TOPEKA, Kan.
The prairie between Kansas Turnpike exits for Mulvane and Wellington flies by in 12 minutes -- sooner, if a driver isn't scrupulous about observing the posted speed limit.
Yet that relatively short span of four-lane highway is a big issue as a state
Peninsula Gaming LLC, based in Dubuque, Iowa, wants to build a casino near Mulvane, about 18 miles south of Wichita, off of turnpike exit 33. Global Gaming Solutions, an Ada, Okla., firm owned by the Chickasaw Nation, hopes to build the casino further south, at exit 19, near Wellington.
The Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board plans to pick the developer Dec. 15. Board members are certain to consider whether gamblers will make fewer trips from Wichita to the new casino or spend less money there if it's located farther south.
"One of the criteria we have to use is maximizing revenues," board chairman Matt All, an attorney from Lawrence, said during an interview. "The thing that makes this choice very difficult is that they're both very good proposals and both very successful, solid applicants. Distance will be one of the issues left to deal with."
Brent Stevens, Peninsula's chief executive, said during a review board meeting last week that his company agrees with consultants hired by the board who believe a Mulvane location will generate significantly more revenues than a Wellington site. Global CEO John Elliott predicted any drop-off in revenues would be negligible.
"You've heard hours of information already, and it may not surprise you that we disagree with a lot of it," Elliott told the board after consultants presented their reports. "We want to appeal to your common sense."
State law allows only one Kansas Lottery casino in either Sedgwick or Sumner county, and Sedgwick County voters rejected the idea, ruling out Wichita as the location. The lottery will own the rights to the new gambling and the gambling equipment, and the state will claim 22 percent of the gambling revenues.
Two consulting firms hired by the review board, Cummings Associates, of Arlington, Mass., and Wells Gaming Research, of Reno, Nev., both projected that most of either proposed casino's revenues would come from customers living within 100 miles.
Wells' research showed that about 363,000 adults live within 25 miles of Peninsula's preferred site, compared to about 98,000 for Global's location. However, the numbers are about even within a 50-mile radius of either site, with more than 450,000 residents.
Both Wells and Cummings said a casino near Mulvane would generate more revenue than a casino near Wellington.
Cummings projected that in 2014, Peninsula's casino would generate $192 million in revenues, compared to $141 million for Global's casino, a difference of almost 27 percent. The gap was even larger in Wells' projections -- 41 percent, or $179 million for Peninsula and $109 million for Global.
"The further away you go, the less frequently you visit, the less money you spend," said Will Cummings, principal for the consulting firm with his name. "The difference between the two is this distance factor."
Another board consultant, William Eadington, director of an institute on commercial gambling at the University of Nevada, Reno, said the issue is the cost of an outing to gamblers from Wichita. He estimated that a trip to Wellington would cost a Wichita gambler $22 more in gas costs, other expenses and lost time than a trip to Mulvane -- more than $1,000 a year for someone who wanted to gamble four times a month.
But the debate is complicated because Peninsula actually has identified two potential sites near Mulvane for its proposed casino.
Its preferred site runs up to the west side of the turnpike at exit 33, but it's the subject of a legal battle between the city of Mulvane, which has annexed it and supports the Peninsula proposal, and the Sumner County Commission, which supports Global's plan. The case is before the Kansas Supreme Court.
Peninsula's second site is 2 miles due east. Wells projects that the short drive away from the turnpike would lower Peninsula's gaming revenues from 2 percent to 4 percent; the Cummings estimate is a loss of 14 percent.
Global and its supporters note the legal questions surrounding Peninsula's preferred site and that there are no similar issues with the Global site.
But Elliott also questioned whether the drive between Mulvane and Wellington would seem significant to consumers with no other casinos south of Wichita until the Oklahoma border.
Board member Bob Boaldin, a telecommunications company owner from Elkhart, also had strong doubts, noting that many Kansans, particularly those in rural areas, are used to driving relatively long distances.
After Eadington ran through his estimates for the extra costs associated with a Wellington trip, Boaldin told him, "I don't agree with your analysis that it's that big a deal."
And even Cummings acknowledged the turnpike stretch between Mulvane and Wellington isn't difficult to navigate as it cuts across relatively flat and open terrain, mostly in a straight line.
"It's about as easy an 11-minute drive as you'll find anywhere," he said.
But All said he's not sure how the board's members will see the issue when they pick a developer.
"What you'll likely find on the 15th is a diverse set of views on the board and a pretty robust conversation about how we ought to go," he said.
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