Maryland’s slot machine aspirations took a severe blow Wednesday with the revelation that developers’ initial plans call for just 6,550 of an expected 15,000 machines statewide if two applications not in compliance with state law are disqualified.
Applications by the Maryland Jockey Club, owner of Laurel Park, for the Anne Arundel slots location and by Empire Rock Gap LLC for the Rocky Gap State Park location both did not include an application fee required by state law.
» Laurel Racing Association/Maryland Jockey Club — Laurel Park, 3,000 machines (did not submit application fee)
» PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC — Arundel Mills Mall, 4,750 machines
» Baltimore City Entertainment Group LP — Baltimore City, 500 machines initially/3,750 maximum
» Ocean Enterprises LLC — Ocean Downs, 800 machines initially/1,500 maximum
» Penn Cecil Maryland Inc./Penn National Gaming — Perryville, 500 machines initially/1,500 maximum
» Empire Rocky Gap LLC — Rocky Gap State Park, 750 machines initially/1,500 maximum (did not submit application fee)
Also, state officials downwardly revised an estimate issued Monday after an application by Baltimore Entertainment Group LP was found to call for 500 slots at a Baltimore City location, not 3,000 as originally thought.
If the Rocky Gap and Maryland Jockey Club bids are disqualified, the remaining proposals would create just 6,550 slots initially at sites in Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties and Baltimore City. The state had hoped for 15,000 slots which would hypothetically generate $1.3 billion in revenue by 2013.
The state’s Video Lottery Facility Location Commission will meet next week to decide whether to allow the Rocky Gap and Jockey Club bids to go forward, said Don Fry, the commission’s chairman.
“It’s not appropriate for me as a single commissioner to say we’re not going to consider a proposal,” Fry said. “It’s an issue for the entire commission to take up.”
Magna Entertainment Corp., parent company of the Maryland Jockey Club, said in a news release late Monday it had submitted an application for 4,750 terminals, but not the $28.5 million fee it would have required. However, Fry said the company’s proposal differs from that release, calling for 3,000 machines.
Magna had lost $116 million this year as of Sept. 30, and owes hundreds of millions more to its own parent company and other creditors.
State officials were not pleased with the company’s failure to pay up.
“You’ve got to pay to play,” Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Tuesday before the remaining bids were publicly revealed.
Empire Rock Gap LLC said its proposal would go forward, and the application fee would be paid, only if the state revised the cut of slots revenue the company pockets, and if the state allowed the slots parlor to be attached to the park’s resort, rather than be a free-standing building. Changing either would require new legislation to be passed.
Other bids include one from PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC, owned by partners in the Baltimore-based Cordish Co., for a 4,750-slot facility near Arundel Mills Mall; an 800-machine facility at Ocean Downs in Berlin by the owners of that track; and a 500-slot development in Perryville by Penn National Gaming.
Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold said he would work to change zoning legislation for any location the commission approved, and would protect neighborhoods around Arundel Mills from increased noise, traffic,and public safety concerns.
Jon Cordish, vice-president of The Cordish Co., touted his company’s Arundel Mills plan as building on the 14 million annual visitors the complex already sees.
However, Cordish said the state must toss out applicants who failed to pay the application fee.
“The Senate bill is unequivocal that an applicant must submit a fee with an application. The [request for proposal] is as well,” Cordish said. “Any application that doesn’t include that fee is clearly legally defective and incomplete, and the RFP is clear that any such application must be rejected.”
Staff Writer Len Lazarick contributed to this story.
