Wednesday, Sep. 05, 2012

Remote Yuba County site presents challenges for casino proponents

Wednesday, Sep. 05, 2012
By Dale Kasler
The Sacramento Bee

A new Indian casino in Yuba County, approved last week by Gov. Jerry Brown, could shake up Northern California's increasingly crowded casino landscape.

There's no guarantee it will rake in riches, however.

Even if the Enterprise Rancheria can overcome potential legal and political hurdles and get the facility opened, the tribe could find it tough competing against the region's dominant casino, Thunder Valley near Lincoln.

A new Indian casino in Yuba County was approved last week by Gov. Jerry Brown. The new casino backers hope to draw crowds like this."

The proposed casino would be located near the 12-year-old Sleep Train Amphitheatre, which has struggled mightily to draw concert crowds from the Sacramento area.

Bill Eadington, a gambling industry expert at the University of Nevada, Reno, said a casino in that spot "is going to draw more than the amphitheater" and would be a "decent revenue generator." But he said a relatively remote site isn't ideal for a casino, particularly one that would have to draw customers away from Thunder Valley.

"Location is such a critical factor," he said.

To get to the new venue south of Marysville, many patrons would have to drive within a mile or so of Thunder Valley on Highway 65.

Ken Adams, a gambling consultant in Reno, said the struggles of Red Hawk Casino in Shingle Springs show that it can be extremely risky to build a casino in a location that's considered too far removed from a metro population.

Red Hawk has performed well below expectations and is generating just minimal profit for its owner, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.

Another issue is the sheer number of competitors. From Cache Creek to Jackson Rancheria, greater Sacramento already has four major casinos. A tribe is planning an $850 million casino near Rohnert Park, which could draw Bay Area patrons who normally visit the Sacramento area venues.

"It's getting more and more crowded," Eadington said. "We're seeing increasing competition among the tribes."

The Yuba County project got a major approval Friday. Brown signed a compact with the tribe, giving it the right to build a casino on the Yuba County site with up to 2,000 slot machines. He signed a similar compact with the North Fork Rancheria near Fresno.

The decision was controversial because both casinos would be miles from the tribes' land. The Yuba County location is 35 miles from the Enterprise tribal office in Oroville, although it does have historic connections to the tribe. The site was approved by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Opponents vowed to fight the proposal in the Legislature, which must ratify the compacts.

In the Legislature, "the tribes have a voice," said Thunder Valley spokesman Doug Elmets. "The compact will run into a buzz saw."

Thunder Valley and other opponents say Brown's decision would open the floodgates for tribal casinos in the heart of urban areas.

If the Legislature doesn't block the Yuba casino, Elmets predicted lawsuits "that will tie this up for years." He refused to speculate on what business impact the casino would have on Thunder Valley.

The Enterprise tribe says on its website the casino would pump $281 million a year into the area economy. Yuba County Supervisor Mary Jane Griego told the Marysville Appeal-Democrat that the casino would be a huge job generator.

"This is a project like any large corporation coming here," she said last week.

The project isn't universally popular around Yuba County, however. County voters rejected the project in a nonbinding 2005 vote.

The casino would be built on a 40-acre parcel owned by Gerald Forsythe, a developer and auto-racing tycoon from Illinois who once tried to build a racetrack there.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2012/09/05/2358264/remote-yuba-county-site-presents.html#storylink=cpy