- Rivers Casino Des Plaines Ownership
- Rivers Casino Des Plaines Ownership
- Rivers Casino Des Plaines Ownership
Churchill Downs Inc., owner of Arlington Park in Arlington Heights and host of the Kentucky Derby, announced Wednesday it signed an agreement to buy Rivers Casino in Des Plaines for up to $500 million.
If the deal wins the approval of the Illinois Gaming Board, Churchill Downs would have a 50.1 percent ownership stake in Midwest Gaming Holdings, the parent company of Rivers Casino that's owned by Neil Bluhm.
Owner and operator Rush Street Gaming also owns Rivers Casino locations in Pittsburgh; Schenectady, New York and Des Plaines, Illinois. Read more about the rebrand on PBJ.com. Saying the tax violates the Illinois Constitution and state law, the owner of the Des Plaines casino has asked a judge to issue injunctions blocking collection of the tax. Rivers Casino is a casino in Des Plaines, Illinois, United States, a northern suburb of Chicago. It is minutes away from O'Hare International Airport. Rivers Casino opened on July 18, 2011. It is majority-owned by Churchill Downs Inc., and managed by its minority owner, Rush Street Gaming. Glenn Rieder is a custom architectural millwork manufacturer and commercial interior contractor serving all major markets across the United States. SPRINGFIELD — Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc. Completed its $326 million acquisition of a majority stake in Rivers Casino in Des Plaines despite state gambling regulators concerns that the.
The deal starts with Churchill Downs' buying all of investment firm Clairvest Group's shares in Midwest Gaming for $291 million. Then Churchill Downs 'offers to purchase' shares of Midwest Gaming held by Rush Street Gaming affiliate High Plaines Gaming LLC, as well as Casino Investors LLC.
Rush Street Gaming and Clairvest Group have controlled the casino since it opened in 2011. Rush Street would continue to manage the daily operations of the casino under the deal, Churchill Downs said. Bluhm is the co-founder and chairman of Rush Street Gaming.
Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said the purchase continues the company's strategy of buying properties in populous states likely to allow video gambling and sports betting in casinos.
'We are thrilled to partner with Neil Bluhm and Rush Street Gaming in Rivers Des Plaines,' Carstanjen said in a news release. 'This property is the crown jewel of Illinois gaming and one of the country's premier casinos. This is an exciting opportunity for CDI, given Rivers Des Plaines' superior design, unparalleled location in the Chicagoland market, high-quality amenities and outstanding team.'
But Carstanjen also said on an investors call that Bluhm's and Rush Street Gaming's involvement was critical to the deal, the journal Louisville Business First reported. 'We deeply respect his organization's business and political acumen, and it was critical to our analysis that he wanted to keep his ownership participation and involvement going forward,' he said.
Bluhm would remain board chairman of Midwest Gaming, Politico reported.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines Ownership
Greg Carlin, CEO of Midwest Gaming and Rush Street Gaming, said 'we are excited to be partnering with' Churchill Downs. 'We will work together to ensure that Rivers Casino in Des Plaines continues to be one of the most successful casino destinations in North America.'
Churchill Downs said it anticipates the sale would close in the first half of 2019.
Longtime Arlington Park owner Richard Duchossois sold Arlington Park to Churchill Downs in 2000. Arlington has long struggled to compete with casinos in the suburbs for gambling business, especially the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin and the more recent Rivers Casino. It has sought permission from state lawmakers to install slot machines -- as many as 1,200 under some proposals -- and games like blackjack or craps, but efforts have fallen flat over nearly two decades.
Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said in July he and the village board support anything in the short or long term that will help Arlington Park remain open. He said he drafted a letter to state leaders in 2015 in support of expanded gambling at the track, despite his initial opposition.
Meanwhile, Rivers Casino was the only one among the state's 10 casinos that increased revenues this year compared to last, data show. The Reno, Nevada-based Eldorado Resorts bought the Grand Victoria Casino in April for $327.5 million. The Grand Victoria's revenues have steadily declined over the years, despite a slight bump in 2017.
On July 10, the day Rivers Casino reopened after a week-long closure that also shuttered bars and restaurant dining rooms in Allegheny County, there were signs the North Side gambling complex was trying not to take unnecessary chances.
Like other entertainment venues operating under state and county rules, the casino is limited to half-capacity. Masks are required for patrons and workers, and smoking is banned. Plexiglas barriers have been installed at locations like the cashier’s booth, to shield staff and patrons from the airborne droplets carrying the virus. Barriers were also installed between some slot machines, where seating has been reduced to encourage distancing.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines Ownership
But there are no such barriers at the casino’s table games -- the more than 100 stations for craps, blackjack, roulette and more. And when a WESA reporter visited the Rivers on reopening day, he observed 11 people (including four casino employees) around a single craps table. Casino rules limit craps players to three on each side of the table, plus four employees, but that doesn't allow for social distancing—the 11 men stood or sat shoulder-to-shoulder.
Two veteran table-games dealers at Rivers Casino told WESA that they worry the lack of barriers exposes workers to unnecessary risk. It's at the tables, they said, where patrons are liable to spend the most time in close proximity to casino staff – typically well under 6 feet apart.
“Our safety is last,” said one of the two dealers, who both asked to remain anonymous for fear of jeopardizing their jobs.
Rivers Casino “just care[s] about the bottom line,” said the other.
A spokesperson for the North Side casino said it is following all state and county health guidelines. “We strive daily to meet or exceed all safety standards and to adapt quickly as new information becomes available,” said Jack Horner, in an emailed statement. “The health and well-being of our Team Members, guests and the Community is our top-priority.”
Rivers takes a number of precautions that include testing patrons’ temperatures upon entering the casino, as well as checking the temperature of each employee starting a shift. The casino also touts its HVAC system as an effective means of tamping down the virus' spread.
But the casino has acknowledged that three employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since it reopened June 9, following an initial three-month pandemic shutdown that encompassed businesses across the state. And both Rivers dealers who spoke with WESA said the addition of Plexiglas barriers to the casino’s table games would make them feel notably safer.
While the dividers are not mandated, some casinos around the country -- including the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Ill. -- have also installed them at selected table games. Since the pandemic began, transparent barriers have become ubiquitous at supermarkets, pharmacies and even convenience stores. Experts say there’s a good reason.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines Ownership
“We know that the virus can’t get through that barrier. So [barriers] probably do have benefit,” said Dr. Brian Lamb, an internal-medicine physician with the Allegheny Health Network. “It should be recommended that any time that you have people that are in close contact with each other, if you can provide some sort of additional barrier, more protection at this point in the pandemic is better than less.”
Lamb emphasized that while exposure for patrons of a given establishment might be relatively brief, and limited to a handful people, workers at a business like a casino might experience prolonged exposure to many more.
“These [workers] are basically day in, day out being exposed to people face-to-face, and so anything we can do to help protect these people is what we should be doing,” he said.
Dr. Philip Harber, a public-health expert at the University of Arizona, added that precautions like taking the temperatures of workers and patrons is by itself inadequate because so many people who are infected do not exhibit symptoms.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also recommends that employers install barriers 'to ensure that workers do not pass potentially infectious respiratory droplets between each other,' according to an email from OSHA's regional office.
Table-games dealers at Rivers wear clear cloth masks, clear-plastic face shields, or both. But the dealers who spoke to WESA said the casino could better enforce distancing rules, which include limiting the number of players at table games.
“There’s no distancing anywhere,” said one dealer.
The dealers said that before the casino's June 9 reopening, Rivers held a staff training session on new practices to block the spread of COVID-19. Both dealers reported that casino general manager Bill Keena told staff at the training that he was “not afraid of the virus.”
The dealers said management also told workers that anyone who did fear the coronavirus should get another job, though one of the dealers also recalls managers saying they understood if employees were concerned about their safety.
Asked about this alleged episode, Horner declined comment. He also declined to answer a query about how distancing rules are enforced.
The trade group the American Gaming Association does not provide its members with detailed COVID-19 operating guidelines because the industry is governed state by state. However, spokesperson Casey Clark said, “We’re seeing all of our members in the American Gaming Association apply strict standards to ensure health and safety remains a priority not for just the customers but team members as well.”