Companies challenge awarding of Baltimore casino license to Caesars

Caesars Entertainment Corp. has some competition for its casino license in downtown Baltimore.

Two groups — Baltimore-based Harborwest Partners LLC and Canadian-led Baltimore City Entertainment Group — filed objections with the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals and said the bid process should be reopened.

The groups said bids were solicited for a basic slot machine-only parlor, and bids for the project should be reopened now that the state’s General Assembly has authorized table games such as poker and blackjack.

Neither company filed for gaming license application in the recent go-around. The contract was awarded to Caesars last month, which plans to spend $300 million to build Harrah’s Baltimore near the city’s two sports stadiums.

The casino will have 3,750 slot machines but could add table games in Maryland voters a change in the state’s gaming laws in the November elections.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Maryland attorney general’s office asked the board to dismiss the appeals on the grounds that the companies did not respond to the most recent bidding on the project and therefore have no standing.