Bossier City Casino To Be Sold Once Again Before It Will Reopen

The current owners of an abandoned Bossier City casino will be reselling it before it will ever open again. In fact, they're looking to sell the casino before they have even started their renovation project.

The Shreveport Times reports that Foundation Gaming plans to sell the former Diamond Jacks property in Bossier City to Baltimore-based entertainment, gaming, and real estate developers The Cordish Companies. Cordish currently operates gaming and entertainment ventures in Houston, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, among other major US markets. In many of their markets, they utilize their "LIVE!" brand.

The deal is essentially done according to the Times, who says the Louisiana Gaming Commission has already approved the sale from Foundation to Cordish. Louisiana Gaming Commission Chairman Ronnie Johns told the Times:

"It will set the project back a few months, but it will greatly enhance it"

Corish is set to reveal their plans during the April 17th Louisiana Gaming Commission meeting.

Foundation's purchase of the former Diamond Jacks property was just finalized in December, and they had started to move forward with a $200 million renovation project. However that is all on hold now as Cordish moves in takeover the project.

The former Diamond Jacks closed in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Their owner at the time, Peninsula Pacific, attempted to move the license to St. Tammany Parish, but voters in that area rejected the bid through a vote. Foundation was then able to get approval to buy and reopen the casino, but now they will be set to sell it before they ever even attempt to reopen it.

In an interesting coincidence, Cordish has multiple projects with the Texas Rangers in Arlington, including one called "Texas Live!", which are in the parking lot of Globe Life Stadium where the Rangers play their home games. The Texas Rangers are also tied into the REV Entertainment proposal to renovate Fair Grounds Field and bring baseball back to Shreveport.

Meaning its possible that REV Entertainment and Cordish, who are already partners on projects, could both enter the Shreveport and Bossier City markets at approximately the same time.