Casino bidder offers hundreds of millions in profits to Prince George’s hospital, teachers

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Casino bidder offers hundreds of millions in profits to Prince George’s hospital, teachers

The Pennsylvania-based company said it would give $100 million to the county hospital system over nine years and an estimated $219 million over 14 years for the creation of a retirement-benefit plan for county educators. An additional $200,000 would “be committed annually to community organizations and non-profits” in County Council District 8, where Rosecroft Raceway sits.

Penn National would make money two ways at Rosecroft, said Karen Bailey, vice president for public affairs for Penn National. A real estate investment trust the company is spinning off would receive rent payments from the casino. And Penn National Gaming would receive pre-profit management fees from the facility.

The company is proposing a similar plan in Philadelphia, she said, “though it’s only two-thirds of profits there.”

Penn National, which opened the state’s first casino in Perryville in 2010, spent more than $40 million trying to persuade Maryland voters to defeat last year’s gambling-expansion plan. Analysts believe the company was trying to protect its profits at Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, W.Va..

David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada- Las Vegas, said the profit-sharing proposal might have been made to maintain Penn National’s profits elsewhere.

“Given the company’s other interests in the region—West Virginia and Perryville—they may be content to have PG County be a ‘push’ that doesn’t earn them a ton of revenue rather than having a strong rival operator enter the region,” he said.

Bailey rejected the notion. “Absolutely not,” she said, adding that Penn National “chooses each property as a standalone” casino.

A spokesman for Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), who has voiced his support for an MGM-run casino at National Harbor, declined to comment on the Penn National proposal.

“We’ve said routinely throughout the process that we’re not going to be actively engaged as the state is making its decision,” Baker spokesman Scott L. Peterson said. “The administration has full faith in the state commission to make their decision in the best interests of Prince George’s County and the citizens of Maryland.”

During the commission’s tour of Rosecroft Monday afternoon, Chris McErlean, Penn National’s vice president for racing operations, laid out the company’s facility plans: a 258-room 16-story hotel tower, a 2,500-capacity concert and events center, a 3,145-space parking garage, a new grandstand and apron area for the old racetrack — and a casino covering more than 300,000 square feet.

Construction on the 125-acre property could be finished in 22 months, with minimal impact on the racing schedule.

Rosecroft, the 1949 track that Penn bought out of bankruptcy in 2011 for $11 million, is back up and running, with 54 live harness-racing dates and off-track betting most of the rest of the year. As the commission toured the facility, about two dozen men of a particular age placed wagers and watched remote races on televisions.

“Welcome Back Racing Fans!” a billboard on the infield said. Another billboard advertised the Hollywood properties in Perryville and Charles Town.

The company’s presentation is the first of three being made this week to the casino location commission. A newly formed subsidiary of Greenwood Racing, which wants to build an $800 million Parx Casino Hotel & Spa on 22 empty acres in Fort Washington, presents its plan Wednesday. MGM Resorts International, which is proposing an $800 million casino and resort at National Harbor, will take its turn Friday.

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