The two gambling giants faced the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board in a local school auditorium on Thursday to answer questions by the board. Harrah’s Entertainment was drilled why it wants to put a casino near Mulvane, where it will benefit Sedgwick County, which voted against casino gambling last year.
Meanwhile Penn National Gaming was questioned why it preferred a Wellington site that the board’s economic consultants claim will earn less money than a Mulvane site, some us$ 50 million less, according to the consultants. Harrah’s proposed a casino near Exit 33 at the Kansas Turnpike near Mulvane. Penn National wants a gambling site at the southwest corner of Seneca and U.S. 160 near Wellington.
Marvel Gaming Co., which stood in front of the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board on Friday is in direct competition with Penn National Gaming by planning a casino on the same site. Its President Roger Wagner claimed their casino would be paying us$ 19 million more than Harrah’s and Penn’s in cumulative gaming taxes per year as the major pitch for its proposed Trailhead Casino and Resort. A special site selection committee will decide by late September which of the casinos can proceed.