Monday June 22, 2015 announced the impending Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board decision for a state-regulated gambling establishment. The new casino project that needs a license will be located in southeast Kansas. There are three companies vying for the license and approval for their project. Starting at 9am Tuesday the review board convened at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center located in Topeka.

Board members are listening to the three applicants before they will make an executive decision based on the information supplied and the public response to the three projects. Michael Green of Union Gaming Analytics stated the casinos will be in direct competition with northeast Oklahoma casinos, which is a saturated market.

Already there are numerous opportunities for people in Kansas and Oklahoma to gamble. The three proposals have land that is close to the Kansas border, particularly Castle Rock Casino Resort. If it is approved the casino would be less than a mile from the border of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

Union has assessed the amount of games needed to generate profitable revenue. The forecasts require 1,400 slot machines and 51 tables. The revenue would be $47.8 million, starting in 2019. Union also believes the casino can attract about 313,000 people from Kansas, a few thousand more from Missouri, and approximately 78,000 from Oklahoma. Union also believes 80,000 people will come from Arkansas by 2019 to place at the casino. The state would earn $11.5 million in taxes for 2019 and another $1.4 million would go to local governments.

Cummings is predicting a higher gross of $59.9 in revenue. Most of the income would be made via slot machines, with more gamblers from Kansas and Missouri than Oklahoma and the rest of the Midwest. The two projections are slightly different. It is also varied from Castle Rock’s anticipated income of $83 million in annual earnings.

The other two casino proposals are for smaller establishments that would make less revenue for the state. Kansas Crossing would be closer to the Missouri border, with revenue of $36 million to $39 million, as projected by Cummings and Union, respectively.

Camptown Casino would be north of Pittsburg with 750 slot machines, 20 table games and a small boutique hotel of 62 rooms. The gross revenue projection is $43.9 million from Union.

There is no indication of a decision or favored project at this point.