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The only Caesars-owned Florida casino will complete the first stage of its rebrand by the end of the year.
The Isle Casino Pompano Park will officially be called Harrah’s Pompano Beach in December. According to a member of the Caesars marketing department, the official name change coincides with the completion of the new marquee on the outside of the building.
The name change will be complete in December, but Caesars will continue the construction and renovation of the property. Last February, the company announced it was breaking ground on construction to start the expansion and renovation process.
When completed, the property will add 15,000 square feet to the casino floor and 12,500 square feet of outdoor gaming. The outdoor gaming space replaces the former horse racing track, which ran its last race in April.
Additionally, the casino will be located within a larger entertainment complex called LIVE! Resorts Pompano. Caesars partnered with The Cordish Cos., the parent company of the Live! casino brand to build the entertainment center.
Although Caesars hasn’t announced a concrete timeline, the project will likely be completed in late 2023 or early 2024.
Caesars acquired Isle Casino in Merger
Before 2019, Caesars Entertainment didn’t have a single resort in the Sunshine State.
However, the company merged with Eldorado Resorts more than three years ago. The $17.3 billion deal created the largest gaming company in the U.S.
Eldorado received 51% of the new company in the deal. But the new company kept the Caesars brand. The Isle Casino was part of Eldorado’s portfolio. Therefore, it eventually became a Caesars Florida property.
The new company was forced to sell several properties in multiple states to stay in compliance with gaming regulations. But since the Isle Casino was the only one in the state, it was an obvious choice to keep it.
Isle Casino became a regular WSOP Circuit stop
Caesars owns the World Series of Poker brand and the WSOP.com online poker room under Caesars Interactive Entertainment.
The Isle Casino already had one of the most popular poker rooms in South Florida. As a result, the property hosted a WSOP Circuit series last February, at the end of the 2021-22 Circuit season. The series had several large turnouts, including a 725-entry $1,700 no-limit hold ’em main event.
The WSOP Circuit returned to the Isle yesterday with the start of a 15-event series. It is the final major tournament series at the Isle Casino poker room.
Since Florida poker is extremely popular, and Caesars owns the property, the Circuit will almost certainly return in 2023. But by then, Caesars will technically bring the tour to Harrah’s Pompano Beach with its new WSOP-branded poker room.
Pompano Beach gives Caesars a possible avenue into Florida sports betting
The untapped potential of the Florida gambling market is in sports betting. Most other gambling offerings are already legal.
But the current legal landscape leaves uncertainty about how a Florida sports betting market would work. The 2021 Florida gaming compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe gave the Seminoles most of the control.
Last November, however, a federal judge invalidated the agreement and forced the tribe to shutter its online sportsbook. The Seminoles and the federal government are appealing the ruling. But a decision isn’t likely until 2023.
During the 2022 election cycle, DraftKings and FanDuel funded a Florida sports betting ballot initiative. It would allow non-Seminole entities to operate retail and online betting operations. The efforts failed this year, but DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said he believes it will pass in 2024.
The ballot initiative would give Caesars a clear path into Florida’s online sports betting industry. In that scenario, Harrah’s Pompano Beach would likely have a brick-and-mortar sportsbook as well.
Last June, Caesars launched its horse racing app in Florida. Both Caesars and MGM have horse racing apps in the state.
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