Gaming briefs for March 22, 2004

Monday, March 22, 2004 | 9:26 a.m.

Town cashes in on HBO publicity

DEADWOOD, S.D. -- Local business leaders might not embrace all aspects of the new HBO series "Deadwood," but the Chamber of Commerce is playing the hand it's dealt.

The town is riding the coattails of Sunday's television premiere by launching a $1 million campaign to entice visitors to this town of 1,300.

The show portrays many of Deadwood's real characters from the early days of the 1876 gold rush. And because it's in the same tradition of such other HBO hits as "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos," it has garnered significant attention before a single episode has aired.

Deadwood's publicity campaign will target the 30 million HBO subscribers in the United States and dovetail with Gov. Mike Rounds' initiative to increase tourism and economic development.

Deadwood casinos and motels gave $150,000 to the project, and historic preservation funds kicked in $350,000. The South Dakota Department of Tourism also contributed $500,000 for the two-year project.

Lawmakers raise auction issue

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The sale of a casino license in Illinois for a half billion dollars has some state lawmakers thinking about the auctioning of gambling licenses if legislators legalize slot machines.

The Illinois Gaming Board on Monday awarded the state's 10th casino license to Mississippi-based Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., which bid $518 million to build a casino in northwest Chicago. The sale of the license stills needs approval from a bankruptcy court judge.

Until that sale, no state had publicly auctioned a full gambling license. Some lawmakers in Pennsylvania flirted with the idea last year, but later agreed on a flat licensing fee -- ranging from $50 million to $75 million -- in proposed gambling bills.

Last week, some state lawmakers were again raising the issue of auctions.

"Look at the stock of the company that bought the license," said Sen. Gibson Armstrong, a Republican from Lancaster. Armstrong is a gambling opponent, who raised the issue in the caucus after the Illinois sale. "Apparently their stockholders think it's a good value."

The stock of Isle of Capri Casino Inc. climbed nearly $6 per share to $26.85 before and immediately after the sale.