In June, Boyd Gaming's Treasure Chest casino onshored from a riverboat parked on Lake Ponchartrain in the New Orleans suburbs to a new land-based facility. The casino posted record-high third quarter performance after making the transition.
Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith tells investors that the Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino in East Peoria offers a similar opportunity. He said the era of three-story riverboats like the old Treasure Chest and the current Par-A-Dice may be over.
"It's not as competitive in today's world. And so we have the opportunity to have a more compelling entertainment product there," he said in an October earnings call. "So [there's] a number of opportunities we're looking at."
The call offers what may be the clearest hints yet at what Boyd Gaming is planning for its Central Illinois location. Speculation began ramping up after the Illinois Gaming Board approved a four-year license renewal for the Par-A-Dice in March. That renewal came also with a committment to submit a casino project development plan for a "new, modern and fresh gaming facility" by March 14, 2026.
That cryptic promise has sparked tense talk between East Peoria and Peoria in recent months. East Peoria ultimately got the riverboat in the 1990s, but an intergovernmental agreement was brokered between the two cities in 1991 to split the casino tax revenues 45/45, with the remaining 10% allocated into a joint development fund. That was later revised in 1996 to split the proceeds an even 50/50.
In fiscal year 2024, the state Commission for Governmental Forecasting and Accountability said the Par-A-Dice generated $13.6 million in state revenues and $3.5 million in local revenues. Adjusted gross receipts from the casino were $61.9 million. That's down 38.5% over the past 10 years.
Both the intergovernmental agreement and a provision of the Illinois Gaming Act indicate that the city of Peoria should get first dibs on a land-based casino. To that end, Peoria is looking to retain a financial advisor and outside legal counsel to support efforts to lure the casino across the river.
From his perspective, Smith sees no obstacles for the plans the Las Vegas-based gaming company is cooking up.
"There's no regulatory impediments. It's probably the opposite," Smith said. "That was encouraged by the regulators to something more modern, taking a look at that to see what it looks like, costs, and exactly what that product would be, but nothing stands in our way."
Smith told investors that the Treasure Chest Casino has been a successful operation since it opened in 1994, and while they had expected new business when the land-based casino open, they are surprised with the "overwhelming demand" they've seen.
"It's a great product, and it's not over the top. It's a very, I think, rightsized product for the market," he said.
Smith said he wishes Boyd Gaming could move forward with the Par-A-Dice project faster, but said he doesn't expect anything much to happen immediately or in 2025.
"There's work being done looking at Par-A-Dice and -- but drawing the building and getting the designs done and getting them construction-ready and bid out just takes some time," he said.
A Boyd Gaming spokesman on Monday declined to offer additional comment beyond what Smith said on the October earnings call.
