Ozark Trail Gaming Rejected Despite Penn Connection
Ozark Trail Gaming had proposed to build a $225 million casino in Cherokee County before being rejected by The Kansas Lottery this week. The Lottery said it had rejected the application because no information had been provided showing the group had the financing or experience required.
The group is headed by former Wichita Mayor Bob Knight, who had said they were in negotiations with Penn National Gaming (PENN: 25.62 +2.85%) to join forces on the project.
Knight had responded to the rejection by saying, “Penn National is willing to go along with us if we could raise some money, and they would consider management.”
However the group was unable to pull together the $225 million required by state law to obtain a casino license, let alone financing to execute development. Knight had also commented that they had been talking with Penn about financing the project, but did not elaborate on where the discussions stood.
Penn National had applied for the zone last year, but pulled out because of competition from the Downstream Casino resort just across the Oklahoma border. They had also applied to manage a casino in Sumner County and remain a partner in the only other application being considered in the northeast gaming zone.
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