Charismatic and controversial, Milton McGregor, owner of VictoryLand casino, greyhound track and hotel in Shorter, Alabama, died March 25 at the age of 78 at his Montgomery home. Known for inviting players to “Come join us. You can be a winner too,” McGregor fought a protracted legal battle to keep open his casino, which at one point offered 6,400 electronic gambling machines. He also had business interests in banking and nursing homes.
The son of a widow who ran a small-town grocery, McGregor owned an arcade and a business that leased Pac-Man and other video games in the 1980s. He opened VictoryLand greyhound track and casino in Macon County in 1984, and purchased a closed horse racetrack in Birmingham to offer dog racing.
Bingo is legal in certain locations, including Macon County, so McGregor invested millions of dollars in expanding VictoryLand and filling it with electronic bingo machines. He added a 300-room hotel and restaurants in order to compete with nearby Mississippi casinos.
Macon County politicians praised McGregor for bringing jobs to the economically depressed county. His casino and dog track employed thousands of people and helped fund local charities. However, between 2008 and 2010, former Governor Bob Riley raided gambling operations throughout Alabama, including VictoryLand. McGregor was forced to close the casino.
Later he was accused of participating in a scheme to bribe legislators to pass gambling legislation that could have legalized casino gambling. A first trial ended with a hung jury. A second jury acquitted McGregor of all charges, and he reopened VictoryLand. “Now I’m focused on getting 3,000 people back to work and charities and governmental agencies receiving revenue, as they should have been all the time,” he said following his acquittal.
McGregor is survived by his wife, two daughters and seven grandchildren.
