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Ohio Casino Group Cancels Press Conference

COLUMBUS, Ohio –As reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Earlier this week, proponents of gambling at Broadway Commons spoke glowingly of printing Bengals-orange petitions to collect the signatures needed for a Nov. 7 vote.

"But Thursday, they canceled their planned press conference, acknowledging that the proposed slots parlor is all but dead for this year - the victim of legal challenges, a late start, and the fact that their rivals had hired all the major signature-gathering companies.

"'It's become more and more clear that you need a professional firm to do this job, and it's not likely that there is one available at this point,' said Brendon Cull, spokesman for Cincinnati banker Louis Beck

"…Last month, Beck proposed building a $300 million hotel at Broadway Commons on the eastern edge of downtown with 3,500 slot machines. He called his venture Queen City Gaming Entertainment and even offered to pay the $2 million needed to gather petition signatures.

"The chief rival was Ohio Learn & Earn, a group trying to bring slot machines to Cleveland and six horsetracks - including River Downs in Anderson Township and Lebanon Raceway in Warren County. But Learn & Earn excluded the Cincinnati site from its ballot initiative.

"Cull said Queen City will evaluate its options over the weekend, including talking to Learn & Earn.

"…Every day that passes makes it more difficult for Queen City Gaming to collect 323,000 voter signatures by Aug. 9, the deadline for getting the proposal on the fall ballot, she said…"

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