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Churchill Downs planning to sell del Lago casino
The hotel at del Lago Resort & Casino. (file photo)
The hotel at del Lago Resort & Casino. (file photo)
Churchill Downs planning to sell del Lago casino
The owner of del Lago Resort & Casino is preparing to put the Seneca County entertainment facility and seven other gambling properties up for sale.
Churchill Downs Inc., in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, said gaming operations don’t fit into the corporation’s long-range plans.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs acquired del Lago in 2022 through the purchase of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment.
Peninsula Pacific, a California-based entity, and Wilmorite Management Group, LLC of Rochester, jointly developed the casino, hotel, spa and theater. The venue opened in 2017, just off New York State Thruway Exit 41 in the town of Tyre.
The Wilmot family sold its 50-percent share to Peninsula Pacific in 2019. Three years later, Churchill Downs bought del Lago and Peninsula Pacific properties in New Kent, Virginia (Colonial Downs Racetrack) and Sioux City, Iowa (Hard Rock Hotel & Casino).
In Wednesday’s Form 8-K filing —a regulatory document provided to the Securities & Exchange Commission to alert shareholders to major events — Churchill Downs said it has “completed a comprehensive review of the company’s operational portfolio and long-term capital allocation priorities.”
The filing also said “the company is exploring various options to sell” its wholly owned regional gaming properties.
Revenue filings with the New York State Gaming Commission show gross gaming revenues of $168,652,089 for del Lago for the fiscal year ending in March. That was del Lago’s best year since opening.
The just-completed first quarter also was the best April-May-June period since del Lago opened, with gross gaming revenue of just $45 million.
Other Churchill Downs entities on the sales block are casinos in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.
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