In Canada, it looks like the future operators of Casino Niagara and the nearby Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort are set to be American after local casino firms Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited reportedly withdrew from the bidding process.

According to a Sunday report from The Globe and Mail newspaper cited by CalvinAyre.com, the Canadian pair pulled out of the race for the 20-year licenses to operate the southern Ontario casinos after the prices rose too high with the remaining bidders now encompassing only American counterparts Hard Rock Cafe International Incorporated and Caesars Entertainment Corporation alongside the Mohegan Tribe’s Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment enterprise.

Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort are owned by the state-run Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation but have been managed by Toronto-based Falls Management Group since 1996 and 2004 respectively. However, this current arrangement is reportedly due to expire next June in favor of a new operator with the Crown corporation hoping to have named the winning bidder for its ‘Niagara Gaming Bundle’ by mid-October.

The Globe and Mail detailed that the American firms have made ‘aggressive offers’ for the licenses to operate the two Canadian casinos, which regularly contribute around $1.5 billion a year in tax.

Las Vegas-headquartered, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, is one of the world’s preeminent casino operators with 47 properties in five nations while Hard Rock Cafe International Incorporated runs some 15 gambling venues in eleven countries including western Canada’s Hard Rock Casino Vancouver.

For its part, Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, which was known as the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority until a 2017 name-change, is responsible for Connecticut’s giant Mohegan Sun and is planning to spend approximately $1.6 billion in order to build and open its Project Inspire integrated casino resort in South Korea by 2021.