A partnership that includes a former Nevada governor and basketball legend Larry Bird has submitted paperwork to become the operator of a planned casino in his southern Indiana hometown of French Lick.
http://www.gambling911.com/
September 16, 2003
Larry Bird, former Nevada governor in casino deal
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PAOLI, Ind. -- A partnership that includes a former Nevada governor and basketball legend Larry Bird has submitted paperwork to become the operator of a planned casino in his southern Indiana hometown of French Lick.
LJB Gaming Associates uses Bird's initials in its name, but an attorney for the group says the basketball Hall of Famer does not plan to accept profits if the casino effort is successful.
"His interest in this is that he's going to designate that his profits will go toward charities," Indianapolis attorney Michael J. Messaglia told the Times-Mail of Bedford. "We're interested in bringing a riverboat to Orange County, to bring economic development to the area, to create jobs, to stimulate tourism."
The other partners in LJB Associates, Messaglia said, are predominantly from Indiana along with former Nevada Gov. Robert List.
LJB Associates on Friday submitted to the county treasurer's office the required certified check for $16,110 to cover the cost of a planned Nov. 4 referendum on whether to allow a casino.
Donald Trump's Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company has also filed paperwork for the referendum. Trump owns several casinos across the country, including a riverboat in Gary.
Backers of the Orange County riverboat won approval in the Legislature this spring after a 10-year lobbying effort for a casino on a planned waterway between historic hotels in French Lick and West Baden Springs.
The involvement of Bird, now president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers, in the casino effort does not violate any NBA or team policies, Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said.
"As far as our position on it, as long as there is not a sporting book there then we know that's what the NBA is looking at," Walsh said. "We have had a lot of corporate owners in the league over the years that have had minority interests in casinos through the different companies that they have owned."
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