As Hard Rock International continues to spread its wings nationwide, reports suggest that the operator will run the newly proposed Virginia casino. The $250 million casinos will be situated in Bristol.
The developers of the Bristol gaming venue who are referred to as the Hard Rock Casino Bristol met with a couple of officials from various stakeholders. It was resolved that live music and entertainment were key components for the success of the casino and the city in general.
This was shared by the CEO of The United Company, Jim McGlothlin, who explained that Hard Rock’s roots in music will play a major role in the proposed casino and will reflect the city’s country music heritage.
McGlothlin also highlighted the importance of partnering with the operators. In his opinion, Hard Rock management was well versed with the economic impact that Hard Rock Casino Bristol has to offer.
As such, the operators will use their experience to maximize the benefits of the project in terms of creating new jobs and tax revenue thereby helping the city capture all the opportunities the project has to offer.
For City Manager Randy Eads, the feeling is mutual. According to him, the best location for Hard Rock Casino in Bristol, Virginia. He further expressed that having Hard Rock as a new partner was exciting because of its strong music background which will be in line with Bristol’s musical culture.
The casino is planned to be located at the Bristol Mall which is now vacant as well as the Virginia-Tennessee border. However, the locations need the state and city approval before any construction can take place.
McGlothlin and Clyde Stacy, both coal industry veterans will lead the project all through its beginning stages up to the completion stage.
Another approval that the project requires is from Virginia legislators. Although they had passed a bill allowing operations of commercial casinos in March, they are yet to give a go-ahead for this project.
The Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission will release a report on gaming coming Monday. This report is also part of the approval process of the casino project.
Hard Rock owns twelve casinos and is planning to operate more casinos across the country. Together with Spectacle Entertainment, Hard Rock will move forward with the $300 million value Gary Indiana Casino. It is also looking into Rockford as a potential casino base.
Aside from the projects, Virginia state legislators are reported to have received over $310, 000 through the Political Action Committee (PAC). PAC was created by McGlothlin and Stacy in order to support the commercial casino cause.
In an article by Casino.org, the committee is reported to have donated up to $311,500 in the months of August and September to fifty state Senate and House campaigns.
Since the commencement of PAC, both Stacy and McGlothlin have donated $450,000 either individually or through their companies.
Similarly, Bristol casino resort employed registered lobbyists (eight of them) to advocate for the planned venue to both politicians and the public.
