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Expert: Companies might balk at Illinois license price19 May 2008SPRINGFIELD, Illinois -- As reported by the Quad-City Times: "The process of selling Illinois' unused 10th casino license continues, and lawmakers are counting on the millions of dollars the sale is expected to pump into the state's budget. "But as the economy suffers, smokers are kept off the riverboats and casino revenues drop, a top gaming expert says the state might not get as much as expected from the transaction. "Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada-Reno, said casino companies might not be as aggressive in paying for Illinois' 10th license as they were in 2004 when the license was last awarded for about $520 million. "...He said companies base their bids on several years of projected revenues. Because of the state's indoor smoking ban and general economic woes in the industry, those projections could likely be lower. "Illinois gambling revenues have dropped statewide in the first four months of the year by about 18 percent. "...The 10th Illinois casino license is available because a plan to locate a riverboat in the Chicago-area city of Rosemont fell through. And the license has been tied up in court proceedings for several years..." |