PROVIDENCE – Bally’s Corp. must get the state’s approval of its planned sale of the property and buildings of Twin River Casino in Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton Casino & Hotel in Tiverton for $1 billion, according to a spokesman for the R.I. Lottery.
“Under state law, any sale of the casino buildings and any potential purchasing entity are subject to regulatory review and approval by the state,” said Paul Grimaldi, spokesman for the R.I. Lottery. “Beyond that, we have no further comment on the Bally’s announcement.”
The locally based casino company on June 28 announced it has agreed to sell the two casino properties to Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. Under the deal, Bally’s would lease back both Rhode Island properties and continue to own, control and manage all the gaming operations of the facilities.
Bally’s says the deal is subject to regulatory review and won’t affect its local operations but has not responded to requests for comment on the approval process.
Clyde Barrow, a gambling industry analyst and general manager of Westport, Mass.-based gaming consulting firm Pyramid Associates LLC, said casinos selling and leasing back properties has become more commonplace in the industry.
“This doesn’t change the day-to-day operation of the [Rhode Island casinos] one bit,” Barrow said. “More and more casinos are doing this to monetize their properties. This deal should not affect the contract Bally’s has with the state because they are still in control of the casino operation. This is just a real estate transaction on Bally’s end and doesn’t affect the business.”
Bally’s struck a similar deal with Gaming & Leisure Properties on April 4. Bally’s sold its casino properties and buildings at Bally’s Quad Cities in Rock Island, Ill., and Bally’s Black Hawk in Black Hawk, Col., to Gaming & Leisure Properties for $150 million as part of a lease-back agreement.
The Rhode Island lease will now be tied into its master lease with Gaming & Leisure Properties. Bally’s will now pay an incremental rent of $76.3 million over 15 years for properties that include Twin River, Tiverton, Bally’s Dover Casino Resort, Bally’s Evansville Casino & Hotel, Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel and Bally’s Black Hawk Casinos.
What makes Bally’s deal for its Rhode Island properties potentially different than other similar casino property sales and lease-backs is how intertwined Bally’s operations are with the state.
The company has a 20-year deal with the state to operate legal gambling in a partnership with International Game Technology PLC.
As part of the deal with the state, the company agreed to add 30 senior management positions in Rhode Island in addition to the 1,200 full-time jobs it is already required to maintain. Bally’s has about 1,800 employees in Rhode Island.
And most of the state’s annual gambling revenue comes from Bally’s two Rhode Island casinos, amounting to $209 million in profits in fiscal 2021.
Bally’s has also launched a 50,000-square-foot casino expansion in Lincoln that will cost $100 million.
