Dan Gilbert’s Casino Portfolio Attracting Interest

Dan Gilbert’s Casino Portfolio Attracting Interest

About a week ago, rumors began to circulate about Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s desire to unload his casinos. The business tycoon who owns Jack Entertainment, the company which operates a number of popular casinos has refused to either confirm or deny the report. Jack Entertainment has a long-established policy of not commenting on rumours or speculation.

The original article, which was reported by Bloomberg, listed Caesars as being interested in buying the properties which include Jack Casino in Cleveland and North Randall’s Jack Thistledown Racino.

Casino analyst and publisher of Global Gaming Business, Roger Gros, said that there will be a lot of parties showing interest. He explained that there are some companies such as El Dorado, which owns Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania among others, that have been expanding their operations very aggressively. El Dorado is also very familiar with Ohio’s gaming market and Gros feels that El Dorado would be one company that would be expected to show great interest in Gilbert’s properties.

Speculating On Why Gilbert Wants To Sell Now

Gros went on to say that the state’s regional casinos are doing very well and that Gilbert would be selling at a good time. He stated that there has been a lot of debate about how long the good economy will last and that the regional casinos will inevitably take a hit once the economy dips. However, Gros said that he was a little surprised by Gilbert’s reported desire to sell his casinos. Some believe that the move is tied to Gilbert’s interest in owning a professional football or baseball team. The NFL and MLB do not allow their team owners to own casinos as well unlike the NBA.

Legalized Sports Betting A Relative Non-Factor

Dan Gilbert’s company is quite dynamic and they learned a lot from Caesars who was once Gilbert’s partner before he started Jack Entertainment. He said that while the Supreme Court’s lifting of the federal sports betting ban helps add to a casino’s bottom line, he doesn’t think that it plays a prominent role in casino companies either buying or selling right now.

Gros said that sports betting is not a significant money maker for casinos but it does bring people inand those people eat at restaurants and stay in the hotels. He points out that sports betting only accounts for about two or three percent of any casinos gross gaming revenue.

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