Wind Creek acquires Birmingham Racecourse in Alabama

Wind Creek Hospitality announced on Monday they have entered an agreement with the McGregor family to acquire Birmingham Racecourse. Wind Creek Hospitality is owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and the McGregor family owns Birmingham Racecourse.

Wind Creek plans to transform the Birmingham Racecourse into a premier entertainment destination in the Southeast and continue to provide parimutuel and historical horse racing games.

"For over 30 years, we have worked to provide the best possible experience for our customers and employees, while generating significant tax revenue for the state of Alabama and local charities," said Lewis Benefield, president of the Birmingham Racecourse and Victoryland. Benefield said the tax revenue supports local schools, hospitals, charities, and other organizations that need financial support.

Benefield said the McGregor family has consistently sought to enhance the gaming and entertainment options at the Birmingham Racecourse, but legislative hurdles have presented challenges.

"The people of Birmingham desire the same types of entertainment offered at other facilities in and around Alabama," Benefield said. "Unfortunately, differing state laws and enforcement actions regarding gaming have limited our ability to compete effectively. The McGregor family will now focus their efforts on Victoryland in Macon County and advocate for unified gaming legislation in Alabama which would capture much-needed revenue for the people of Alabama."

Jay Dorris, president and CEO of Wind Creek Hospitality said the McGregor family built and has operated the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino for decades, “providing great entertainment, attracting tourism, and creating economic growth In Alabama.”

Stephanie Bryan, Tribal Chair and CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, said the tribe has already been heavily involved in the Birmingham area, supporting organizations like the Birmingham Promise, Birmingham Zoo, and many others. Bryan said Wind Creek will make the facility a major economic force for the area by creating more jobs, taxes, and support for the local community.

The sale of Birmingham Racecourse is expected to be finalized by early 2025.

Video: Chairman Jim Allen reviews development of new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol

Meeting with reporters following the grand opening of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol on Thursday, Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen answered media questions surrounding the project's development from an old shopping mall to an entertainment destination.

   

“If we go back, and I say this with great humor to Clyde and Jim, when I first came down, they had signs up in the old Sears building, ‘we’ll that will be the casino.’ And I said I don't think that's going to work. But certainly navigating what we could reuse of the old mall and obviously building this new facility really turned out well. And as Allie Evangelista (President of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol) mentioned, the temporary [casino] certainly has finishes in it as nice as many casinos in the United States. But we certainly were taken to the next level with the entertainment destination. And as I've been working here now, in and out the last three or four weeks, we're pretty happy with what we’ve created.

“In the United States, not just here in Bristol, there's so many abandoned malls. And unfortunately, something that was so popular in the 70s and 80s now becomes some challenge real estate. So to be able to take that amazing geographic location and turn it into a true destination, hopefully thats something that’s very beneficial to the area itself.

“We are incredibly happy with the results of the temporary [casino], they have truly exceeded our expectations. We're privately held [company], so we don't have to say something just to pump our stock. I mean the reality is, we truly are. You need someone who gives hundreds of millions of dollars away. You know, that's pretty unique.

“And we looked more long term about the relationship, not just how much gross money the facility can generate. But we certainly knew Bristol had this amazing legacy that we could build upon, especially not just because of a recent success. But going back to the history of music, and obviously country music. That’s something very important.”

Hard Rock casino grand opening in Virginia attracts visitor from Germany

A visitor from Germany became the first person to check into the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Bristol, Va., on Wednesday. The new casino resort held a VIP preview event on Wednesday night and opened to the public on Thursday.

Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen pointed out the German visitor by his first name “Andy” during a grand opening ceremony on Thursday.

“We actually have a special guest in the audience that no one here locally is aware that the individual is here. Where is Andy?” Allen said. Since 1993 Andy has visited over 400 Hard Rock locations around the world, Allen explained. “He flew in especially just for our opening.”

During a media tour on Thursday morning, Hassan Abdel-Moneim, head of Hard Rock hotel operations, confirmed the first guest to check in arrived from Germany.

“Our first guest checked in yesterday,” Abdel-Moneim said. “I wanna say it was at 11:30 a.m. The gentlemen came all the way from Germany.”

The New Resort

Located at 500 Gate City Highway in Bristol, the 620,000-square-foot resort features nearly 1,500 slot machines, more than 50 table games, a sportsbook, 300-plus hotel rooms, and seven unique dining options, including a signature Hard Rock Cafe. The venue also offers a 2,000-plus seat Hard Rock Live, Rock Shop, designated non-smoking and high-limit gaming areas, authentic music memorabilia, and more.

The new location that opened to the public on Thursday started as a temporary casino, simply titled Bristol Casino. It opened in July 2022.

The temporary Bristol Casino welcomed over three million guests, paid over $68 million in gaming taxes to the Commonwealth of Virginia, donated over $960,000 to support local community nonprofit organizations, and paid over $262 million in jackpots.  The project created approximately 900-1,000 construction-specific jobs and is expected to create over 1,400 full-time and part-time jobs.

The grand opening Thursday featured Hard Rock executives and partners.

Bristol Support

"This is such a monumental moment for the Bristol community and Hard Rock," said Jon Lucas, COO of Hard Rock International. "Hard Rock's music heritage is a natural fit for Bristol, the 'Birthplace of Country Music.' We look forward to serving Bristol and the surrounding region with world-class gaming, dining, and entertainment offerings."

"This milestone brings great pride to Bristol," said Jim McGlothlin, chairman of The United Company, and Clyde Stacy, president of Par Ventures. "Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is creating well-paying jobs and generating new tax revenue across Southwest Virginia, and local businesses in the Tri-Cities region are already seeing increased tourism and spending. None of this would have been realized without the support of Bristol's residents and leaders."

"This is such an amazing day for Bristol," said Allie Evangelista, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol. "The support from the Bristol community has been inspirational to our dedicated team, which has worked around the clock to prepare for today's grand opening. We look forward to offering guests Hard Rock's world-renowned amenities combined with Bristol's legendary hospitality and service."

More to Come

The opening weekend celebration continues with concert performances by Blake Shelton on Thursday, followed by Soul Asylum on Saturday. Both events will take place in the new Hard Rock Live entertainment venue.

Hard Rock closing temporary Bristol Casino, full resort opens Thursday

Hard Rock International announced on Sunday that its temporary Bristol Casino will close on Monday at 3 a.m. to make way for the grand opening of the permanent resort on Thursday at noon.

The temporary Bristol Casino opened in July 2022 operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In September, the casino had 905 slot machines and 29 table games available to guests, according to a monthly report issued by the Virginia Lottery office.

“Players club memberships and Unity Points will transfer seamlessly from the temporary to the permanent casino, ensuring continued access to rewards and privileges,” Hard Rock said in their announcement. “The permanent facility boasts more than 620,000 square feet of gaming, entertainment, dining, and hospitality space.”

A grand opening ceremony on Thursday will feature a signature Hard Rock Guitar Smash event and a concert by country music artist Blake Shelton at the new entertainment venue. The facility is located at 500 Gate City Highway in Bristol, Va.

“Hard Rock’s rich history fits perfectly with Bristol’s distinction as the ‘Birthplace of Country Music,” said Jon Lucas, COO of Hard Rock International.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol will feature nearly 1,500 slot machines, over 50 table games, a sportsbook, a 303-room hotel, and multiple dining options, including a signature Hard Rock Cafe, Council Oak Steaks & Seafood, YOUYU Asian Dining, Constant Grind, and the Marketplace. The facility will also house a Rock Shop, 2,000-plus seat Hard Rock Live, authentic music memorabilia, and much more.

Wind Creek Chicago Southland casino to open Nov. 11

Wind Creek Hospitality is pleased to announce the highly anticipated opening of Wind Creek Chicago Southland on Nov. 11, with doors opening to the public at approximately 11:00 a.m. The Chicago Southland location will be a state-of-the-art casino representing the first step toward delivering a full-scale integrated resort experience, scheduled for completion in spring 2025.

Spanning an impressive 70,000 square feet, Wind Creek Chicago Southland features over 1,400 slot machines, 56 table games, high-limit slot areas, a high-limit table games salon, a poker room, a dynamic sportsbook and 4 "Hidden Gems" throughout the casino floor–offering visitors a unique and customizable private gaming and event microenvironment.

Wind Creek Chicago Southland is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs in fields ranging from hospitality to technology. Roles will include security, gaming attendants, food service, IT technicians, and environmental services.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Illinois Gaming Board visited the casino for two mandatory test days, which also included an extended invitation to family, friends and local dignitaries.

Wind Creek's partnership with Fabio Viviani Hospitality Group will also introduce an exceptional range of signature restaurants and food & beverage offerings to the highly anticipated property.

New $460 million Rose Gaming Resort opens on former landfill property

Virginia’s push for gambling expansion continued Thursday with the grand opening of The Rose Gaming Resort in Dumfries, Va., a $460 million investment built on a former landfill.

The grand opening on Thursday followed a “soft opening” of the facility on Oct. 23. Officials from the Town of Dumfries, Virginia Department of Agriculture, and the facility’s owner/operator, Churchill Downs, Inc., led the grand opening.

The Rose Gaming Resort is the largest gaming site in a network of eight Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums in Virginia. The Emporiums are in Richmond, Collinsville, Emporia, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, and Dumfries, Va.

The Rose

The new resort in Dumfries holds 1,650 historical horse racing (HHR) machines, not casino slot machines. HHR terminals look and feel like traditional casino slot machines but operate in a different way to determine a winning spin.

Gamblers visiting the new facility can try their luck playing HHR machines or wagering on live horse racing available via simulcast TVs. A new public park is under development as part of the resort, eight bars and restaurants are open, including the 1609 Steak House and Playbook Sports Bar and Grill.

A hotel with over 100 rooms is part of the resort but is currently unavailable. The grand opening event on Thursday was held in the resort’s parking garage which provides over 2,500 spaces.

Northern Virginia gaming destination

The resort’s General Manager Bobbi Sample said the aim is to make “The Rose” Northern Virginia's premier gaming destination. The new resort is a 30-minute drive from a MGM casino in National Harbor, Md. The MGM casino opened in December 2016 and offers 2,288 slot machines and 211 table games to visitors.

“We're proud to call Dumfries our home and to give back to this community that has so warmly embraced us,” Sample said at the grand opening.

Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs, said 500 employees currently work at The Rose resort.

“Many of them are new to our company, new to our culture, and they've just stepped up and done an amazing thing under pretty intense time pressures and construction issues,” Carstanjen said.

The new Rose Gaming Resort is owned and operated by Churchill Downs and Colonial Downs. Churchill Downs is best known for the Kentucky Derby. Known as the company’s crown jewel, the Kentucky Derby is 150 years old and the longest continually run sporting event in the United States.

Churchill Downs became the parent company of Colonial Downs in 2022. Before Churchill Downs was involved in the project, the Colonial Downs Group planned to open The Rose gaming floor in October 2023 and the hotel in January 2024. That didn’t happen.

Without the gaming resort open, the Town of Dumfries was unable to gain tax revenue. To contribute to the shortfall in tax revenue, Churchill Downs made a financial offer to the Town of Dumfries and increased the number of gaming machines in the facility.

The gambling resort is located on the side of the former Potomac Landfill bordered by Virginia Route 234 and Interstate 95.

“This hasn't been an easy project,” Carstanjen said. "This is a landfill. We're actually taking a landfill here and capping it, converting it into green space with the public park. So this is presented all kinds of technical problems, construction problems, all things that our team just plowed through to make this happen. When you build a project like this, you like a big flat piece of land and lots of open space to do things the way you want to do that, and that's not possible here in Northern Virginia.”

Dumfries Mayor Derrick Wood called the new Rose facility the beginning of a new era for the town, an era of transformation and opportunity.

Proud achievement for Dumfries

“This is a transformation from a landfill to a landmark, an achievement we can all be proud of,” Wood said. The mayor hopes the new facility will draw visitors from across the region and beyond, “putting our town on the map as a destination place in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.”

“The millions in tax revenue generated is going to empower us as a town to reinvest in public service, to improve our infrastructure, and it has enhanced the quality of life for everyone who calls the Town of Dumfries home,” Wood added.

Democratic Virginia Del. Luke Torian thanked the Virginia General Assembly members who helped make The Rose facility possible.

“The Rose could have been built in Loudoun County. It could have been built in Fairfax County, but instead of going to Loudoun County or Fairfax, they came to a community of less than 6,000 residents, a small town with big vision,” Torian said during the grand opening.

The event ended with a ceremonial ribbon cutting that officially opened The Rose Gaming Resort.

VIP Play to upgrade ZenSports sportsbook with Kambi Group technology

VIP Play, Inc., an innovative mobile gambling operator within the U.S. online gambling market, has signed a multi-year agreement with the Kambi Group to power their sportsbook growth in Tennessee and in future markets.

VIP Play, Inc. (formerly known as KeyStar Corp.) acquired the assets of the ZenSports platform in 2022 and has operated in Tennessee as ZenSports since July 2023. VIP Play, Inc. boasts an innovative understanding of sports wagering and expects to use the Kambi Turnkey Sportsbook and its proprietary technology to build an entirely customized version of the Kambi platform compared to what is available in the industry today.

Under the terms of the agreement, VIP Play, Inc. will upgrade its current mobile sportsbook offering by leveraging Kambi's cutting-edge Turnkey Sportsbook solution, which is proven to deliver speed, stability, and flexibility in highly competitive markets across the globe. VIP Play, Inc. aims to utilize Kambi's comprehensive sportsbook solution to create a premium, customer-centric experience by delivering an interactive front end inclusive of market-leading customer acquisition tools. VIP Play, Inc. will also offer iCasino services in permitted U.S. states.

Bruce Cassidy, VIP Play, Inc. CEO & Chairman of the Board, said: "This partnership with Kambi is a pivotal step for VIP Play, Inc. as we work towards establishing a premier sportsbook presence in the U.S. Kambi's market-leading technology, and our internal ability to build proprietary technology on top of the Kambi platform, will enable us to deliver a first-class, interactive sports betting experience and a mutually beneficial partnership for years to come."

Werner Becher, Kambi Group CEO, said: "We are excited to welcome VIP Play, Inc. to the Kambi network as they adopt our trusted Turnkey Sportsbook solution. They have ambitious growth goals, and we look forward to supporting these efforts with Kambi's market-leading sportsbook technology and services. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to empowering operators focused on creating innovative, customer-centered experiences."