On line casino Deliberate for South Sioux Metropolis Close to Former Atokad Downs
The sixth and last on line casino Nebraska lawmakers and voters licensed by means of laws and a statewide poll referendum in 2020 is lastly coming collectively.
WarHorse Gaming and Ho-Chunk Inc. have unveiled plans to construct a $50 million on line casino and horse racetrack in South Sioux Metropolis close to the place Atokad Downs operated. Building is slated to start within the spring of 2025. (Picture: WarHorse Gaming)
Ho-Chunk Inc. and WarHorse Gaming, subsidiaries of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, introduced on Monday plans to overtake the previous Atokad Downs racecourse right into a racino vacation spot.
The $50 million blueprint features a new 5/8 mile racetrack and grandstand simply south of Interstate 129 and 152nd Avenue at C Avenue. The property is at the moment farmland and is about 1.2 miles east of the shuttered Atokad Downs monitor that operated from 1956 till 2012.
It is going to be a modest on line casino by most requirements,” mentioned Ho-Chunk CEO Lance Morgan.
Morgan defined that the objective is to return racing to South Sioux Metropolis and convey video games of probability to the city, however not at the price of hampering enterprise on the tribe’s WinnaVegas On line casino Resort in close by Sloan, Iowa. Dubbed WarHorse South Sioux Metropolis, the plan is to ship a boutique gaming expertise to enhance parimutuel wagering on the racetrack.
“We don’t wish to harm WinnaVegas,” Morgan defined. “Our examine reveals that a lot of the income with come from Exhausting Rock [Sioux City, IA].”
Cornhusker Gaming Growth
Nebraska’s 2020 industrial gaming invoice was designed to rejuvenate the state’s horse racing trade, which was on life assist, and to create new state tax income that’s for use to reduce property taxes on householders. The on line casino regulation permits playing, inclusive of slot machines, desk video games, and sports activities betting, at licensed horse racetracks the place reside racing is held yearly.
The tribe is moreover the on line casino growth associate of the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protecting Affiliation (NHBPA), which owns horse racetracks in Omaha and Lincoln. WarHorse On line casino Lincoln’s everlasting facility opened final month. WarHorse On line casino Omaha opened in August.
The Omaha location has practically 800 slots, 19 reside seller desk video games, and a sportsbook. Lincoln options 830 slots, 10 tables, and sports activities betting. WarHorse can be planning to deliver a 200-room lodge to the Lincoln facility.
In South Sioux Metropolis, the tribe says future growth prospects may embody a bigger gaming house, a lodge, and an occasions heart. Within the meantime, Dakota County and South Sioux Metropolis will profit by accumulating 25% of the on line casino income tax.
It is going to be an extra income supply to spend money on colleges and infrastructure in the neighborhood,” Morgan mentioned.
Building is to start within the spring of 2025.
Atokad No Extra
Ho-Chunk is rebranding its Nebraska racetracks to its WarHorse model. Horsemen’s Park in Omaha and the Lincoln Race Course identities are not any extra. The tribe can be folding on the Atokad Downs title for its new facility in South Sioux Metropolis.
Atokad is Dakota spelled backward. The monitor’s title paid homage to the ability’s host county of Dakota.
After the NHBPA shuttered Atokad Downs in 2012, Ho-Chunk acquired the property within the hopes that Nebraska would contemplate legalizing slot machines at state racetracks as a number of different states had completed to revitalize their horsemen. Although it took eight years, the tribe received its manner in 2020.
Ho-Chunk helped bankroll the 2020 on line casino referendum with money contributions of about $6 million. The tribe was the first funder of the “Hold the Cash in Nebraska” marketing campaign.
