one of factors to make the decision to consolidate was to spread some risk and also to reduce some costs to be able to take advantage of some economies of scale.” He noted the new three-casino consolidation would be better “insulated” from competition from video gambling and possible new casinos in Illinois, since Elite has other facilities that would not be affected.
Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett saw the ruling as an opportunity to pursue his city’s dream of a local casino, which the commission rejected last year stating it could cannibalize business from Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, located 35 miles south. Corbett said, “Now with Kehl combining all his casinos, it shows how much his casino cartel makes. And it shows that the overall impact — in the future when we get back in front of the Racing and Gaming Commission after its moratorium ends — to Riverside can be spread out over the other casinos. So this long-term can be seen as something favorable that gives a confidence boost to Cedar Rapids citizens who have been supportive of the casino.”
Lamberti added the commission stands by its 2014 decision to not accept applications for casino licenses for the “foreseeable” future. He said the pause was not a formal moratorium but could last at least three years.
