July 14, 2006
Casino bidders pledge Pens funds
Two more bidders for a Pittsburgh slots casino license - Forest City Enterprises and PITG Gaming LLC - have pledged to pay $7.5 million toward a Penguins arena if they win the license. The two had held off on committing a firm dollar amount, but presumably were afraid that Pens backers would push to deny them a shot at the license otherwise.
In any case, the future payments would be worth only about a third as much as the $290 million in cash that the third bidder, Isle of Capri, has pledged; the rest, according to Gov. Ed Rendell's "Plan B," would include $7 million a year in state money, and $8.5 million in cash plus $4.1 million a year in team contributions. That'd come to about $67 million worth of arena being paid off by the team, but Penguins execs, needless to say, prefer the deal where they don't have to pay anything; team president Ken Sawyer yesterday declared the Isle of Capri offer to be "by far the best one for the city and the region."
