Cooper said at the review board meeting that if Penn National doesn’t build a casino in Cherokee County, the county could take legal action against Penn National.

Competing proposals

In Sumner County, Penn National is proposing investing $340 million in a Hollywood Casino near Wellington. The project would include a casino, a 350-room resort hotel, restaurants, a conference center, and a health and beauty spa. It would hire 1,100 employees.

Marvel Gaming is proposing spending $368 million, also near Wellington. That project would include a casino, 16-story hotel with 304 rooms, restaurants, an entertainment and convention center, and a health club. Employment would total 1,765 part-time and full-time workers.

Harrah’s Entertainment is proposing a $490 million investment at Mulvane. It would have a casino, a 175-room hotel, restaurants, an event center, an outdoor amphitheater and a retail store. It would hire 1,187 people.

The most recent study by Christiansen Capital Advisors found that a destination casino near Wellington could generate annual gross gambling revenues of $166.5 million, while a Mulvane location could generate annual gambling revenues of $213.5 million.

Representatives of Harrah’s Entertainment and of Marvel Gaming were reluctant to publicly criticize Penn National’s southern strategy.

“Although we cannot comment specifically on competitors’ practices, we can tell you that Sumner Resorts Harrah’s Kansas is excited about the opportunity in Sumner County,” wrote Jacqueline Peterson, corporate spokeswoman for Harrah’s, in an e-mail response to a question about Penn National’s strategy. “We do not need two casinos in Kansas in order to be successful and offer more than half-a-billion dollar investment to the state. We have proven that we have the best plan by every measure.”

Roger Wagner, president of Marvel Gaming, said he thinks Penn National’s decision in Kansas was influenced by the company’s new president and chief executive officer, Tim Wilmott.

“He’s a very astute guy,” Wagner said of Wilmott. “He decided with the Downstream Casino, the Cherokee County deal wasn’t going to pencil out.”

Wagner said he thinks Wilmott decided that tying the Cherokee and Sumner county casinos together was the only financially viable option.

“I don’t see anybody out there who’s in a conniving mode,” Wagner said.

He said Marvel has the best proposal in Sumner County. Marvel Gaming was formed specifically for the project.

“We’re a small, upstart company, and all of our focus is going to be on Kansas,” Wagner said. “Our owners will be present almost 24/7, while our competitors would have corporate jets flying over.”

He noted that the Marvel proposal projects the largest work force of any of the three.