Application Deadline Passes for SE Gaming Zone

TOPEKA, KAN. – The deadline for groups to submit their applications to manage a state-owned casino in the Southeast Gaming Zone of Kansas has passed. The deadline for applications was 5 p.m., Thursday, December 6, 2007.

The Kansas Lottery received one application from Penn National Gaming, Inc. for a hotel-and-casino complex in Cherokee County. The Southeast Gaming Zone is comprised of Cherokee and Crawford counties. No applications were received for a casino complex in Crawford County.

The original deadline for the Southeast Gaming Zone was September 6, 2007. The Lottery Commission extended the deadline to December 6, 2007, at the request of Crawford County and the Cities of Frontenac and Pittsburg.

The Lottery has 90 days, until March 5, 2008, to review the application and negotiate a contract with Penn National Gaming. If a contract is negotiated, the Lottery will then forward the contract to the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board for its consideration.

The deadline for the Southeast Gaming Zone is the first of four deadlines this month. Applications to manage a state-owned casino in the Southwest Zone (Ford County) are due Dec. 26; applications in the South Central Zone (Sumner County) are due Dec. 28; and groups have until Dec. 31 to submit applications for the Northeast Zone (Wyandotte County).