Despite losing at Richmond casino, Churchill Downs makes big bet in Virginia
Churchill Downs lost its bid to build a casino resort in Richmond in Tuesday's election.
Richmond voters rejected a $562 million project Churchill proposed to media group Urban One 58% to 42%. Urban One founder Cathy Hughes' "divisive rhetoric" may not do the project any favours, as white, affluent communities vote strongly against the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino.
Voters in Virginia's capital rejected City Council and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney's plans for a Las Vegas-style casino resort despite Churchill Downs and City One spending more than $10 million on casino campaigns This is the second time in three years.
However, all is not lost for Churchill as the company is still building a gaming resort in Dumfries.
Rose Advance
Last year, Churchill Downs acquired a majority stake in Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) for $2.5 billion, gaining the opportunity to develop a casino in Richmond. Peninsula Pacific previously worked with Urban One on its failed 2021 casino referendum in Richmond.
Churchill's acquisition of P2E is more focused on acquiring Peninsula Pacific's historic horse racing business (HHR) in Virginia. Churchill operates under the Rosie's Gaming Emporium brand and includes seven HHR Gaming locations across the Commonwealth through Buy P2E. Richmond wasn't Churchill Downs' only defeat on Election Day, however, as voters in Manassas Park rejected a local referendum that would have allowed an eighth Rossi's restaurant to open in the city.
But Churchill is moving forward with P2E’s plan to build an HHR resort in Dumfries along Interstate 95. The resort will be built next to a 79-acre landfill that will be converted into a park.
The $372 million project, called Rose Gaming Resort, includes a 305-room luxury hotel, 15,000 square feet of meeting space, a 1,500-seat theater and a 50,000-square-foot casino with 1,100 HHR machines. . Virginia legalized HHR betting in 2018 in an effort to save its horse racing industry and Colonial Downs Racetrack.
HHR games look like slot machines, but differ in how the outcome of the game is determined. These terminals essentially pay dividends and base their results on previously played horse races. Players will often opt for an automatic betting feature that provides them with the horses most likely to win.
Last year, Virginia gamblers placed more than $4 billion in bets on HHR machines.
Churchill Downs' ownership of exclusive rights to HHR gaming in Virginia gained value last month when the state Supreme Court ruled that skill games are illegal. This controversial machine differs from traditional slot machines in that the winning lines must be determined during the game. Law enforcement has been given permission to seize the machines, which continue to overload restaurants, bars, grocery stores and gas stations.
Regional Monopoly
With Richmond voters once again rejecting casinos, there will likely be no Las Vegas-style resorts in the capital for the foreseeable future. Churchill was supposed to run the Richmond Grand Hotel and share in its revenues, but a failed referendum would have been in the Rose's favour, as HHR Resorts would have had a regional gambling monopoly.
Virginia’s 2020 Commercial Gaming Act only approved casinos in five cities, with voters in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Bristol and Danville approving their proposed casino projects.
The Rose will be the closest gaming facility to Northern Virginia, one of the wealthiest regions in the country. MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., may be targeting Northern Virginia, but the Rose Hotel offers many players in the area a closer, more accessible location than heading northeast across the Potomac River to the heavily congested Washington metropolitan area. Convenient choice.
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Source: www.casino.org
