Kansas Speedway's parent company, International Speedway Corp, formally request second Cup date for track: International Speedway Corp. has formally petitioned NASCAR to give Kansas Speedway a second Sprint Cup race as early as 2011. ISC spokesman Lenny Santiago says he expects an answer later this summer, before NASCAR unveils next year's schedule. He declined to talk about details of the petition that include potential dates. Santiago believes Kansas is a strong candidate to get a second race because of the track's history of well-attended events and the construction of a new casino overlooking the track. It also could help that NASCAR's primary sponsor, Sprint, is headquartered in Overland Park, Kan. It's unclear how the Cup schedule would shake out if NASCAR grants Kansas a second date.(ESPN)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Kansas Speedway breaks ground for new casino: Kansas Entertainment, LLC, commenced construction of Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway as Company representatives and local officials recently conducted a groundbreaking ceremony at Turn 2, the track-side site of the new facility. Kansas Entertainment is a 50/50 joint venture of Penn Hollywood Kansas, Inc, a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, Inc.and Kansas Speedway Development Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of International Speedway Corporation. The following company representatives and local officials participated in the groundbreaking ceremony:
· Tim Wilmott, President and Chief Operating Officer of Penn National Gaming;
· Troy Findley, Lieutenant Governor of Kansas;
· William Falstad, Commissioner of the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission;
· Ed Van Petten, Kansas Lottery Executive Director;
· Jeff Boerger, President of Kansas Speedway Development Corporation; and,
· Joe Reardon, Mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.
The first phase of Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway includes a state-of-the-art casino and is expected to open in early 2012 with 2,300 slot machines, 61 gaming tables and 25 poker tables on a 100,000 square-foot gaming floor. Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway will also feature 28,000 square-feet of other amenities including restaurants, clubs and night-life attractions. The addition of the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway is estimated to bring nearly 440,000 tourists per year and created 1,050 full time positions; elevating the state to a first-class, year-round tourist destination.(Kansas Speedway)
Friday, February 12, 2010
ISC and Penn National Gaming get approval to build casino at Kansas Speedway: The chosen Wyandotte County casino developers have gotten the final go-ahead to begin their destination casino project near Kansas Speedway. The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission on Friday unanimously approved the developers’ contract, spokesman Mike Deines said. An approved background check had been the final hurdle. The state’s Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board had recommended approval of the contract with Kansas Entertainment LLC on Dec. 1. Kansas Entertainment, now a joint venture of International Speedway Corp. and Penn National Gaming Inc., plans to open the casino in the first quarter of 2012 at a site overlooking the Kansas Speedway track. (Kansas City Business Journal)
Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
Kansas Speedway partners with Penn National Gaming; Drops Cordish and Hard Rock brand: On Thursday, the two final competitors — Penn National Gaming Inc. and Kansas Speedway — announced they had joined forces behind a single proposal for a Hollywood-themed casino adjacent to the racetrack. Although one could blame the economy for the loss of casino competition, the news didn’t exactly dampen a banner week for economic development in Wyandotte County. Earlier this week, the Kansas City Wizards revealed Village West as the location for a proposed 18,500-seat stadium and office campus with 4,000 new jobs from Cerner Corp. If the casino and Wizards proposals come to fruition, fields of grass surrounding the speedway will slowly fill with the promise of more green at Village West. The $700 million project, if approved by state regulators, would overlook Turn 2 at the speedway and include a resort hotel in its second phase. Construction would begin in 2011. Penn replaces Cordish Co., which had initially partnered with the speedway to build a casino. Cordish, developer of the Kansas City Power & Light District, will now focus on “other gaming activities more strategic to us,” according to a statement from Cordish managing partner Joseph Weinberg. One big change with the new proposal is the casino theme, which under Cordish would have been a Hard Rock-brand resort. Now the casino will be a “Hollywood-themed destination facility,” according to Eric Schippers, senior vice president of public affairs for Penn National Gaming. (KC Star)
Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009
The latest on Kansas Speedway's casino project: Wyandotte County moved a step closer to landing a casino Wednesday when the Kansas Lottery Commission approved contracts with two developers. On separate unanimous votes, the Lottery Commission gave the nod to Kansas Entertainment LLC and Penn Hollywood Kansas LLC, keeping their chances alive for managing what would be a state-owned casino. Kansas Entertainment and Penn Hollywood now have 30 days to pay a $25 million “privilege” fee. Kansas Entertainment, a partnership of Kansas Speedway and the Cordish Co., wants to build a $387 million casino next to the Kansas City, Kan., race track. The contracts will be forwarded to the Lottery Gaming Facilities Review Board, which then has 60 days to select a proposal. (Kansas City Star)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Kansas Speedway resubmits casino bid: Kansas Entertainment, the partnership of the speedway and Baltimore-based Cordish Co., filed its application Monday with the Kansas Lottery to develop and operate a state-owned casino in Wyandotte County at the track's No. 2 turn. Speedway President Jeff Boerger arrived at the Lottery's front door in Topeka with the application, driving a NASCAR stock car. The application came two days before the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline for applications for Wyandotte and Sumner counties. On Dec. 5, the speedway withdrew its application as it awaited final approval by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission. It said then it would submit its application. "Because of the equity markets and because of the economic meltdown in the United States, we decided the best strategy for entertainment properties, or for Kansas Entertainment, was to pull back the proposal and resubmit," Boerger said Monday. (Forbes)
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Developers of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at Kansas Speedway withdraw application: Only hours before the project was set to receive final approval Friday from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, casino partners International Speedway Corp. and the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. said it had become “prudent and necessary” to withdraw their application. The deal called for them to build and manage a state-owned casino complex that had been estimated at $705 million. The Hard Rock partnership, Kansas Entertainment LLC, said it remained interested in building a casino at the speedway in Kansas City, Kan., but not as originally proposed. It intends to submit a new application for a phased project after the state, as expected, restarts the selection process and reopens bidding. “It is absolutely our intention to reapply for a license in the northeast zone,” said Kansas Entertainment President Joe Weinberg. “We have a lot of emotion and energy invested in this project.” (KC Star)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
France: Kansas Speedway likely to get second Cup date: NASCAR Chairman Brian France indicated Tuesday that it is more likely that Kansas Speedway could get its second date on the 2010 schedule than for Kentucky Speedway to have its request approved for an inaugural race there. International Speedway Corp. is planning to ask NASCAR to move one of its Sprint Cup dates to Kansas Speedway, while Speedway Motorsports Inc. is planning to seek to move a date to Kentucky Speedway. Neither ISC nor SMI has indicated which tracks they want to move a date from in their realignment requests. Speaking after an appearance at the Street & Smith’s Motorsports Marketing Forum, France said that NASCAR wouldn’t approve a request without making sure it fits the sanctioning body’s criteria. “It depends on what they want to exchange it for,” France said. “If they want to leave a smaller market not performing as well, we would look at that favorably. They all understand what that criteria is. I would expect Bruton [Smith at SMI] or ISC to ask for it in the way that would get it approved. … We’re not going to take a date that’s working fabulously at one place to move it to a second date anywhere.” ISC, a publicly traded company whose majority of voting stock is owned by the NASCAR-controlling France family, has pledged a second Cup date at Kansas to go along with the construction of a Hard Rock Hotel and casino. France said a 2010 Cup date is “possible” at Kansas, but Kentucky is another matter. (SceneDaily.com)
