WINNEBAGO, NE -
The stakes just got a whole lot higher as Sioux City considers a land-based casino.
Ho-Chunk, Incorporated could be putting $100 million on the table.
The company's owned by the Winnebago Tribe, owner and operator of WinnaVegas.
Ho-Chunk, Inc. has been working on a proposal for a few months, because the company says a new casino in Sioux City would take gamblers away from WinnaVegas.
So, to replace the Argosy, Ho-Chunk, Inc. hopes to work with Missouri River Historical Development, the group that holds Woodbury County's Gaming license.
The CEO of Ho-Chunk, Inc. says Argosy's employees wouldn't lose their jobs if the company won the bid, and because Ho-Chunk, Inc. is a local company, we'd see a boost in the economy.
"Right now the profits leave the state of Iowa," said ho-Chunk, Inc. CEO Lance Morgan, speaking about the Argosy's current operator, Penn National Gaming, Inc., based out of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. "Now if these profits stay in the area, and the Winnebago tribe is in Nebraska and Iowa, if they stay in the area the Winnebago tribe has a track record of investing those moneys in the community."
Mark Monson, MRHD's President, says the group will look at options from all potential casino operators, including Penn National Gaming, Inc.
The deadline for casino license applications is November 1st.
