Gaming Control Board recommends Tropicana purchase by Bally’s Corp.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Wednesday unanimously recommended approval and licensing of Providence, Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corp. to acquire the operations of Tropicana Las Vegas on the Strip.

Board members questioned Bally’s executives for nearly two hours before voting to approve the $308 million transaction from Penn Entertainment Inc., first announced in April 2021.

Once the transaction is completed, Bally’s said the Tropicana would become the company’s western flagship property. Bally’s already is licensed in Nevada for Bally’s Lake Tahoe in Northern Nevada.

The deal includes a land lease agreement with Penn-affiliated Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust, which will require Bally’s to pay GLPI $10.5 million a year for 50 years.

The recommendation will be considered for final approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Sept. 22.

The deal is expected to close Sept. 25 or 26.

Regulators said they had numerous questions for executives and the company’s compliance officers because Bally’s has expanded rapidly in the last two years. But board members said they were satisfied that the company’s oversight was adequate.

Bally’s CEO Lee Fenton, who appeared before the board online from London, said he first became interested in the gaming industry as chief operating officer and CEO of Gamesys Group, an online gaming operation based in the London that was acquired by Bally’s in March 2021 for $2.7 billion.

Gamesys has become the core of Bally’s online operation, which has nearly equal footing with the company’s commercial operations.

Dramatic expansion

Bally’s retail expansion has been dramatic.

George Papanier, president of retail for Bally’s, said in the past two years it has opened Bally’s Evansville in Indiana, Bally’s Quad Cities in Rock Island, Illinois, and it was the successful bidder to build the first and only casino in Chicago.

Papanier said the company would open a temporary casino in Chicago in June and complete the $1.7 billion resort at the former Chicago Tribune site on the Chicago River by the end of 2026.

The company has also begun construction on a casino in State College, Pennsylvania, and has remodeling projects worth $100 million at its Atlantic City and Rhode Island properties as well as a $50 million remodeling project at Bally’s Kansas City.

In Las Vegas, the company is contemplating whether it wants to upgrade or take on a complete redevelopment of the land, a decision that will be reached after further evaluation.

“Naturally, with so many assets acquired, we’re still in the process of integration, but we’ve made tremendous progress to date,” Fenton told board members.

Executives gave no commentary on whether the site could be part of a Major League Baseball stadium in partnership with the Oakland A’s. But the Tropicana location has been noted publicly as an option if the team elects to relocate to Southern Nevada.

Bally’s executives indicated operations would transition from Penn over the next six months, and there would be no major real estate improvements at the property in the next 12 to 24 months.

Executives said the staffing level at the resort would remain the same with no changes to the restaurant lineup in the immediate future.

Retaining Trop name

Papanier indicated that initially the resort would retain its Tropicana name, but as the company undertakes its transition to Bally’s, it could review other options.

The company is not affiliated with the Bally’s property a mile north on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is owned by Caesars Entertainment Inc. and is being rebranded as the Horseshoe Las Vegas.

Tropicana’s race and sportsbook will continue to be operated by William Hill, until the company is ready to transition to a Bally’s-branded sportsbook.

Executives also said the casino eventually would move to the company’s Bally Rewards Club loyalty program and that existing Tropicana customers could either take on the new program or use their Penn Entertainment mychoice loyalty points at the M Resort, which is operated by Penn.

Bally’s shares, traded on the Nasdaq exchange, were up 69 cents, 3 percent, to $23.85 a share on volume about half the daily average. The stock continued to climb by 1.43 percent in after-hours trading.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.