{"id":586,"date":"2026-01-23T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=586"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:26:05","slug":"if-indiana-expands-casino-gambling-several-counties-want-to-be-considered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/23\/if-indiana-expands-casino-gambling-several-counties-want-to-be-considered\/","title":{"rendered":"If Indiana Expands Casino Gambling, Several Counties Want to Be Considered"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Indiana lawmakers are considering allowing a new casino in a new county<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Several counties are lobbying for the consideration of hosting a casino resort<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Allen County&#8217;s Fort Wayne is the front-runner<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\">Indiana lawmakers could alter where casinos are allowed to operate. If a new location is approved, several counties want to be considered.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_374226\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-374226\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-374226 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Indiana casino legislation Fort Wayne\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/shutterstock_20250787-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>A welcome sign at the Indiana state line. Indiana lawmakers are mulling whether to allow a casino in Ohio County to relocate to a more attractive market. (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Indiana Rep. Craig Snow (R-Warsaw) is behind House Bill 1038. Snow&#8217;s original text sought to allow a casino in Allen County, likely in or near Fort Wayne, for a one-time licensing fee of $80 million. A study commissioned by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) last year determined that Fort Wayne is underserved by gaming and would be an attractive market for a casino.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Full House Resorts has been lobbying state lawmakers to allow it to relocate its Rising Star casino license in Rising Sun to a more attractive region. Since the gaming expansion talks began, several counties have expressed interest in being considered.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As HB1038 was discussed in the House Public Policy Committee on Thursday, the committee agreed to add additional counties as possible hosts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Bill Reserved for Full House Resorts<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Snow&#8217;s legislation qualifies only the owner of a current casino in Ohio County to purchase the HB1038 license.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">$50 million of the upfront fee would go to the state, with the remaining $30 million to Rising Sun and Ohio County. Full House Resorts would additionally need to invest a minimum of $500 million in the new casino.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If Full House sells the casino license within 10 years of being approved, the company would need to pay the state an additional $50 million before the IGC would be able to sign off on the transfer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On Thursday, the Public Policy Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/indianas-wayne-county-rolls-the-dice-on-casino-pursuit\/\">added Wayne<\/a>, DeKalb, and Steuben counties to the list of possible new destinations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">While Wayne, DeKalb, and Steuben counties were added to HB1038, Public Policy Committee Chair Ethan Manning (R-Logansport) believes Allen County and Fort Wayne remain the frontrunners, as that&#8217;s where Full House expressed interest.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">These counties are included because they have, in one way or another, raised their hands as being interested,&#8221; Manning said, as reported by the <a href=\"https:\/\/indianacapitalchronicle.com\/2026\/01\/22\/more-counties-could-join-competition-for-new-indiana-casino\/\"><i>Indiana Capital Chronicle<\/i><\/a>. &#8220;They have a significant amount of alignment within their local governments.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Greater Fort Wayne Inc. recently\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">launched a publicity campaign highlighting the benefits of a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fort-wayne-casino-would-bring-region-long-term-value\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">casino for<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Indiana&#8217;s second most populous city. But there&#8217;s also opposition, with an anonymous group of area business leaders behind the &#8220;Save Fort Wayne&#8221; television and radio blitz.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Pros and Cons<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Proponents of a casino in Fort Wayne say a more than half-billion dollar gaming resort would create almost 1,000 permanent jobs and more than $41 million in annual local tax revenue from gaming, hotel stays, food and beverage, and property taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The findings demonstrate long-term value,&#8221; Greater Fort Wayne Inc. said of its commissioned study completed by commercial real estate firm CBRE.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Save Fort Wayne disagrees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The opposition claims a casino would be a &#8220;net loss&#8221; for the city, with heightened addiction and crime. The campaign says a casino might bring jobs and taxes, but also bankruptcies, divorces, mental health issues, child neglect, fatal accidents, poverty, and human trafficking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/if-indiana-expands-casino-gambling-several-counties-want-considered\/\">If Indiana Expands Casino Gambling, Several Counties Want to Be Considered<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indiana lawmakers are considering allowing a new casino in a new county Several counties are lobbying for the consideration of hosting a casino resort Allen County&#8217;s Fort Wayne is the front-runner Indiana lawmakers could alter where casinos are allowed to operate. If a new location is approved, several counties want to be considered. A welcome&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":589,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions\/589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}