  Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 54 Registered: 08-2007 |
There is an article in today's, 12/12, New York Times about Don Barden being awarded the franchise to build a new casino in Pittsburgh, PA. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12 /12/us/12pittsburgh.html?_r=1& th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=t h&adxnnlx=1197487067-RzkguYGPi gB9pb7bZuelUg | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1072 Registered: 09-2007 |
This is great news for Barden. If he does buy a casino here, it will put Metro Detroit in 3rd for the top gambling Economy. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2992 Registered: 06-2006 |
^yeah, don't count on it...even if he were to get the necessary regulatory approvals, any new casino now requires a statewide referendum after the brilliant voters of Michigan passed Proposal 4 in 2004 | ||
401don Member Username: 401don Post Number: 144 Registered: 11-2007 |
By "Buy" Barden means an existing casino. Even he's given up on attaining a license for a 4th casino by now. This NY Times article is very old news. It's just resurfacing because he's finally breaking ground. Notice also, it's a "slots only" casino. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2997 Registered: 06-2006 |
^ah, really? I "buy" to mean buy a gaming license for a new casino... | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2998 Registered: 06-2006 |
^ah, really? I took "buy" to mean buy a gaming license for a new casino... | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5884 Registered: 08-2004 |
The way Barden played the race card during that nasty recall effort by the Barden funded "Call 'Em Out Coalition" against Mayor Archer, I don't think that the state government is in any mood to show preferential treatment and give Barden a 4th Detroit Casino. If he wants one of the Detroit Casinos, he's gonna have to buy one of the existing ones. For a while it looked as though he might buy a significant interest in Greektown Casino... he became a 1% share owner of Greektown. But when the Chippewa Indians decided against building a new casino at the Gratiot/I-375 location, and instead expand at the current site... Barden was a skeptic. The Chippewa Indians also hesitated at selling Barden any more interest in their casino, so he sold his 1% interest. Now Greektown developer Ted Gatzaros is a 1% owner of Greektown Casino... but I don't think he bought Barden's 1%. | ||
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 503 Registered: 04-2006 |
Thanks for that review, Gistok. I thought Barden was still a shareholder. Does he want to build a casino in every city? | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2399 Registered: 01-2005 |
Two questions about Barden. #1, doesn't he own a majority of the Fitzgerald in downtown Las Vegas? And, #2, did he sell off his cable company that he started back in the early 80s? | ||
Wanderinglady Member Username: Wanderinglady Post Number: 16 Registered: 10-2007 |
Ray1936, I did some Googling, and the answers to your questions are: Yes and yes. http://www.majesticstar.com/co rporate.html | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2403 Registered: 01-2005 |
Ah! Good link, lady. Thanks a bunch. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2367 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: Yup, sold it to Comcast. That's why so many people were against him getting a casino... | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 3013 Registered: 06-2006 |
^Why was him selling to Comcast seen as a bad thing? | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2368 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: Something about all of the breaks the city gave him to start it in the first place. I'm guessing it was one of the largest employers in Detroit at the time of him selling it. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2369 Registered: 04-2006 |
Plus, he pretty much skipped town after selling it to go start those casinos up in Indiana and Mississippi. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5894 Registered: 08-2004 |
... because Barden was using "Detroit Ownership" as a big deal on why he should get a Detroit casino. Folks were calling him out on that, since earlier he sold the Detroit Cable Company at a stunning profit. If Detroit ownership was really such a big deal to him, he should have kept his company, or sold it to other Detroiters, rather than sell it to "outsiders". His argument made him look very hypocritical. | ||
Downtownguy Member Username: Downtownguy Post Number: 100 Registered: 07-2004 |
Don Barden worked hard for years to build Detroit's cable franchise. When he had the opportunity to sell to Comcast, he took it. What's wrong with that? He was far more qualified for one of Detroit's casinos than Greektown or Motor City, but Archer, in another one of his brilliant moves, dissed him. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2370 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: Yeah, thanks for filling in some of the gaps. I was not much more than a little tyke during the Barden Cable era. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2371 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: Nothing. Not much different than Sears buying K-Mart and moving everything to Chicago. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5895 Registered: 08-2004 |
Unfortunately for Detroit, the Greektown and MotorCity casino "initial" investors got a "preferential treatment" clause added to the state referendum. Even though that clause was later thrown out in court, it sort of bound Archers hand while it was in effect. And saying that Barden was "far more qualified"... how can that be? He was only a casino operator for a few years when he put in a bid for a Detroit casino. Circus-Circus (later renamed to Mandalay Bay), the majority owner of MotorCity at that time was light years ahead of Barden for being qualified for a casino license. And even the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians had more experience in running a Casino... they had 5 Indian casinos operating at the time of their Detroit entry. That said, there were stronger contenders than Barden or the Indians for running one of the Detroit casinos (Trump, Mirage, etc), but the Indians had the preference on their side. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 61 Registered: 08-2007 |
The first thing Don Barden did when he won the contract to build the cable TV system in Detroit was to sell 49% of the company to MacNeil-Hunter from Canada. MacNeil-Hunter did the actual build of the system. They put in a bare bones system that Comcast had to upgrade after they bought the system from Barden. |
