There’s a happy ending to the saga of Bavarian Brewery, which had been purchased by Columbia Sussex a decade back in hopes that it would be Kentucky‘s first casino. The building has lain fallow ever since and ColSux has gone to board after board, court after 
court, seeking permission to tear the antique brewery down. Its odds of prevailing got consistently worse but it found a win-win solution to its problem, selling the Bavarian Brewery to Kenton County, which will use it as office space. “In regards to the physical structure of the old Bavarian Brewery itself, we will make every effort to incorporate it into the planning for the new county administration building. We’ll learn a lot more in the months to come, but I’m confident that the old tower at the Bavarian Brewery will remain an iconic structure in Covington and Kenton County for many, many years to come,” said County Judge Kris Knochelmann. The county will tear down parts of the building to make room for new infrastructure, but will strive to preserve its medieval-looking façade.
ColSux takes a bit of a bath on the deal, pocketing $4.5 million for a structure that cost it $7.3 million back in the day. However, it sees some financial return on the investment, while Covington preserves a beloved icon. It will join nearby St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the Center for Great Neighborhoods, and the Linden Grove Cemetery & Arboretum to form a new urban core. And it seems that everybody is willing to look the other way regarding partial demolition of the Brewery if the spirit of the structure is maintained.
* Unlike next door neighbor Indiana, casino spending in Illinois was flat last month. Combined with lower admissions, it dragged the Land of Lincoln down 5%. Not even top-grosser Rivers Casino ($34 million) was immune, off 4%. MGM Resorts 
International took it hard at Grand Victoria, down 12% to $12 million. Harrah’s Joliet was down 4%, grossing $14 million, Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Aurora dipped 5% to $9 million, while Empress Joliet fell 8% to $10 million. In this context, Argosy Belle‘s 8% decline to $4 million doesn’t look so bad. Boyd Gaming‘s Par-A-Dice continued to suffer from slot routes, down 12% to 7%. Small declines were registered at Jumer’s Casino Rock Island (-2%, $6 million) and Harrah’s Metropolis (-3%, $6 million). The sole gainer was Gaming & Leisure Properties‘ Casino Queen, defying the odds to bring in $9 million for a 7% gain.
* American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman has been very busy making legalization of sports betting his Job One. In the meantime, that younger sibling of Internet gambling (“It’s just wagering on sports over the Internet”), daily fantasy sports, is trying to get out of legal limbo and onto terra firma. One such tipping point is New York State, where the Legislature has voted to legalize the pastime as a game of skill but 
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has given no signal whether he will sign the enabling legislation or not. Even if he does, that may not get DFS out from behind the 8-ball with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. He still intends to prosecute DraftKings and FanDuel for supposedly exaggerating the average player’s odds of winning, marketing a game of skill as one of chance.
“The legislature has amended the law to legalize daily fantasy sports contests, a law that will be my job to enforce and defend. We will nevertheless continue to pursue our claims that DraftKings and FanDuel previously engaged in false advertising and consumer fraud,” Schneiderman said. Two litigants in Massachusetts are also suing the DFS giants, claiming they lured the punters into participating in illegal Internet gambling … although, unless the players are being prosecuted for DFS wagering, it’s difficult to see them having much of an argument. At any rate, if Cuomo signs the DFS bill, that could be the turning point in the industry’s battle for legitimacy in other states. As DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said, “New York is obviously the most visible, and the biggest, and just in general a lot of states look to New York.”
