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Two decades ago, a Las Vegas company bet a small fortune — $300 million — that a riverboat casino downriver from Louisville could strike a gusher of cash.
Now, as the former Caesars riverboat marks its 20th anniversary, there's little question among community leaders, casino executives and industry analysts that the bet has paid off in spades, not only for the global gaming company but for a once cash-starved Indiana county.
Even as new competition in Louisville threatens to slice the casino's take and a mature gambling market means less money flowing to Indiana tax coffers and two charitable foundations, nobody argues that Horseshoe Southern Indiana hasn't delivered the kind of economic development jolt that Hoosier lawmakers envisioned when they legalized casinos 25 years ago.
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'You'd have to be sitting at the back of a really long bus not to see all the things the casino has done for Harrison County,' county commissioner Kenny Saulman said.
The numbers are staggering. From its opening on Nov. 20, 1998, through last month, the riverboat now known as Horseshoe Southern Indiana has won more than $5.2 billion from gamblers.
The complex about 14 miles downriver from Louisville also has generated more than $1.1 billion in state gaming and admissions taxes. About $474 million of it has flowed to Harrison County, which also received another $181 million in profit sharing.
Voters in Harrison, population 39,300, approved a required referendum to allow a casino to anchor along its shoreline, seizing the opportunity when voters in neighboring Floyd and Clark counties rejected the chance.
Both counties would have been put ahead of Harrison for a gaming license because regulators favored a site closest to Louisville, the new boat's core market.
Beyond transforming a mostly rural Hoosier county, the boat's arrival is universally seen as a catalyst for Churchill Downs modernizing its property and competing harder to lure back thousands of patrons who've beat a path to the boat, open for business year-round and nearly 24-7.
Churchill executives a decade ago credited the casino for forcing it to freshen its century-old track and add new amenities after seeing its attendance and on-track wagering decline 20 percent. It sank $121 million into an initial renovation and subsequently has plowed millions more into major investments, in large part to stave off the casino competition.
Previously: Horseshoe Southern Indiana reopening hotel and spa as Ohio River recedes
Churchill fired back in a big way this fall, opening its $65 million Derby City Gaming, with 900 'historical racing machines' that feel just like slots. Its first full month of business in October dealt Horseshoe a $2 million drop in slots revenue.
Casino execs recognize such an incursion now can't go unchecked. Horseshoe is banking on a $85 million land-based facility opening late next year to solidify and grow its customer base.
The switch should help increase gross revenues, the same way such moves have paid off elsewhere, said Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Hannah News Service's newsletters on Hoosier gambling and legislation.
'It just makes things easier for the property ... (and) people really seem to prefer the convenience of not having to board a boat,' he said.
Not all fun and games at the boat
New competition in Indianapolis and rural French Lick, Indiana, during the last decade has cannibalized Horseshoe's annual revenues. But nothing's been harsher than the general downturn in the U.S. gambling market.
Bus Tours Leaving Louisville Ky
While the economy has rebounded, paychecks and discretionary cash for many people haven't kept pace, said Brad Seigel, Horseshoe's general manager.
The casino reported $253 million in revenues last year, far short of its historical high of $341 million in 2007. With more gambling expansion in the region, Horseshoe can't expect to regain the heights of old, Seigel said. 'After 20 years, you'd call it a mature market.'
Even with reduced revenues, the cash flowing to Harrison government and two community foundations has been huge, said state Rep. Karen Engleman, a Republican from New Salisbury, Indiana, and a former county auditor.
The cash to local government, about $26 million during the recent fiscal year, has gone to a countywide sewer system, miles of new water lines and even more miles of gravel roads now paved with asphalt. A new Boys & Girls Club facility recently opened, too.
'There's been a lot of good done with the money,' Engleman said. 'They've spent here and set aside in other places. They've not just blown it all.'
Judge: 'Instant-racing' machines don't violate state gambling laws
Harrison's community foundation, which received a record $16 million in revenue sharing contributions a decade ago, now gets about $8 million, said CEO Steve Gilliland.
The foundation has awarded $92 million in grants to fund college scholarships for nearly 2,000 high school students and adults and to pay for preschool for nearly 600 low-income 4-year-olds. It's given $13 million toward a new county hospital and an array of other projects.
The investment that Saulman, the county commissioner, and other boosters highlight is a $5 million investment in a fiber backbone that's now extending high-speed internet access to all 12 townships in the county.
In nearby Floyd County, a smaller Horseshoe Foundation has received nearly $60 million in boat cash and awarded $44 million in scholarships. With an emphasis on human services, a big chunk has gone to support soup kitchens, clothes closets and backpacks for low-income students.
Its signature investment is a $20 million commitment to the YMCA in New Albany, said executive director Jerry Finn.
The Y project has triggered a wave of investment in the city's downtown. New restaurants, boutiques and other shops have sprung up in the last 10 years. 'That would not have happened had that Y not been built,' Finn said.
Taking the good with the bad
Not everyone is a fan. Anti-gambling opponents had warned any gaming venue was bound to attract seedy elements, and some surfaced in unexpected ways. Take the adult bookstore that opened in 2004 on New Albany's West Main Street, a location the owners liked for the heavy traffic headed to the casino.
The city spent six years and more than $500,000 in legal fees in a futile battle to shut the place down before the business lost its lease and pulled out in early 2014.
There have been arrests of drug dealers accused of laundering $3 million, cheaters, and parents who've left kids in vehicles while they gambled. Police arrested a Virginia woman in the summer of 2000 after she left six children inside an SUV while visiting the slots.
Some 675 people have requested self-exclusion, banning themselves from entry so they can't lose more of their money.
One of the biggest challenges for the boat has been the mighty Ohio River, which has flooded the casino's boarding facility and swamped Indiana State Highway 111. When the road floods, according to the casino's safety plan, the whole place shuts down.
That has cost tens of millions of dollars in lost wagering, and having a land-based venue won't change that because boat or no boat, the road will still occasionally flood. But other casinos have weathered bridge shutdowns, heavy snow and ice and their own floods, Feigenbaum said, so 'you're a prisoner of your site. That can be good and bad.'
The bigger challenge ahead for Horseshoe and other casinos is staying relevant as demographics shift. As baby boomers who love slots give way to millennials and younger customers, gaming operators will need to offer more interactive, collaborative experiences.
'They've got to be able to capture that next generation,' Feigenbaum said. 'That's going to be critical for the casinos of the future.'
Grace Schneider: 502-582-4082; gschneider@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @gesinfk. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/graces.
Casinos Near Louisville Ky
Louisville is perfectly placed in the middle of a million adventures. We are famously located within 500 miles of 50 percent of the U.S. population, so towns and cities of all sorts are within a half-day drive. That means you can eat breakfast at home and be somewhere totally new in a state of vacation bliss by the time your tummy rumbles for lunch.
West Baden, Indiana
ONE HOUR (56.7 miles from downtown Louisville)
Before you've had enough time to take in the glory of that new hit album, you find yourself on a tree-lined, grand driveway heading toward an ornate dome. You feel like Jay Gatsby without the paranoia as you swoop past vintage cars and horse-drawn carriages, and your eyes are dazzled by the old school charm around every corner when you enter the town's namesake hotel. At the bar there's a woman playing the harp, golfers stand round in plus fours and a fellow guest is swooning on a silk chaise lounge, a paperback novel clutched to her chest. Yes, you've discovered the old spring town of West Baden, famous for its French Lick casino and Pete Dye golf course but beloved for its refusal to let go of the past. You'll feel like you've gone back to the decadent 1920s and won't want to ever return to the future.
Known to be one of the most haunted places in America, you can take a ghost tour of the hotel and surrounding grounds — and cemetery — with a local historian. When your goosebumps have subsided you can ask about the famous guests that have hung out there and sip a Manhattan under the dome, which was labeled the 'eighth wonder of the world' when it was first revealed in 1902.
For more info visit frenchlick.com.
New Harmony, Indiana
TWO HOURS (132 miles from downtown Louisville)
Where history meets hip, this charming old town was established by the groovy, peace-loving Harmony Society in 1814. It became known as a place to advance the good things in life, its residents establishing the first free library and civic drama club. Still a picturesque place that runs on good vibes, the town has been maintained and restored to look much the way it did — but with the added bonus of its buildings now being filled with delicious places to dine.
If you're traveling with kids, Playtopia in Murphy Park, 1014 Main St., is heaven — the children will have the time of their lives darting around the miniature playhouse version of New Harmony's Main Street — and the Atheneum grounds offer wide skies and green grass for kite-flying, and the best sunset spot in town.
For more info visit visitnewharmony.com.
Columbus, Ohio
THREE HOURS (208 miles from downtown Louisville)
This industrial city has become something of the King of Festivals, and throughout the summer they are celebrating just about everything with live music, great food and free entertainment. Whatever weekend you choose to drive up there, something will get your pulse beating faster. There's the summer jam for the art crowd, the Ohio Hills folk festival for country bumpkins, the Black Theatre Festival for lit lovers, the Lilyfest for horticultural hoggers and the Ohio Wine Festival for those who like a drink. If you're not up for the crowds a festival attract, head to COSI, the city's Center of Science and Industry, 333 W Broad St., and one of the most respected science museums in the nation. Or stroll through German Village, a cool district that houses many artist galleries and cool coffee shops.
Bowl till you drop at Columbus Square Bowling Palace, 5707 Forest Hills Blvd, open 24/7. Stroll through the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, 1777 E Broad St., searching for Dale Chihuly's glass artworks. Sign up for one of the 300 bicycles from 30 stations as part of the city's forward-thinking Bike Share program.
For more information visit experiencecolumbus.com.
St. Louis, Missouri
FOUR HOURS (260 miles from downtown Louisville)
Catch a game — and if you're lucky a ball — at Busch Stadium, 700 Clark Ave., where 11-time World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals play. Then head to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, 1200 Lynch St., for a tour of all things hops and a chill out in their new German-style beer garden. Let out a roar at Saint Louis Zoo, 1 Government Drive, which has 19,800 animals located on 90 acres of beautiful forest and is one of the only free zoos in the nation. And no trip to St. Louis is complete without trying the local delicacy — frozen custard from Ted Drewes. Your taste buds will thank you for it! Oh, and did we mention the arch?
For more info visit explorestlouis.com.
Chicago, Illinois
FIVE HOURS (300 miles from downtown Louisville)
The nearest place to Louisville that is sexy enough to have the same shops and restaurants as New York and Los Angeles, the third-largest U.S. city is a shiny metropolis with a heart — it can play with the big boys while keeping its Midwest charm. And this makes it epic. The home of Oprah Winfrey, a strut along the Magnificent Mile will test your eyeballs as much as your wallet. Escape from the hustle and bustle at the hottest place in town, The Langham, 330 N. Wabash Ave., – where a delightful afternoon tea is served every afternoon on Wedgwood china. Nibble at a fairytale variety of sandwiches, scones, macaroons and cakes while you sip the globe's finest teas, tap your toes to the live music swirling from the grand piano or converse next to the glowing fireplace. As an English woman and 'Downton Abbey' fanatic, I can guarantee there is no finer place to take your tea in America. If you're too stuffed to move on, the Langham's bedrooms offer floor-to-ceiling windows providing unbeatable views of the skyline and Chicago River — so you won't miss out on Windy City life while you recuperate from your food coma.
You have to climb to the top of the Willis Tower, 233 S Wacker Drive, and step out onto The Ledge — a suspended glass box 1,000 feet up — then calm your heart rate with a relaxing river cruise, taking in the city's interesting architecture. Next, snap countless selfies underneath the breathtaking Cloud Gate sculpture (known locally as 'the bean') and stroll through its home, Millennium Park. Lastly, gawp at famous paintings at The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S Michigan Ave., home to the celebrated American Gothic by Grant Wood.
For more info visit choosechicago.com.