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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Two top executives from Harrah's Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based company that financed the 2006 drive for the proposed Narragansett Indian casino in House Speaker William J. Murphy's hometown of West Warwick, were back at the Rhode Island State House Tuesday morning to meet with Murphy.
On her way in and out of the meeting, Harrah's Senior Vice President Jan Jones said she was here to get a better understanding of the lay of the land now that Twin River's owners have filed for bankruptcy, under terms that will soon require them to surrender ownership of the Lincoln track and slot parlor to their lenders.
Asked if Harrah's is interested in buying the facility or simply bidding for the management contract, Jones said: "We are actually looking at all different options.'' Acknowledging that the exact nature of what will be made available is up to the lenders, "there certainly is resource to invest,'' she said.
Murphy met in his State House office with Jones, Harrah's lawyer David Satz and lobbyist and one-time Celtics basketball star Kevin Stacom. In an interview after the meeting, Murphy said he invited the team to his office after reading that they were headed to Rhode Island to scope out the opportunities for Harrah's at Twin River.
"It is not something we need to get involved in right now, and when I say we, I mean as the House of Representatives," Murphy said. "But they have expressed an interest in the facility in Lincoln...[and] put it this way: whatever shakes out in bankruptcy court, whatever happens, I would feel very comfortable if Harrah's came in and were either to be the management company to run the facility, or if Harrah's, at some point became ... the purchaser of the facility.''
Asked if the Harrah's delegation mentioned a role for their former casino partners here, the Narragansett Indians, Murphy said: "We did not get into specifics.''
Jones would not disclose who else her team intended to meet with in Rhode Island on this trip. But the visit came on a day the senate is expected to vote - and send to the governor - a bill bringing Twin River a step closer to a full-scale casino. It would not only force the owners to drop their plans to suspend live dog racing on August 8 and run a full 200-day season instead, it would also allow 24-hour gambling, 7 days a week.
Coincidentally, greyhound racing is about to fold in New Hampshire.
After beating back efforts to ban dog racing in New Hampshire for years, the business is about to voluntarily fold on its own. Officials with the state's two remaining tracks at Seabrook and Belmont told the New Hampshire Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission they planned to end live racing this summer. A third dog track in Hinsdale closed in November after the longtime owner filed for bankruptcy
Rockingham Park in Salem will keep its commitment to have live harness racing this summer.
A companion bill to the state budget that New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch is likely to sign Tuesday gives all track owners the option of having live racing or existing solely to take bets on races run at other tracks.
Lobbyists hired to work for the benefit of both tracks did not oppose this change. Betting from simulcast racing generates much more money than do bets on live competition. The Seabrook and Belmont sites also make much more money on gambling from Texas Hold 'Em and other poker tournaments and split the profits with co-sponsoring charitable groups, according to the Nashua Telegraph.
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. describes itself as "the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment '' on four continents, operating primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names. Harrah's also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos and the World Series of Poker. On January 28, 2008, Harrah's Entertainment was acquired by affiliates of private-equity firms TPG Capital and Apollo Global Management.
