The end of year deadline for casino proposals in Wyandotte County (WyCo) to be submitted to the Kansas Lottery Commission has passed. Surprisingly Las Vegas Sands Corp has presented two proposals even though the projects have not received official endorsement. In September six proposals were submitted for WyCo, including one from Kansas Sands. Following a review by Unified Government officials, proposals by Pinnacle and Sands were recommended for denial. The UG Board of Commissioners upheld the recommendation.

As one of the original six proposals was later withdrawn as being unable to compete with the scale of the other projects, the three remaining proposals were endorsed for further consideration by the Kansas Lottery Commission. The second Pinnacle site, included in its proposal, was also endorsed. A final selection from the four projects will be made by the KLC and its Lottery Facility Gaming Review Board, and the winner is expected to be announced by next summer. So far it is not known how the UG Board of Commissioners will react to the Sands unendorsed submissions.

The WyCo casino proposals will be reviewed by the KLC along with submissions from the other three gaming zones in Kansas. The Southwest has two proposals, South-Central four and Southeast just one from Penn National Gaming. The company has also submitted a proposal for South-Central, as has MGM Mirage with Foxwoods Development, Marvel Gaming and Sumner Gaming Joint Venture.

Butler National Corporation and the Dodge City Resort and Gaming Company are the two contenders in the Southwest zone. The four endorsed proposals for WyCo are Pinnacle Entertainment, Kansas Speedway with Cordish Co, RED Development with Mohegan Sun and Olympia Gaming, and Golden Gaming.

The Kansas Legislature passed the Bill creating four gaming zones last April, and voters approved the measure by 80% in favour in June. Lobbying for casinos in Kansas started over thirteen years ago. (E-01.03.08)

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