"We initiated discussions about a potential new Caesars casino project at the Mall of America in Minnesota," said Wallace R. Barr, Park Place's president and CEO as part of the company's recent third quarter earnings report.
The proposal would require approval from a governor and legislature that have resisted expansion of gambling in Minnesota. And if state policymakers opted for expansion, the casino would have to compete with other interests for the right to run new gambling operations. State law now limits casinos to Minnesota's 11 Indian reservations.
The Simon Property Group owns the mall and also owns the Forum Shops, a mall at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The casino would be part of the mall's plans to double in size within the next five years.
Park Place Entertainment, which said it would change its name to Caesar's Entertainment in January, is among the world's largest casino companies with $4.7 billion in annual revenues. The company owns Caesar's Palace and Bally's in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the Flamingo and Paris in Las Vegas, and is the largest casino operator in Mississippi.
Gambling companies like Park Place have been scouring the country for new opportunities created by state budget crises. Gambling proceeds, a non-tax revenue source, are attractive to cash-strapped state officials. In Minnesota, momentum for casino expansion has been building for several years. Bills to establish one or more state-owned casinos have been introduced several times since 1997. One came close to passing this year when the House approved a state-operated casino at Canterbury Park.
The Caesar's plan would face big political hurdles from those who oppose gambling as well as Indian casino operators, a powerful lobbying force in the state. The Caesars proposal also faces legal obstacles would also require a change in the constitution, or management by a state-run agency, such as the State Lottery.
Another hurdle is determining who owns and controls the Mall of America. Simon Property Group recently lost a lawsuit with its partner, Triple Five Corp., and was ordered to sell a stake in the mall that would essentially turn control of it over to Triple Five, owned by the Ghermezian family of Canada. Ghermezian's representatives said that despite being an owner of the mall, they hadn't been told about the Caesar's negotiations.
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