The recently announced sale of Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has cleared its first major hurdle to inch closer to its planned late 2019 finalization.
Casino news outlet CDC Gaming Reports reported earlier this week that the Federal Trade Commission signed off the property’s sale to a New York-based real estate group this past Friday.
After years of speculations that Caesars Entertainment Corp. was seeking buyers for its off-Strip property, the major gaming and hospitality operator eventually announced last month that it has entered into an agreement to offload it to a company controlled by a principal of Imperial Companies of New York City in a $516.3 million deal.
The hotel and casino resort’s new owner will lease it back to Caesars for at least two years. Under their lease agreement, Caesars will pay $45 million in annual rent. The landlord has an option for a one-time lease contract extension of up to a year. However, if the landlord wants to exercise the option, it will need to notify Caesars before the end “of the first year of the initial term.”
As reported by CDC Gaming Reports, the Federal Trade Commission cleared the sale of the resort this past Friday. A spokeswoman for Caesars said in an emailed statement that the FTC “has determined there are no anti-trust issues with the Rio sale.”
While the FTC clearance is an important step toward the finalization of the deal, it also needs shareholder and regulatory approval from Nevada casino regulators.
What Happens to WSOP?
Launched in 1990, the Rio features more than 2,500 hotel rooms and a number of other resort amenities amenities. However, since 2004 it has been most popular for hosting the annual World Series of Poker – the world’s longest running and largest live tournament poker series.
Even when the potential sale of the Rio was just a rumor (and a very persistent one, swirling around for almost a decade), the most important question prompted by that potential sale was where the WSOP would go.
WSOP Vice President of Corporate Communications Seth Palansky provided an answer to that question days before Caesars announced that it was selling the Rio. In a tweet, the WSOP official said that he “can 100% confirm [the WSOP] will take place at the Rio in Las Vegas in 2020.”
In an interview with CardPlayer, Mr. Palansky elaborated that the WSOP is an event of a scale that requires them to book Rio’s convention space years out and that contracts were in place for the major poker event to take place at the resort in 2020 and probably in 2021.
Many have suggested that the WSOP could move to Caesars’ $375 million ultra-spacious Caesars Forum convention center when it opens doors next year. However, it seems that the poker series will for now stay where it has been for the past 15 years.
While gearing up preparations to sell the Rio, Caesars is also in the middle of a $17.3 billion merger with rival casino operator Eldorado Resorts. The deal is expected to close sometime in 2020 and will create the largest US casino operation with around 60 properties in 19 states.
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