A ribbon-cutting ceremony recently was held to kick off the temporary casino at Fonner Park racetrack in Grand Island, Nebraska, which will celebrate its 70th season starting in February.
The permanent casino is expected to open in 2025. It’s the second casino to open in Nebraska since voters passed a statewide casino gambling referendum by more than 65 percent in 2020, following WarHorse Casino which opened in Lincoln in September.
Fonner Park Chief Executive Officer Chris Kotulak said, “I’m happy that Nebraskans are going to get some property tax relief. I’m happy that there’s more entertainment and commerce options. I’m overjoyed that we’re going to be able to offer more purse money and more incentive to breed Nebraska thoroughbreds. My mission is to provide for the horses, horsemen, staff and the guests of Fonner Park. The introduction of casino revenue puts us on a path of regenerating a once thriving thoroughbred racing industry in Nebraska.”
Kotulak explained half of the revenue generated by the Fonner Park casino will be directed to the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) to help raise purses, attract top quality horses and grow the state’s thoroughbred breeding industry. “If It wasn’t for the HBPA’s hard work, we wouldn’t even have casino gaming in Nebraska,” Kotulak said.
State Senator Tom Briese was instrumental in passing Nebraska Initiative 429 which authorized casino gambling as a way to lower property taxes. The measure requires casinos to pay 20 percent of gross gambling revenue to the state; 70 percent of that money goes to the state’s property tax credit fund and another 25 percent is split between the casino’s host county and host city.
Since WarHorse opened, Briese noted it has generated more than $800,000 in gaming tax revenue during its first two full months of operation. “That is a direct reduction in everyone’s property tax. It also means a reinvigoration of the horseracing industry and a substantial amount of employment at these facilities,” Briese said.
Iowa-based Elite Casino Resorts LLC manages casino operations at Fonner Park. The temporary casino, located on the Fonner Park concourse, offers 300 slot machines, horse-betting kiosks and a snack bar and employs 110 people. The permanent casino, which will be built after the 2023 Nebraska State Fair ends, will feature 650 slot machines, 20 table games, a sportsbook, dining options and a 116-room boutique hotel and spa, and provide 300 jobs, said General Manager Vince Fiala.
Elite Casino Resorts Chief Executive Officer Dan Kehl, whose parents received the first riverboat gaming operator’s license in Iowa, said, “I felt it was a great fit for us. We’ve looked at a lot of sites over the years, but we’re very selective in the ones we get involved in and we thought we can make a positive effect here in Grand Island.”
Kehl added the Fonner Park complex “definitely was a deciding factor” when weighing the racetrack’s offer to build a casino there. “We saw the potential. I think there’s a great opportunity to just build upon what they’ve done here and make it better,” Kehl said.
Elite Casino Resorts owns and operates the Iowa properties Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in Riverside, opened in 2006; Grand Falls Casino Resort in Larchwood, opened in 2011; and Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport, reopened in 2016. The company also is building a new casino in southern Illinois.
