Harrah's Entertainment
| File:Harrah's Entertainment Logo.png | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: CZR | |
| Founded | 1990 Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Defunct | Template:End date and age |
| Fate | Purchased by Eldorado Resorts |
| Headquarters | Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
Harrah's Entertainment—later known as Caesars Entertainment Corporation and formerly The Promus Companies—was a U.S.-based casino and hospitality enterprise originally established in Reno, Nevada and headquartered in Paradise, Nevada. The company managed more than 50 resorts along with seven golf courses under various brand names. By 2013, it ranked as the world's fourth-largest gambling operator, reporting annual revenues of $8.6 billion. In 2020, it was acquired by Eldorado Resorts, which subsequently adopted the Caesars Entertainment identity.
At the time of its acquisition, Caesars was a publicly traded corporation with majority ownership held by private equity investors such as Apollo Global Management, TPG Capital, Paulson & Co., and Carl Icahn. Its primary operating subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2015, resulting in the establishment of Vici Properties.
William F. Harrah period (1937–1978)
The enterprise’s beginnings date back to October 29, 1937, when businessman Bill Harrah launched a bingo hall in Reno, Nevada, which later evolved into Harrah's Reno. In 1955, he expanded operations to Stateline, Nevada, inaugurating what became Harrah's Lake Tahoe.
Harrah's Inc. went public in 1971, secured a listing on the American Stock Exchange in 1972, and became the first casino company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1973.
Bill Harrah passed away in 1978 at age 66 due to complications during surgery for an aortic aneurysm.
Holiday Inn ownership
In February 1980, Holiday Inn purchased Harrah's, Inc. for $300 million. The sale was reportedly offset by liquidating Harrah's collection of nearly 7,000 vintage automobiles. At that time, Holiday Inn owned two casino interests: the Holiday Inn Marina Casino under construction in Atlantic City and a 40% ownership stake in the Holiday Casino located on the Las Vegas Strip adjacent to its hotel.
July 1987 saw the opening of Bill's Casino Lake Tahoe, followed by the debut of Harrah's Laughlin in August 1988.
The Promus Companies era
Established in 1990 as The Promus Companies, this entity emerged through a corporate spin-off designed to facilitate Holiday Inn’s divestiture of its hotel operations to Bass PLC. Promus retained ownership of Harrah's along with hotel brands including Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, and Hampton Inn, whereas Bass acquired Holiday Corp., preserving only Holiday Inn assets. The company moved its headquarters from Reno to Memphis, Tennessee in 1991.
In April 1992, the former Holiday Casino was renamed Harrah's Las Vegas.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, rapid growth occurred in gaming markets fueled by Indian gaming legalization and riverboat casinos. Between 1993 and 1994, Harrah’s undertook significant expansion with openings such as Harrah's Joliet, Harrah's Vicksburg, Harrah's Tunica, Harrah's Black Hawk, Harrah's Central City, Harrah's Shreveport, Harrah's North Kansas City, and Harrah's Ak-Chin. These developments bolstered Harrah’s presence across emerging regional gaming sectors.
Rebranded as Harrah's Entertainment
In 1995, Promus separated its non-gaming hotel operations—Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites—forming Promus Hotel Corp., while the original company, which owned 16 casinos, adopted the new name Harrah's Entertainment.
Throughout the following decade, Harrah's pursued an aggressive expansion strategy, inaugurating casinos such as Harrah's Skagit Valley, SkyCity Auckland, Harrah's St. Louis-Riverport, Harrah's Cherokee, Harrah's Prairie Band, Harrah's New Orleans, and Harrah's Rincon. The company also acquired significant assets including Southern Belle Casino, Showboat, Inc., Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, Players International, Harveys Casino Resorts, Louisiana Downs, Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation, and the World Series of Poker.
On September 4, 1997, Harrah's introduced its Total Gold loyalty program—later renamed Total Rewards in 2000 and Caesars Rewards in 2019—with a $20 million investment. This initiative was the industry's first comprehensive systemwide comps program, enabling patrons to earn and redeem points across all Harrah’s venues and becoming a fundamental contributor to the company's growth.
Gary Loveman, a Harvard Business School professor, joined as chief operating officer in 1998 and served as CEO from 2003 until 2015. His strategic guidance significantly bolstered Harrah’s market position and financial results.
In 1999, the company moved its corporate headquarters from Memphis to Las Vegas to better align with its principal gaming activities.
Acquisition of Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
Harrah's largest growth move came in 2005 with the $10.4 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment, Inc., substantially increasing its Las Vegas Strip presence where Caesars operated four casinos. This acquisition expanded Harrah's portfolio to 40 casinos plus four cruise ship casinos and enhanced its ability to attract high-stakes gamblers. The deal was prompted by competitive pressures following the MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group merger and required divestitures of certain properties to comply with antitrust regulations.
The company sought international expansion through joint ventures in Spain, Slovenia, and the Bahamas and applied for a resort license in Singapore; however, these initiatives did not come to fruition. Global growth continued with acquisitions such as London Clubs International in 2006 and Macau Orient Golf club in 2007.
Between 2005 and 2010, Harrah's consolidated much of the east side of the Las Vegas Strip by acquiring Bourbon Street, Imperial Palace, Barbary Coast, and Planet Hollywood casinos along with extensive adjacent land holdings—strategic moves that supported sustained business development.
During 2005–2006, Harrah's optimized its portfolio by closing its Lake Charles casino after Hurricane Rita damage and selling Flamingo Laughlin and Grand Casino Gulfport properties.
Transition to Private Ownership
Loveman engaged private equity figure David Bonderman regarding spinning off Harrah's Entertainment’s real estate into a separate real estate investment trust (REIT) to leverage higher valuation multiples typical of hotel companies compared to gaming firms. By 2006, talks evolved toward a leveraged buyout led by Bonderman’s TPG Capital. Apollo Global Management also expressed interest in acquiring Harrah’s and collaborated with TPG on a joint offer. By year-end, they agreed to purchase Harrah’s for $17.1 billion in cash along with $10.7 billion in assumed debt. The deal finalized in January 2008 left Harrah’s carrying $25.1 billion in total debt.
The Linq
Originally intending to construct new properties from the ground up, the company shifted its approach following the economic downturn, recognizing its limited expertise in resort development. In 2009, it introduced Project LINQ, which incorporated 20 dining and drinking establishments situated between its Imperial Palace, O'Sheas, and Flamingo casinos on the eastern side of the Las Vegas Strip. This initiative sought to establish an entertainment zone similar to those found in Los Angeles and New Orleans, designed to generate additional revenue beyond conventional casino activities and to rival the Fremont Street Experience.
Las Vegas Arena
In 2007, Anschutz Entertainment Group teamed up with Harrah's Entertainment to plan a 20,000-seat arena located behind Bally's and Paris casinos. Caesars Entertainment had earlier proposed a baseball stadium for this site, but that plan was discontinued after Harrah's acquisition. Progress was delayed due to disagreements over cost allocation with AEG and the financial crisis of 2008. Although the arena was initially expected to be completed by 2010, no substantial development had taken place by 2009. The project was later redirected in 2010 to a location behind the Imperial Palace but faced resistance because it required public funding. By 2012, AEG had exited the venture after MGM Resorts introduced the T-Mobile Arena near New York-New York and Park MGM, which did not rely on public financing.
The acquisition of Planet Hollywood expanded Harrah's contiguous holdings on the Strip to 126 acres, including undeveloped parcels intended for a large-scale sports arena capable of hosting professional basketball or hockey franchises. Collectively, these casinos provide more than 8,000 rooms with direct access to the proposed arena.
In August 2010, Harrah's revealed plans to operate casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio, targeting openings in 2012 as part of their strategy to grow into emerging regional markets.
Renamed as Caesars Entertainment Corporation
On November 23, 2010, although the anticipated IPO was called off, the company officially rebranded from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars Entertainment Corporation in order to capitalize on the worldwide reputation of the Caesars name. The Harrah's brand continued as one of its three main casino brands.
Caesars completed its initial public offering on February 8, 2012, with common shares beginning trading on NASDAQ under the ticker "CZR."
Caesars Acquisition Company merger
On December 22, 2014, Caesars announced its intention to merge with Caesars Acquisition Company. Shareholders of Caesars Acquisition Company were allotted 0.664 shares of Caesars Entertainment common stock for each share they owned.
Casino unit files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
On January 15, 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc., along with approximately 170 subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The parent entity, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, did not participate in this filing. This restructuring triggered lawsuits from investors in the casino unit against the parent company concerning debt guarantees and led to the establishment of Vici Properties.
On November 2, 2015, Rock Gaming announced it would take over management responsibilities for Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, and ThistleDown Racino from Caesars Entertainment, finalizing the transition by June 2016.
Acquisition and Divestiture of Playtika
In May 2011, Caesars purchased Playtika for an estimated $80–90 million. Playtika, established in 2010 by Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak, specialized in social gaming platforms such as slotomania.com and caesarsgames.com. By June 2016, a Chinese investment group, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital, agreed to acquire Playtika for $4.4 billion.
On November 29, 2017, Caesars sold the real estate assets of Harrah's Las Vegas to Vici Properties, while retaining operational control of the casino. Concurrently, Caesars acquired Centaur Gaming for $1.7 billion and announced the development of a new convention center in Las Vegas, known as Caesars Forum.
Merger between Caesars and Eldorado
In February 2019, Caesars partnered with Turner Sports to deliver sports betting content for Bleacher Report, including establishing a dedicated studio at Caesars Palace.
Merger discussions between Caesars and Eldorado Resorts were announced on March 17, 2019. By June 23, Caesars accepted Eldorado's $8.6 billion bid. Post-merger, Caesars held 53 properties compared to Eldorado's 26. The newly formed board consisted of six members from Eldorado and five from Caesars.
In May 2019, ESPN entered into an exclusive partnership with Caesars as its official sports odds provider across all programming. This collaboration included opening a Las Vegas studio at The Linq centered on sports betting content.
On April 16, 2019, Anthony Rodio was appointed CEO of Caesars, succeeding Mark Frissora who resigned in November 2018. Rodio, formerly CEO of Affinity Gaming, was recommended by prominent investor Carl Icahn, who owned a 28.5% stake in the company and had been pushing for a sale.
Shareholder approval for the merger was secured in November 2019, with the transaction finalized in July 2020.
Regulatory Fines and Settlements
In 2015, Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas casino faced an $8 million fine from the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) due to insufficient monitoring of suspicious transactions. An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit from 2012 uncovered more than 100 unreported potential criminal activities. The Nevada Gaming Control Board also imposed a $1.5 million penalty related to these compliance failures.
That same year, the UK Gambling Commission reprimanded Caesars over inadequate anti-money laundering measures at two London casinos. In response, Caesars committed to improving its controls and contributed £875,000 towards socially responsible initiatives.
In 2020, Caesars Entertainment EMEA received a record £13 million fine from the UK Gambling Commission for shortcomings in VIP programs. These included permitting a customer with a gambling addiction to lose £323,000 within one year and failing to verify funding sources for high-roller clients—including a politically exposed individual who lost £795,000. As a consequence, three senior executives were stripped of their gambling licenses.
Asset Sale
In April 2020, Twin River Worldwide Holdings announced an agreement with Caesars Entertainment and Vici Properties to purchase Bally's Atlantic City located in New Jersey.
Properties
As of the 2020 acquisition, Caesars operated the following properties:
- Bally's
- Bally's Atlantic City
- Bally's Las Vegas
- Caesars
- Caesars Atlantic City
- Caesars Palace
- Caesars Southern Indiana
- Harrah's
- Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino
- Harrah's Atlantic City
- Harrah's Cherokee
- Harrah's Cherokee Valley River
- Harrah's Council Bluffs
- Harrah's Gulf Coast
- Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino
- Harrah's Joliet
- Harrah's Lake Tahoe
- Harrah's Las Vegas
- Harrah's Laughlin
- Harrah's Louisiana Downs
- Harrah's Metropolis
- Harrah's New Orleans
- Harrah's North Kansas City
- Harrah's Northern California
- Harrah's Philadelphia
- Harrah's Resort Southern California
- Horseshoe
- Horseshoe Casino Baltimore (50% joint ownership with Jack Entertainment)
- Horseshoe Bossier City
- Horseshoe Council Bluffs
- Horseshoe Hammond
- Horseshoe Casino Tunica
- Other Las Vegas Strip Properties
- The Cromwell Las Vegas
- Flamingo Las Vegas
- The Linq
- Paris Las Vegas
- Planet Hollywood Las Vegas
- Additional US Casinos
- Harveys Lake Tahoe
- Indiana Grand Racing & Casino
- Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino
- International Locations
- Caesars Windsor, Canada
- London Clubs International (12 venues)
Formerly managed properties included:
- Atlantic City Country Club
- Atlantic Club Casino Hotel
- Bill's Casino Lake Tahoe
- Binion's Horseshoe
- Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino
- Caesars Golf Macau
- Caesars Palace at Sea
- Flamingo Laughlin
- Grand Casino Gulfport
- Harrah's East Chicago
- Harrah's Prairie Band
- Harrah's Reno
- Harrah's Shreveport
- Harrah's Sky City
- Harrah's St. Louis
- Harrah's Casino Tunica
- Harrah's Tunica Mardi Gras Casino
- Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati
- Horseshoe Casino Cleveland
- IP Casino Resort Spa
- Rio Secco Golf Club
- Showboat Atlantic City
- Showboat Hotel and Casino
- ThistleDown Racino
- Tunica Roadhouse
- Turfway Park (50% ownership)
Additional resources
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- Harrah's Entertainment
- Companies founded in Nevada in 1990
- Initial public offerings of 2012
- Mergers and acquisitions in 2020
- American firms established in 1990
- Businesses headquartered in Paradise, Nevada
- Former Nasdaq-listed companies
- Companies that underwent Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015
- Gambling enterprises founded in 1990
- Hospitality firms founded in 1990
- Gambling organizations in the United States
- Hospitality corporations in the United States
- Poker-related companies
- 5
- American companies established in 1990
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment