Saturday, December 1, 2012

Game on for Ottawa casino bidders | Ottawa & Region | News ...

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A company will rake in $30 million annually ? at the bare minimum ? to run a new Ottawa-area casino that could have up to 600 seats at table games and 2,000 slots.

A call Friday by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to pre-qualify potential bidders for the request for proposals means it?s officially game on for the lucrative contract.

The revenue-sharing formula is published in the request for pre-qualifications.

On top of the $30-million fixed fee, the winning gaming contractor can collect 70% of gaming revenue above a threshold suggested by the contractor in the bidding process.

The operator would also collect 20% of gaming revenue from ?VIP customers? who live outside of Canada.

The OLG will collect no revenues from non-gaming amenities at the casino, like restaurants, bars and concerts. That money would go directly into the operator?s pocket.

All gaming revenue goes into the OLG?s account first before it?s shared with anyone else, like the operator and municipality.

The number of gaming table seats is a new piece of information for the city, although taxpayers will see no benefit.

In its newly inked revenue-sharing agreement with the City of Ottawa, the OLG will only give City Hall a cut from the slot machines, not the tables.

The OLG is giving the winning contractor the option of running the casino at the Rideau Carleton Raceway ? where the gaming agency already operates slots ? or move the operation to a more ?convenient location? in the gaming zone, which is most of Ottawa and Rockland.

If another location could bring in more money, that proposal would have a leg up.

The raceway has indicated its interest in competing for the casino contract.

City council must sign off on a new location for a casino.

According to the tender, existing OLG employees ? like those at the raceway ? ?should be smoothly transitioned? to the private operator, which will be required to keep the staff for at least 12 months.

OLG spokesman Tony Bitonti said nothing else has changed with the Ottawa-area gaming zone since the ?modernization? process started earlier this year.

?The real difference is Ottawa is alone, where is the east gaming zones ... are bundled together,? Bitonti said.

?It was really because of what the opportunity in Ottawa presents.?

The gaming ?bundles? apply to gaming zones in the Peterborough, Belleville and Kingston areas. A company winning that bundled gaming contract would operate facilities in each of those three zones.

Companies have until March 7, 2013 to submit their pre-qualification proposals.

Twitter: @jonathanwilling

Should a new Ottawa casino be located downtown or at the Rideau-Carleton Raceway

Source: http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/11/30/game-on-for-ottawa-casino-bidders

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