Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAR : Harrah's Entertainment
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. NYSE: [HET] is a gaming corporation that owns and operates casinos, hotels, and five golf courses under several brands. The company is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the largest gaming company in the world, with yearly revenues around $7.11 billion. (Its largest competitor, MGM Mirage, has $6.48 billion in yearly revenues, but no other competitors are nearly as large.)
The company known as Harrah's Entertainment was founded on October 30, 1937 as a small bingo parlor in Reno, Nevada operated by William F. Harrah.
In 1971 Harrah's begins public trading with 450,000 shares.
In 1972 the company is listed on the American Stock Exchange.
In 1973 Harrah's is the first casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In June 1978 William F. Harrah founder of the company dies.
In February 1980 Holiday Inns, Inc. acquires Harrah's Las Vegas. Holiday Inn at the time had 1,600 hotels and interests in two casinos, a casino under construction in the marina district in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and a 40 percent ownership interest in River Boat Casino, Inc., a casino adjacent to the Holiday Inn hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
Purchased the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino (which also owned the Rio Secco Golf course) in 1999 for $888 million.
In March 2004, Harrah's purchased Binion's Horseshoe.
In March 11, 2004, Harrah's sold Binion's Horseshoe to MTR Gaming Group retaining the rights to the Horsehoe brand and the World Series of Poker.
Later in 2004, Harrah's closed on the purchase of Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation.
On June 13, 2005 Harrah's completed the takeover of Caesars Entertainment. While the companies were not required to divest any properties, they did sell several properties before the merger was completed. This merger made Harrah's the largest gambling company with over 4 million square feet (370,000 m²) of casinos, almost 100,000 employees and over 40 casinos.
At the end of June 2005, Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman announced that the company will consolidate all their brand names under the following: Harrah's, Rio, Caesars, and Horseshoe. Some stand alone names, like Paris Las Vegas are likely to be retained.
First up will be the rebranding of the two remaining Bally's properties in the company, but Loveman did not give any exact specifics or a timeline of when this will occur.
In August 2005, Harrah's New Orleans, Grand Casino Biloxi, and Grand Casino Gulfport were closed because of Hurricane Katrina. The Grand's location was largely destroyed, with all of the barge-based buildings containing their gaming areas being torn from their moorings and blown across U.S. Highway 90.
In September 2005, Harrah's Pride of Lake Charles was severely damaged by Hurricane Rita. One riverboat was pushed completely onshore, and the other is at the Port of Lake Charles awaiting repairs. All of the restaurants and support buildings were destroyed. Harrah's estimates that the rebuilding will take 2 years.
On November 29, 2005 Harrah's Entertainment announced plans to sell the Flamingo Laughlin to AREP Boardwalk Properties LLC. The $170 million sale closed on May 19, 2006 and included the sale of the 7.7 acre site (Traymore site) in Atlantic City. As a condition of the sale, the property is to be renamed the Aquarius within 6 months.
On December 12, 2005, a sale of the Grand Casino Gulfport, for an undisclosed amount, to Gulfside Casino Partnership was announced. Gulfside is the owner of the Copa Casino which is next to the Grand Casino. The announcement also stated that the Grand Casino Biloxi is to be rebuilt from scratch as a Horseshoe casino. Harrah's New Orleans, which didn't receive much damage from the storm, is scheduled to open on February 17, 2006 with half the employees it had before the hurricane.
On April 23, 2006 a scavenger hunt style promotion called "Treasure Hunt" ended when a accident seriously hurt one employee and tourist, and killed one tourist. The accident happened when a robbery suspect fleeing police hit a mini-van carrying the Harrah's employee and tourists.
On May 26, 2006, Harrah's acquired a 19.6 acre site behind, but not adjacent to the Imperial Palace with frontage on Koval Road. The cost for the land was $164.4 million. The site is currently occupied by the Desert Club Apartments.
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