Detroit Casino News - 2002
December 13, 2002
Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick's Administration recently unveiled its $559 million
Riverfront Redevelopment Plan designed to revive the fading stretch
of land along the Detroit River running from Joe Louis Arena to
Belle Isle. As no casinos were included in the plan itself, the
Administration’s plan was the final death knell for any proposed
riverfront casinos. The City’s permanent casinos will be built
downtown, away from the Detroit River.
December 11, 2002
In the wake of a
federal court decision that Detroit’s casino preferences were
unconstitutional, the community group People Reinvesting in
Detroit’s Enterprises (PRIDE) is hoping that the April 29 referendum
ballot will include a measure granting one of Detroit’s three
permanent casino licenses to the City itself. As of the present, all
issues as to the permanent Detroit casinos are at a stand-still as
the City awaits a decision from the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals in the Lac Vieux lawsuit.
November 21, 2002
Recent casino revenue
reports for the period July 1, 2002 to September 30, 2002, indicate
that
MotorCity Casino, with revenue of $101.4 million, is the most
profitable of the Detroit-area casinos.
Casino Windsor was second on
the list with revenue of $97.3 million, followed by
MGM Grand
Detroit Casino with revenue of $94.4 million. The final operator,
Greektown Casino, reported revenue of $82.6 million for the period.
October 15, 2002
The September Total
Adjusted Gross Revenue results were reported by the
Michigan Gaming
Control Board for the three Detroit casinos. The
MGM Grand
Detroit
revenue for September 2002 was up four percent from 2001 at
$32,210,963.77.
MotorCity Casino's and
Greektown Casino's figures
were up about five percent from September 2001 with $31,430,824.13
and $25,688,839.87, respectively. Thus far, wagering taxes for the
City of Detroit have been nearly $85,000,000 and for Michigan,
almost $68,000,000.
August 15, 2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board released the July, 2002 Total Adjusted Gross Revenue
for the three Detroit casino operations.
MotorCity Casino showed the
highest profits of the three casinos in July with $34,576,497.84;
MGM Grand
Detroit's July profits were $30,817,595.67; and July
revenue for
Greektown Casino was $28,070,250.86.
August 2, 2002
The
Detroit City
Council approved the Detroit casino development agreement
amendments. The long-term agreements will allow the three operators
to proceed with the construction of the permanent casinos. The City
Council votes tallied as:
MGM Grand Detroit Casino (6-3);
MotorCity Casino (6-3) and
Greektown Casino (8-1).
July 15, 2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board released the Total Adjusted Gross Revenue for the
three Detroit casino operations. The figures released by the State
Gaming Control Board are the gross receipts less winnings paid to wagerers. MotorCity Casino had the most profitable month, taking in
$32,864,130.97.
MGM Grand
Detroit earned $30,729,140.13 in June.
Greektown Casino brought in $24,891,440.93 last month. To date the
City has received $58,000,000 and the State has received $46,000,000
in wagering taxes alone.
July 9, 2002
Judge Robert Holmes
Bell issued a 31-page opinion in the
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians v. Michigan Gaming Control Board, et al.
lawsuit denying the Lac Vieux Tribe's request for a new casino
development selection process in the City of Detroit. The decision
came in response to the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
ruling on January 11, 2002 that found that a preference contained in
the Detroit Casino Selection Process Ordinance was unconstitutional.
The 6th Circuit remanded the case to Judge Bell to determine what
relief was appropriate. Judge Bell’s decision today determined that
the appropriate relief is a declaration that the preference is
unconstitutional.
June 26,
2002
Officials from
Greektown Casino told the
Detroit City Council that they hope to
erect their permanent casinos between St. Antoine, Gratiot, Clinton
and the I-375 service drive and not in the current location of their
temporary casino. The new projected site for the permanent casino is
located on the northern border of the Greektown district of Detroit.
The new location offers 7.5 acres as opposed to the site of the
temporary casino, which only offers 2.5 acres. Construction could
begin as soon as January 2003 and the complex could be complete by
the end of 2005.
June 26, 2002
MotorCity Casino
presented its plans for a permanent casino complex to the City
Council. The casino plans to construct the permanent facility where
its temporary casino now stands. Officials stated that
MotorCity Casino's permanent casino complex would compete with the best hotels
that the Detroit/Windsor region has to offer. Hotel rooms at MotorCity are going to be 100 square feet larger than the
Ritz-Carleton in Dearborn and the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham.
June 17, 2002
The United States
Supreme Court denied certiorari (an interim appeal) by the City of
Detroit concerning the city's casino ordinance in the
Lac Vieux
Desert Band v. City of Detroit case. The Court's refusal leaves the
case to be decided by
Grand Rapids Federal District Court
Judge
Robert Holmes Bell with whom the case now sits. Judge Bell listened
to arguments from the various parties on May 1, 2002, and is
expected to issue a decision any day.
June 15,
2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board released the revenue figures for the month of May,
2002.
MotorCity Casino earned $33,885,981.07, slightly more than
MGM Grand
Detroit, which took in $33,603,150.03.
Greektown Casino
brought in $27,811,202.65.
Casino Windsor's earnings have climbed
from about $88 million from the last quarter of 2001 to $102 million
through the first quarter of 2002.
June 12,
2002
The
Detroit City
Council voted to approve an extension to the existing Detroit Casino
Development Agreements until July 31, 2002. The Agreements between
MotorCity Casino,
Greektown Casino and
MGM Grand
Detroit Casino were
previously slated to expire on June 15, 2002. During the course of
the next 45 days it is expected that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick,
the Detroit casino operators, and the
Detroit City
Council will
finalize and approve various amendments to the agreements.
June 5, 2002
Windsor's City
Council has approved a plan to invest roughly $800,000 into its
bingo industry each year. Some of the recommendations that will
quickly take shape include forming a Bingo Industry Group as a means
of sharing information and networking within the bingo industry.
Also, plans are to hire a market research firm to conduct market
surveys to decipher consumer tendencies, likes and dislikes. The
plan is expected to run between $775,000 and $835,000 each year.
May 29, 2002
The
Detroit City
Council adopted a Resolution rejecting the Detroit Casino
Development Agreement Amendments that the Mayor had negotiated. The
Council’s Resolution requested that the Mayor return to the
negotiating table to seek to amend the Agreements to increase the
payments that the City receives from the Casino Operators.
May 29, 2002
The
Detroit City
Council adopted a Resolution rejecting the proposed Amendments to
the Detroit Casino Development Agreements. The Mayor has until June
15 to structure another deal that satisfies the Council. However, if
both sides do not agree by the 15th, then it is likely that an
extension to the existing Agreement will be approved.
May 22, 2002
Alliance Gaming
Corporation announced that it has received regulatory approvals to
conduct field trials for its SDS Ticketing product in both Nevada
and Michigan. The system will allow the use of printed tickets for
payout, which can be inserted in other machines for credits or can
be cashed in. The field trials in Michigan will take place at
Greektown Casino beginning early this summer and will make Greektown
the first casino in the Detroit/Windsor region to offer ticket-in/
ticket-out gaming.
May 17, 2002
The Detroit News and
Detroit Free Press reported today that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will
be meeting with the
Detroit City
Council to discuss the pending
Detroit Casino Development Agreement Amendments. The Amendments to
the Agreements pertain to details related to: 1) construction of the
permanent casinos; 2) fees paid to the City for hosting casinos; and
3) numerous details related to the obligations of the City and the
developers. The
Detroit City
Council expressed its concerns about
the current proposed Amendments in a 14-page letter to the Mayor
earlier this week.
May 15, 2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board has released the monthly revenue figures for the three
Detroit casinos. During the month of April
MGM Grand
Detroit brought
in $34,989,268 in revenues. Through the first four months of 2002
MGM Grand
Detroit has earned $139,869,648.
MotorCity Casino
generated $33,881,475 during April and has brought in $138,066,989
thus far in 2002.
Greektown Casino earned $28,257,952 in April and
has gained $110,677,162 through the first four months of 2002.
May 9, 2002
Two of the founders
of the Detroit Windsor Chapter of the Casino Management Association
have recently been appointed to the organization's National Board.
In February of 2002, John Hawkins, vice president of Slot Operations
for Greektown, and Robert R. Russell II, senior gaming analyst and
editor of The Michigan Gaming Law Newsletter for Fraser Trebilcock
Davis & Dunlap, P.C., accepted an invitation to join the National
CMA Board. Mr. Russell and Mr. Hawkins are two of the 15 founders of
the Detroit Windsor CMA Chapter, the first chapter of the
organization to be created outside of Nevada.
May 8, 2002
The
Detroit Free
Press published its special annual section "The Best of Detroit,
2002." In the readers' choice poll,
Greektown Casino was voted the
best "place to be seen." Also, readers of the Detroit Free Press
voted
Greektown Casino Detroit's "best casino."
MotorCity Casino was
touted as having the "best casino food." MGM Grand was selected as
having both the "best casino dealers" and the "best casino parking."
The
Detroit Free
Press named
Casino Windsor "best bet," and stated, "Casino Windsor, with 100,000 square feet of gaming space, is the biggest of
the Detroit-area casinos.
May 1, 2002
In the Grand Rapids
U.S. District Court, Judge Robert Holmes Bell held a Show Cause
Hearing in Lac Vieux v.
Michigan Gaming
Control Board, et.al. The
hearing was held in response to a January 2002 United States 6th
Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that the Detroit Casino Selection
Process Ordinance was unconstitutional. Judge Bell advised the
parties that they have 28 days to file additional briefs before he
will make any further ruling in the case.
April 24, 2002
Seven people from
Chicago, one man and six women, have been arrested for writing bogus
checks and attempting to cash them at Detroit casinos. Five people
were arrested on April 6, and two more were arrested on April 13.
The fraudulent checks were written for amounts from $200 to $2,000.
In all there are 13 checks attributed to the seven people charged in
the matter totaling nearly $17,000. Charges against the seven
perpetrators include "uttering and publishing," "conspiracy to utter
and publish" and "aiding and abetting the crime of uttering and
publishing." The maximum penalties for these crimes are 14 years in
prison and a $10,000 fine. The casinos are fitted with high-tech
security and surveillance equipment which played a valuable role in
apprehending the perpetrators. The casinos noted that they
discovered some bad checks from Indiana and from there began to
closely monitor Indiana checks and IDs. These measures assisted the
State Police in apprehending the suspects at the two casinos.
April 24, 2002
The
Detroit City
Council adopted the 6th Amendment to the Detroit Casino Development
Agreements. The Amendment extends the current Development Agreements
for
MotorCity Casino,
Greektown Casino and
MGM Grand
Detroit Casino
until June 15, 2002. The extension gives the City Council more time
to review the larger changes to the Development Agreements that
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the three developers have negotiated.
April 22, 2002
Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick submitted finalized Development Agreements from
Greektown Casino and
MGM Grand
Detroit Casino to the City Council. The
Agreements discuss the deal between the City and the casinos with
respect to the building of permanent facilities. As speculated, Greektown will remain where it now stands, converting its
functioning temporary casino into a permanent facility.
MGM Grand
Detroit has not yet settled on an exact site. MGM purchased the
State Plaza Building that lies directly across the Lodge Freeway
from its temporary casino last week but continues to entertain
alternate locations. Both casinos have agreed to build 400-room
hotels immediately and, depending on demand, may add up to 400 more
rooms within five years. Both casinos agreed to include new
convention facilities, theaters, retail facilities and new
restaurants and bars. Gaming space at each casino will expand from
the current 75,000 square feet in the temporary facilities to
100,000 square feet in the permanent facilities. Further, each
casino will forgive a $50 million debt owed to them by the City,
they will each pay the city $34 million in two installments and the
City will acquire 42.5 acres of riverfront property.
MotorCity Casino's Development Agreement expects to be submitted soon.
April 15, 2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board released the revenue figures for March for the three
Detroit Casinos.
MotorCity Casino brought in $37,282,523.71 and paid
$3,019,884.42 in city and state taxes. MotorCity slightly topped
MGM Grand
Detroit's monthly revenues of $35,763,563.63. MGM Grand paid
$2,896,848.65 in city and state taxes. Greektown took in
$29,304,762.19 and paid $2,373,685.74 in taxes for the month of
March. Through three months in 2002 the three Detroit casinos have
earned $291,405,104.84 and have generated $23,610,293.49 for city
and state coffers, which is a 19 percent increase over the same
period one year ago.
April 12, 2002
MGM Mirage bid $12.5
million for the State Plaza Building across the Lodge Freeway from
its temporary casino site. The company placed the only bid on the
building. The move suggests that MGM may be falling in line with Greektown and
MotorCity Casinos and planning to erect its permanent
facilities where its temporary casino now stands. A spokesperson for
MGM stated that the company was still looking at other potential
sites, but that this move gives it the option to remain at the
current, temporary location.
MGM has until June 11th to retract its
bid. The deal must be closed by July 11th.
March 29, 2002
The
Detroit City
Council unanimously voted to approve amendments to the existing
Casino Development Agreements providing for a 30-day extension to
finalize plans for the permanent casinos. On March 28th, members of
the Council had expressed concern about the 30-day time frame and
had passed a resolution authorizing a 60-day extension. After
receiving assurances from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that, "…if we
approach the end of the 30-day deadline and the members of this
Honorable Body feel more time is needed, I am willing to oblige."
The City Council took its formal action approving the amendment.
March 25,
2002
During the course of
the last 70 plus days, Detroit's City Administration has been
negotiating with
MGM Grand
Detroit Casino,
MotorCity Casino and
Greektown Casino to finalize plans that would bring permanent casino
structures to Detroit’s downtown. Mayor Kilpatrick, the City
Council, casino executives and city officials held a press
conference announcing the terms of the proposed New Agreements. The
Agreements will call for
Greektown Casino and
MotorCity Casino to
reconfigure their temporary facilities into permanent structures.
MGM Grand
Detroit Casino will move into a new permanent casino,
located generally within an area bounded by Jefferson Ave. on the
south, I-375 on the east, I-75, Grand River and Sycamore Street on
the north and Trumbull on the west. The current terms put to rest
any speculation that the permanent casinos will locate on the East
Detroit Riverfront. The finalized formal Agreements will be
submitted to the City Council for approval.
March 21, 2002
Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick scaled back the details of Detroit's agreements with its
three casinos. Previously, each casino was required to build
800-room hotels when constructing their permanent facilities. The
Mayor will now ask that 400-room hotels be constructed instead.
Further, the casinos will no longer be required to contribute to a
City Development Fund, nor will they have to help build a
river-front park. Originally, former Mayor Dennis Archer hoped to
position all three permanent casinos on the Detroit River. When this
fell through, the City was left owing the three casinos the $150
million given to it to acquire the land. The casinos will forgive
the City's debt in exchange for scaling back their obligations.
March 20, 2002
Detroit's Metro
Convention & Tourism Bureau announced a 10-year plan to increase
tourism and visitor spending in southeastern Michigan. The Bureau
has formed a committee of renowned political, civic and business
leaders from Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties to develop and
implement the plan. The plan offers six priorities: 1) reducing
crime, 2) improving the area's appearance, 3) creating better public
transit, 4) marketing the region as a distinct destination, 5)
regional collaboration, 6) developing new attractions. The Bureau
also stated that it hopes to use Detroit's three casinos, Comerica
Park, Ford Field and the new midfield terminal at Metro Airport to
its advantage.
March 15, 2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board released the February revenue figures for Detroit's
three casinos today. The revenues were up 25 percent from February
2001, but down slightly from January 2002.
MGM Grand
Detroit took in
$33.9 million,
MotorCity Casino took in $33.6 million and
Greektown Casino saw a jump of 36 percent from February 2001 to finish the
month taking in $26.9 million. This was the third best month since
all three casinos opened.
March 13, 2002
Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick delivered his State of the City address and, among other
things, spoke about resolving the casino issue. He stated that he
has told the casinos to find their own sites to erect permanent
structures within the city. He also stated that he and his staff
will be working hard to resolve the issue by March 31, 2002, when
the three casinos' current agreements with the city expire.
March 13, 2002
The Detroit News
reports that while awaiting word from U.S. District Court Judge
Robert Holmes Bell regarding a 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling
that declared Detroit's casino selection process unconstitutional,
the Lac Vieux Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians have filed a
motion requesting an injunction at the U.S. District Court in Grand
Rapids. According to The News, The Tribe is asking Judge Bell to
stop the short-term operation of the Detroit casinos unless a
conservator is appointed; to stop the casinos long-term operations
until Detroit institutes a new selection process and to prevent the
issuance of any new or renewed development agreements between the
city and the casinos under the unconstitutional law. The City's
current agreements with Detroit's casinos expire March 31st and have
been renewed several times prior to this.
February 22,
2002
MotorCity Casino's Iridescence Restaurant has
undergone a $350,000 remodeling job, removing the leather booths and
partial walls that gamers preferred. The move was done in response
to a trend that is not common in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. People
are coming to the restaurant simply to dine and have no intention of
gambling.
AAA will award Iridescence its Four-Diamond Award on March
13th. Only six Michigan restaurants will be given the award.
February 22, 2002
Parties involved in
the lawsuit concerning the constitutionality of the Detroit casino
licensing process submitted proposals to the U.S. District Court in
Grand Rapids today suggesting what Judge Robert Holmes Bell should
do next. The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Indians, the Tribe that brought the suit, requested the licenses of
the three Detroit casinos be revoked and that a conservator be
appointed to run the facilities until Detroit creates a new
licensing law and reissues the operator licenses. The defendants,
including the City of Detroit, the
Michigan Gaming
Control Board,
Atwater Entertainment, L.L.C. and
Greektown Casino, L.L.C., assert
that the Tribe has already received what it was entitled to
according to the lawsuit, the declaration that the Ordinance is
unconstitutional. Therefore, the defendants say, no action need be
taken.
Separate and apart
from the federal court case, this week The Detroit News reported
that the Lac Vieux Tribe sent letters to the City of Detroit and to
the
Michigan Gaming
Control Board threatening separate legal action
if the City and State do not give in to certain demands by March
8th.
February 15, 2002
The
Michigan Gaming
Control Board released the three Detroit casino's revenue figures
today for the month of January.
MGM Grand
Detroit took in
$35,225,125.14,
MotorCity Casino took in $33,345,361.87 and
Greektown Casino brought in $26,191,327.25. The numbers continue the
trend from the end of 2001, rising steadily into 2002.
February 12, 2002
Tuesday night, the
Michigan Gaming
Control Board held its first monthly meeting under
the leadership of its new Chair, former Detroit Mayor and retired
Michigan Court of Appeals Judge, Roman Gribbs. The meeting, which
consisted of a three-hour public session followed by a one hour
closed session, had a lengthy agenda of licensing and compliance
matters for the all-volunteer Board.
February 12, 2002
The first official
numbers released since the attacks of September 11th show
Casino Windsor's revenues down 23 percent in the third quarter. Its daily
visitor number was down 25 percent.
Casino Windsor, once the busiest
of the Detroit/Windsor area casinos, is still plagued by border
issues resulting from the attacks.
Casino Windsor not only loses the
top spot of the four area casinos, but drops nearly to the bottom,
edging
Greektown Casino by a very slim margin.
February 7, 2002
Judge Robert Holmes
Bell, of the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, has issued a
two-page order declaring that the Detroit City Ordinance that
awarded casino licenses to parties who actively campaigned to bring
casino gaming to Detroit is unconstitutional. Judge Bell set a
February 22, 2002, deadline for all parties involved in the suit to
submit proposals suggesting what should be done next.
February 3, 2002
Possibly in response
to the advertising campaign launched jointly by the three Detroit
casinos, with billboards asking patrons to "Play in the USA,"
Casino Windsor has brought back its "Tax Free Winnings in Canada"
billboards. The Windsor campaign resurfaced just in time for the
United States tax season. Although Canadian residents do not have to
pay taxes on gambling winnings, U.S. citizens do, even if their
winnings are from an out-of-country casino.
January 28, 2002
The Detroit Metro
Convention & Visitors Bureau announced today that it plans to create
a 10-year plan to transform southeastern Michigan into a top-notch
travel destination. The Bureau expects to release the plan in the
months to come and will appoint a committee of influential leaders
to carry out its plan.
January 17, 2002
A measure was adopted
yesterday by the
Detroit City
Council that will create standing
committees, changing the way business has been done for years. The
new system will be similar to the
U.S. Congress and Legislature and
the way those entities conduct business. The committees will focus
on investigating particular subjects and writing and creating
legislation. The vote to set up the committees was 5 to 4.
January 11, 2002
The U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has ruled that the City of Detroit
violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by including
preference language in its 1996 City Ordinance authorizing
off-reservation casino gaming. The suit was brought by the Lac Vieux
Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, based in Michigan's
western Upper Peninsula. The language in question includes a
licensing preference for casino developers who "made significant
contributions to the development of gaming within the City by
actively promoting and significantly supporting a state initiative
authorizing gaming." The district court that first heard the case
will now be charged with deciding what action to take.
January 8, 2002
Detroit's three
casino's began their first joint venture today erecting nine
billboards in the metro Detroit area encouraging gamblers to "Play
in the USA." The campaign cost the casinos about $30,000. The
billboards are displayed in Detroit, Romulus, Plymouth, Roseville,
Port Huron, and Monroe.
Casino Windsor also has begun its own
marketing campaign to lure back guests lost as a result of the
September 11th terrorist attacks.
Casino Windsor is offering
enhanced financial incentives for new gamblers and has announced
that it will be bolstering advertising.
January 4, 2002
Apparently 2002
will be the "year for technology" in the gaming industry with the
Michigan and Ontario regulators expected to complete their
investigations into three new forms of technology that will increase
the quality and efficiency of the gaming experience. One new option
is a multi-denominational betting slot machine. This new technology
allows patrons to wager different denominations of money on the same
machine. Another new option ("tokenization machines") lets players
bet as little as one cent per play. Both new technologies give
casinos a means of offering more games without using more floor
space. The tokenization machines will allow patrons to play penny
games without having to deal with pennies and penny tokens. The
Detroit Free Press reported that the two new slot machine functions
have only recently been approved by the
Michigan Gaming
Control Board. The new cashless technology will likely be offered to patrons
at the Michigan and Ontario properties
at the same time.
January 4, 2002
Detroit's new Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick was sworn in as one of the City’s youngest mayors
today, and in his own words, "…as a son of the City of Detroit." He
spoke of his love for his family and the City of Detroit, he
outlined his three-point priority list for his first year of office
and closed by requesting that Detroiters "rise up" and meet the
city's challenges. Mayor Kilpatrick also made his Detroit upbringing
known during his address, saying, "I was born here in the City of
Detroit, I was raised here in the City of Detroit, I went to these
Detroit Public Schools. I understand this city…and as many of you
understand, my entire family dwells within the walls of the City of
Detroit. This position is personal to me. It's much more than just
politics. I want you to understand that."
