The Majestic Star Casino, LLC was a gaming holding company founded in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

Don H. Barden Don Hamilton Barden (December 20, 1943 – May 19, 2011) was an American casino executive. Barden was the manager, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Majestic Star Casino, LLC, from its formation, with responsibility for key ...

and was based in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

History

The company was formed on December 8, 1993. It opened the

Majestic Star Casino Majestic Star Casino was a casino property consisting of two gaming boats on Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana's Buffington Harbor, owned and operated by The Majestic Star Casino, LLC. They opened in 1996 as two competing casino boats, sailing for ...

on June 7, 1996. In December 2001, Majestic Star made its first expansion beyond Gary, acquiring three Fitzgeralds casinos from bankrupt

Fitzgeralds Gaming Fitzgeralds Gaming was a gaming and hotel company based in Reno, Nevada, that operated four casinos under the Fitzgeralds brand. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2000, and subsequently sold all its properties. History Lincoln Manage ...

for $149 million, in Las Vegas, Nevada,

Black Hawk, Colorado Black Hawk is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 127 at the 2020 United States Census, making Black Hawk the least populous city (rather than town) in Colorado. The tiny city is a ...

, and

Tunica, Mississippi Tunica is a town in and the county seat of Tunica County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River. Until the early 1990s when casino gambling was introduced in the area, Tunica had been one of the most impoverished places in the Uni ...

. Chief operating officer Michael Kelly, a former Fitzgeralds executive, engineered the deal. In April 2005, Majestic Star was selected to operate the casino at the

French Lick Resort French Lick Resort is a resort complex in the Midwestern United States, located in the towns of West Baden Springs and French Lick, Indiana. The complex includes two historic resort spa hotels, stables, a casino, and three golf courses that ...

French Lick, Indiana French Lick is a town in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana. The population was 1,807 at the time of the 2010 census. In November 2006, the French Lick Resort Casino, the state's tenth casino in the modern legalized era, opened, drawing ...

, being developed by a partnership of Lauth Property Group and the

Cook Group Cook Group Incorporated is an American privately held company based in Bloomington, Indiana, and primarily involved in manufacturing of medical devices. It was ranked #324 in Forbes' 2008 America's Largest Private Companies. It has four main divisi ...

. However, the Cook-Lauth partnership eventually decided to form its own casino management team, and Majestic's involvement ended amiably in September of that year. In December 2005, Majestic Star acquired the neighboring

Trump Casino Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. was a gambling and hospitality company. The company previously owned and operated the now-demolished Trump Plaza and Trump World's Fair (both in Atlantic City), the now-closed Trump Marina, Trump Casino & Hotel ...

in Gary from Trump Entertainment Resorts for $253 million, and renamed it as the Majestic Star II. After Barden led an effort to legalize gambling in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Majestic Star was awarded the only gaming license for

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, beating out competing bids from

Harrah's Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven go ...

and Isle of Capri. Construction began in December 2007 on the $450 million riverfront Majestic Star Casino, which was projected to double the company's yearly revenues to over $1 billion. However, after defaulting on a $200 million bridge loan and failing to pay contractors, Majestic had to hand control in August 2008 to a group led by

JMB Realty JMB Realty was a real estate investment company based in Chicago. In 1993, after suffering during the early 1990s recession, the company spun off its retail properties as Urban Shopping Centers, Inc., which was acquired by Rodamco in 2000 and bro ...

chairman

Neil Bluhm Neil Gary Bluhm (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate and casino magnate. He is a partner of Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, which owns several casinos. He had an estimated net worth of US$7 billion in October 2021. Early life Bluhm ...

, lead investor in the

SugarHouse Casino Rivers Casino Philadelphia, formerly SugarHouse Casino, is a casino entertainment development along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Fishtown neighborhood, one of five stand-alone casinos awarded a gaming license on December 20 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, who bought 75% of the project, and renamed it the Rivers Casino. Barden kept his remaining stake in the project outside of the Majestic Star umbrella. In November 2009, Majestic Star filed for bankruptcy, listing $406 million in assets against $750 million in liabilities. The company cited the recession, increased competition from nearby properties, and a new smoking ban as reasons. In December 2010, Majestic sued Barden, claiming that he changed the company's tax status without notice, costing over $2 million in additional tax liabilities. The company's reorganization plan, filed the following month, would end Barden's ownership interest, while leaving other executives in place. The company left bankruptcy in 2011 under the majority ownership of Wayzata Investment Partners. In October 2011, several months after Barden's death, his estate sold Fitzgeralds Las Vegas to brothers Derek and Greg Stevens, majority owners of the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by th ...

casino. In May 2012, Majestic Star agreed to sell Fitzgeralds Black Hawk for $28 million to Saratoga Harness Racing, owner of

Saratoga Casino and Raceway Saratoga Casino Hotel (formerly Saratoga Casino and Raceway) is an establishment in Saratoga Springs, New York. Saratoga Casino Hotel is home to a -mile standardbred race track, with a racino and hotel located inside the racetrack's grandstand. ...

in New York. The sale closed in January 2013. Majestic Star sold Fitzgeralds Tunica to Foundation Gaming in August 2018. In November 2018, the company agreed to be acquired by Spectacle Entertainment, a new firm owned primarily by two Indiana-based investors. The buyers said they would lobby for permission to move the Majestic Star Casino inland within Gary, and to move the Majestic Star II's casino license to another city in Indiana.

Properties

−

Majestic Star II The Majestic Star II (formerly known as the Trump Casino) was a floating casino that operated from 1996 to 2021 in Gary, Indiana. Located in Gary's Buffington Harbor, it overlooked Lake Michigan. The casino was opened in 1996 by New York-based ...

− Gary, Indiana

Former

Fitzgeralds Black Hawk Fitzgeralds may refer to: * Fitzgeralds Black Hawk in Black Hawk, Colorado * Fitzgeralds Las Vegas, now The D Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada * Fitzgeralds Reno, now Whitney Peak Hotel, a non gaming hotel in Reno, Nevada * Fitzgeralds Tunica in Tuni ...

—

Fitzgeralds Las Vegas The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel (formerly Fitzgeralds) is a 34-story, 639-room hotel and casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, owned and operated by Derek and Greg Stevens. The D is located at the eastern end of the Fremont Street Experience. It h ...

—

Fitzgeralds Tunica Fitzgeralds may refer to: * Fitzgeralds Black Hawk in Black Hawk, Colorado * Fitzgeralds Las Vegas, now The D Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada * Fitzgeralds Reno, now Whitney Peak Hotel, a non gaming hotel in Reno, Nevada * Fitzgeralds Tunica in Tuni ...

−

Tunica Resorts, Mississippi Tunica Resorts, formerly known as Robinsonville until 2005,

References

Sources

Corporate profile
*

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal'' ...

External links

The Majestic Star Casino, LLC web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majestic Star Casino, LLC Companies based in Las Vegas Gambling companies of the United States Economy of Gary, Indiana Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009