CQ Holding Company, a financial services and asset management company based in Illinois, Tuesday announced it’s completed the acquisition of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge from Gaming and Leisure Properties.

The property is the latest in CQ Holding’s gaming portfolio that includes DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis and Casino Queen Marquette in Marquette, Iowa. The company also is expected to finalize its acquisition of Belle of Baton Rouge from Caesars Entertainment by the end of the year after the transfer of ownership was approved by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board on December 16.

“We are thrilled to complete CQ Holding Company, Inc.’s acquisition of this historic Baton Rouge property and look forward to becoming part of this energetic and dynamic community,” said CQ Holding Company President and CEO Terry Downey in a statement. “With the launch of sports betting in Louisiana and the continued interest in traditional gaming, we look forward to bringing new opportunities and excitement to the residents and visitors of Baton Rouge.”

Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge, DraftKings at Casino Queen and Belle of Baton Rouge will be included in a triple net master lease with a subsidiary of Gaming and Leisure Properties.

A riverboat casino docked on the Mississippi River, Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge features 859 gaming machines and 12 table games, with an adjacent 66,318-square-foot venue with dining and meeting spaces. An expansion project, which recently broke ground, will add a sportsbook and more dining options.

Rege Behe is lead contributor to CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at rbehe@cdcgaming.com. Please follow @RegeBehe_exPTR on Twitter.

Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge plans to move gambling operations off its downtown riverboat into an expanded land-based facility in February 2022.

The casino will spend $21 million to $25 million expanding its current dockside facility and turning the valet parking area into indoor space. The riverboat's 859 slot machines and 12 table games will be moved into what is now Hollywood’s atrium, said Aaron Mollura, Hollywood’s vice president of marketing.

The landside move means the casino can sell or lease its gambling boat to free up dock space, which could be used by  cruise boats traveling the river, said Jeannie Magdefrau, general manager of Hollywood Casino. 

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., which owns Hollywood, has been looking at moving operations onto land for a while, Mollura said.

“We thought now is the time. It would be nice to say to the world that although times might be difficult, we are looking ahead to a different phase,” he said. “When we get through this, we will have a good facility.”

The Hollywood atrium is currently just over 66,000 square feet, while the casino riverboat has 29,000 square feet of space spread out on three decks. Once the move onto land and expansion is completed, Hollywood will have just over 100,000 square feet of space, including a 27,000-square-foot, single-level casino floor, Mollura said.

The move, which has been approved by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, will create 166 construction jobs with a $10 million payroll. Construction is set to begin in spring 2021.  

It isn’t known if the move onto land hollywood casino baton rouge add any jobs at Hollywood, Mollura said. The casino won’t be adding any slot machines or table games, hollywood casino baton rouge. While plans are to add a sports bar/entertainment venue with seating for 250, a sports viewing area and a Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken Restaurant, named after the former LSU basketball great, they will be replacing existing eateries.

The Big Chicken restaurant, which offers a variety of fried chicken sandwiches and adult milkshakes, will replace the casino’s Celebrity Grill. Currently, there are Big Chicken locations in Las Vegas and Glendale, California, with plans to open restaurants on two Carnival Cruise ships.

The casino buffet, which has been shut down because of the pandemic, hollywood casino baton rouge, will remain closed. The plan is to concentrate instead on catering banquets and private events. The land-based casino Money Tower Slots Machine have flexible meeting space with room for 200 people.

“We anticipate we will have at least the same number of employees, if not a few more,” Mollura said. According to the most recent figures submitted to the state gaming board, Hollywood had 376 employees as of 2018.

If East Baton Rouge Parish voters approve a sports wagering measure on the Nov. 3 ballot, either the sports bar or sports viewing area could become a sports book, Mollura said. “That’s the thought process,” he said. After all, both spaces would have plenty of televisions and seating — necessary components of any sports book.

Magdefrau, the general manager of Hollywood Casino, said the move landside will contribute about $500 million to the local economy in the first six years of operation.

Hollywood will remain open during the year-long construction process, Mollura said. The casino will close for about a week in February 2022 to move the slot machines and tables off of the gambling boat.  

When lawmakers, after a long fight, legalized casino gambling in 1994, one of the key parts of the deal was that the casinos would be allowed only in riverboats and gambling would be allowed only when the vessels were sailing. Harrah's Casino in New Orleans was the only state-licensed gambling operation legally allowed to operate on land.

Those stiff rules changed over time, first with the state dropping the requirement to sail, allowing the casinos to operate from moored riverboats.

In May 2018, the Legislature passed a measure that allows casinos to move onto land in a space about four football fields away from their current riverboats or barges. The thinking was this would spur investment in the stagnant casino industry by getting operators to add hotels, restaurants, spas, pools and other attractions.

The first property to get permission to move onto land was the Isle of Capri casino in Westlake. Owner Eldorado Resorts was approved in December to build a $112.7 million land-based casino. That property should open in May 2021.

Treasure Hollywood casino baton rouge Casino in Kenner has been repeatedly mentioned as a candidate to move onto land, but the casino has yet to file anything, gaming board officials said.

Officials with the Belle of Baton Rouge have also discussed moving casino operations into its 80,000-square-foot atrium next to the riverboat. Officials with Tropicana Entertainment, the former owners of the Belle, discussed moving the casino onto land with local tourism officials in 2018 while the Legislature was hollywood casino baton rouge the measure.

But Tropicana was purchased by Eldorado in October 2018. While Eldorado officials initially expressed interest at moving the Belle onto land, they have gone back and forth on the issue.

Matt Roob, senior vice president of analysis for Spectrum Gaming Group, which analyzed the state’s casino market for Louisiana Economic Development, said relocating Hollywood is an excellent move for Gaming and Leisure Properties. “It simplifies operations tremendously,” he said. “They’re not on a multi-tiered boat …; you don’t have boat maintenance, elevator maintenance.”

The fact that Gaming and Leisure Properties is willing to put up at least $21 million for the relocation shows the company has confidence in the Baton Rouge market. “You don’t spend good money after bad,” he said.  

For the fiscal year ending in June 2020, Hollywood had adjusted gross revenues of $43.1 million, more than double the $20.7 million the Belle of Baton Rouge brought in during that same period, but well below that of L’Auberge Baton Rouge, which is the market leader. L’Auberge brought in $123.5 million during the fiscal year. The casino takes were down dramatically, since all gaming operations were shut down for two months due to the pandemic. In the fiscal year ending June 2019, Hollywood brought in $55.1 million, the Belle had $32.6 million in gross revenues and L’Auberge posted $148 million.

Hollywood brought in $4.4 million last month, a 1.3% increase over the $4.3 million in revenue for July 2019. Over the same period, L’Auberge was up by 12.5% from $11.6 million to $13 million, while the Belle plunged 28.6% from $2.2 million to $1.5 million.

Davis Rhorer, head of the Downtown Development District, said Hollywood’s move is welcome news because it adds to the existing slate of attractions and will invite other development.

“This also frees up the dock,” he said. The number of riverboat cruises calling on Baton Rouge is expected to increase in the next couple of years, with Viking Cruise Lines starting its long-awaited Mississippi River service in August 2022.

Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.

CQ Holding Company, hollywood casino baton rouge, a financial services and asset management company based in Illinois, Tuesday announced it’s completed the acquisition of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge from Gaming and Leisure Properties.

The property is the latest in CQ Holding’s gaming portfolio that includes DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis and Casino Queen Marquette in Marquette, hollywood casino baton rouge, Iowa. The company also is expected to finalize its acquisition of Belle of Baton Rouge from Caesars Entertainment by the end of the year after the transfer of ownership was approved by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board on December 16.

“We are thrilled to complete CQ Holding Company, Inc.’s acquisition of this historic Baton Rouge property and look forward to becoming part of this energetic and dynamic community,” said CQ Holding Company President and CEO Terry Downey in a statement. “With the launch of sports betting in Louisiana and the continued interest in traditional gaming, we look forward to bringing new opportunities and excitement to the residents and visitors of Baton Rouge.”

Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge, DraftKings at Casino Queen and Belle of Baton Rouge will be included in a triple net master lease with a subsidiary of Gaming and Leisure Properties.

A riverboat casino docked on the Mississippi River, Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge features 859 gaming machines and 12 table games, with an adjacent 66,318-square-foot venue with dining and meeting spaces. An expansion project, which recently broke ground, will add a sportsbook and more dining options.

Rege Behe is lead contributor to CDC Gaming Reports, hollywood casino baton rouge. He can be reached at rbehe@cdcgaming.com. Please follow @RegeBehe_exPTR on Twitter.