Two companies that already operate casinos in Indiana are among four that have applied for the license to open up a new casino in Terre Haute.
Those applications were submitted by Wednesday’s deadline to the Indiana Gaming Commission for the Terre Haute project that has stalled amid an investigation into criminal and financial misconduct allegations against top executives in the ownership group which first sought the license in 2019.
Details about the applications weren’t released.
Gaming Commission executive director Greg Small said the agency hoped to select a company for the Terre Haute license by the end of this year.
The applicants include Hard Rock International, which had an agreement to operate a planned $125 million casino in Terre Haute before the state commission voted in June against renewing the casino license because the new ownership hadn’t hired an executive team or secured full financing after more than a year.
Florida-based Hard Rock in August took over ownership of a new $300 million casino in Gary from Indianapolis-based Spectacle Entertainment, the company entangled in the investigation.
Other applicants include Full House Resorts, which owns an Indiana casino in the Ohio River town of Rising Sun, and Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc., which has 10 casinos in eight states. The other application was a partnership including Premier Gaming Group, which owns a Mississippi casino.