Accel Entertainment says early indications from the opening of Fairmount Park Casino and Racing in Illinois, US, are that the property will be “another meaningful growth driver” for the company.
The North American gaming operator and distributor’s CEO, Andy Rubenstein, said the property – acquired for $35m last July – “has already garnered solid customer visitation and play” following its opening in April.
Rubenstein said that despite bad weather forcing the cancellation of some of the races at the property’s Derby Day at the Track on Saturday, May 3, there was still a “fantastic turnout” that led to “very strong play at the casino.”
Accel’s deal for Fairmount Park centred around the acquisition of Fairmount Holdings, which owned FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing in Collinsville.
The $35m deal included an Organisation Gaming Licence to offer casino gaming positions as well as a partnership with FanDuel – in the form of a revenue share agreement – to take part in sports wagering in the state via FanDuel’s master sports betting licence.
As well as acquiring the racetrack, Accel has planned investment of between $85m and $95m on top of the $35m deal to fund temporary and then permanent casino facilities and “modest track investments.”
Accel’s update on Fairmount Park came as the company reported record revenues of $323.9m in Q1, up 7.3 per cent year-on-year.
Net income rose 97 per cent to $14.6m while adjusted EBITDA of $49.5m was up 7.1 per cent.
Accel ended Q1 with 4,391 locations, an increase of 2.9 per cent, and 27,180 gaming terminals, a rise of 4.4 per cent.
“We continue to execute on our near- and long-term growth plans to improve our core operations and expand into complimentary markets, including Fairmount, to leverage our operating disciplines,” Rubenstein said.
“These initiatives are already benefitting our operating performance and we expect our expansion efforts will allow Accel to maintain attractive low-teens returns on capital, generate growing free cash flow and ultimately improve our trading multiples to enhance shareholder value.”
