The state of Iowa has decided to not pursue building new casino properties after a study showed this could affect existing casinos negatively. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission hired a consultant who conducted this study and this means new licenses for Iowa based casinos are off the table for now.
According to a rapport from the DesMoines Regiser, managing director Rich Baldwin of Union Gaming Analytics said, “We do not believe there are any underserved counties in the state of Iowa,” shutting down discussions about opening more casino properties.
The fear with building new casinos in Iowa was that these would take revenue from existing casino resulting them to underperform. The opposite side of this argument argues that with 21 casinos in the state of Iowa there is room for more, and that this would create hundreds of jobs in construction, retail and gaming.
For now Wild Rose Entertainment, who were looking to build a $40 million facility in Jefferson, Green County, seems to have accepted the fact that their plans are not likely to happen in the near future. “We are not going to open a casino up that’s going to be a detriment to our own casino or any other casino,” Timmons said.
Image credit: TheGazette.com
