RISING SUN, Indiana — Greater Cincinnati’s oldest casino is scouting for a new home.
Rising Star Casino Resort, which opened in 1996 and saw its revenues tumble after Cincinnati casinos began to open in 2013, is exploring the transfer of its gaming license to the Fort Wayne area.
The move would have a huge impact on the Ohio County community of Rising Sun, where local governments claimed nearly $6 million in riverboat gambling receipts last year and a community foundation distributed $47 million in casino-enabled grants since 1997.
“We’re looking at maximizing opportunity based on the location of the riverboat license,” said Alex Stolyar, chief development officer for Rising Star’s Las Vegas-based owner, Full House Resorts Inc. “It would take several years to get all the approvals necessary and construct a new casino.”
Rising Sun Mayor Steve Slack said Full House had notified the city of its “preliminary plans” to relocate.
“Because of the complex nature of this process, neither the city nor the county are in a position to offer any comments at this time,” Slack said in a statement.
The economic development director of New Haven confirmed his city is in discussions with Full House about establishing a new casino in the I-469 corridor as early as 2028.
“New Haven is strategically located for them,” Economic Development Director Zach Washler said. “The (only) casino within any sort of driving distance is 90 minutes away. So, there is a market here.”
New Haven and Fort Wayne are in Allen County, where the population of nearly 400,000 is 65 times larger than Ohio County. Based on that and other factors, the move could spark a tripling of revenue for Full House, which now averages about $3.5 million per month in Rising Sun, according to Ed Feigenbaum, whose Indiana Gaming Insight newsletter broke the news about the possible relocation on Aug. 23.
“I think you’re easily looking at between $12 million and $15 million a month from a new casino in Allen County,” Feigenbaum said.
'They haven't put any money into it'
But those aren’t the numbers that matter to Rising Sun residents like Amy King, director of the Ohio County Public Library.
“Our city has so many neat things because of the boat,” King said. “We have this new library that was built in 2007. When I was a kid, I grew up here. We didn’t have a public pool. We now have a public pool. There’s been so many additions and things updated at our schools because of it. New sidewalks. New riverfront.”
Many of those improvements flowed from a Local Development Agreement that sent $657,886 to Rising Sun in 2023, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission’s annual report. The money is distributed by the Rising Sun Regional Foundation, which funded library grants in recent years for new computers, LED lights and a $16,000 mural by the prolific local artist, Christian Dallas.
“It has our state bird, our state flower and it has bald eagles because we have bald eagles in Ohio County,” King said. “Things like that matter to our community because we feel seen. We feel worthy of nice things.”
King understands why Full House wants to relocate because it’s sandwiched between casinos in Switzerland and Dearborn counties and saw its market share pinched in the last decade by Cincinnati’s Hard Rock Casino and Turfway Racing & Gaming in Florence. But King also watched the property fade in recent years and wonders whether a closure was planned long ago.
“They haven’t put any money into it, have not put us in a place for success,” she said.
King said she is worried about “what’s going to happen with this big, empty complex,” which pays property taxes her library depends on. And she worries about friends who will lose their jobs when Rising Star closes. With 299 full- and part-time workers in its hotel, golf course and casino, the property is one of Ohio County’s largest employers.
“These boats came to poor communities first. That’s why the state allowed it. But we’re still poor,” King said. “It feels like their mind’s already made up. So, that’s sort of disheartening and just very concerning of what we could potentially look like without that money coming in.”
What it costs to lose a casino
In an interview, Feigenbaum said state lawmakers might be skeptical about a license relocation because of an ongoing federal investigation into casino corruption that led to guilty pleas by two former members of the Indiana House and Senate.
But he adds that Full House will have a better chance of securing legislative approval if it’s able to get Rising Sun officials to bless the deal. And he thinks that might be possible with a “hold-harmless” agreement that offsets future losses with a lump-sum or multi-year payment plan.
Full House and New Haven both confirmed that they’re exploring such a deal with Rising Sun officials but declined to provide details.
“We’re going to work to make them whole,” Washler said of New Haven’s efforts. “This is not going to be something where anyone is harmed by moving.”
How much does it take to hold a community harmless? That depends on how you measure the harm.
The Indiana Gaming Commission’s annual report says Rising Star Casino paid total taxes of $4 million in the 12 months ending in June 2023, plus additional payments of $657,886 through its local development agreement.
But those numbers don’t match financial data, reported by local communities to the Indiana Gateway database. It shows Rising Sun with $2.9 million in riverboat receipts in the 2023 calendar year. That’s 18% of the city’s total receipts in the 12 months ending last December.
Ohio County had $2.8 million of “Riverboat Gaming Fund B” receipts for the same period, or 15% of total receipts.
Because city and county officials couldn’t be reached, it isn’t clear whether those tax estimates include the roughly $202,368 in annual property taxes paid on the 288-acre property, according to a parcel search on the Ohio County Assessor’s website. The records show the casino site, which includes a 40,000-square-foot riverboat, 294 hotel rooms and a golf course, is worth $19.3 million.
The Ohio County Public Library has a keen interest in that value because “libraries are funded through property tax,” King said.
“So, I don’t know what that means if they leave,” King said. “What’s going to happen with this big, empty complex? I mean, that’s very concerning.”
And those dollar amounts don't include the intangible value brought by community grants, like the $12,000 purchase of percussion instruments for the Marching Knights.
"This money has been a godsend for us," said Dave Pallada, director of bands for the South Dearborn Community School Corporation. "We were able to get two marimbas and a xylophone from the grant. The previous marimba was actually held together with a ratchet strap."
Pallada said the new instruments not only make the band sound better. They inspire confidence in the students who use them. And so has the Rising Star Casino itself.
"We’ve been able to take our jazz band down there a couple of times," said Pallada. "And it gives our students an opportunity to have a real-life experience, out there performing in front of a crowd."
