Saying Goodbye To History
Harrah’s Casino To Be Sold After 82 Years
It is testament to Harrah’s Casino that it had lived through World War II, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the financial crisis of 2007-2009, and so many other hurdles, and still, stand tall some 82 years later. Sadly all good things must come to an end, and for the Harrah’s casino in Reno, that time is now.
Caesars Entertainment Corp (the parent company of the casino) has said it would sell the site for $50 million. The inevitable of Harrah’s Reno Hotel & Casino shows the difficult challenges encountered by traditional gambling operators in the industry.
Caesars Entertainment Corp has agreed to sell the property to a real-estate developer which will turn the property into a nongambling destination.
Eighty-two years ago, Reno launched the Harrah’s name into the US market, and with years of progress, it was able to establish 17 casinos in the US under the name. The property was bought in 2017 by Caesars and VICI Properties Inc.( a real estate extension of the Caesars brand). Now, Caesars has agreed to sell the property to a Las Vegas-based developer, CAI Investments.
The Changing Landscape
Traditional casino gambling is not as attractive as it once was years ago. The progress made by online operators now mean people are more likely to play from the comfort of their PCs or mobile phones, than going to a physical outlet to play.
With consumers becoming less interested in traditional casino gambling, operators are left with no choice than to diversify their portfolio and invest in other areas like entertainment, and even sports betting. According to data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Harrah’s Reno Casino only made $628 million in 2019 was compared to the 900 million to 1 billion it made in the 2000s.
CAI has plans for the property, and sadly, those plans do not including any form of gambling.
