The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is proposing a $110 million commercial casino in downtown Sioux City, Iowa.
Ho-Chunk Inc, the tribe's economic development corporation, formed a new company to bid for the license. Two options for the land-based casino will be presented to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, where applications are due November 1. "We want to win," Ho-Chunk Inc CEO Lance Morgan told The Sioux City Journal. Under Iowa law, casino operators must partner with a non-profit. So the tribe is forming its own "Qualifying Sponsoring Organization" because Missouri River Historical Development, the holder of the existing Sioux City riverboat license, is joining up with Warner Gaming, a Las Vegas developer, to bid on the new land-based casino. The $100 million MRHD proposal will follow the "Hard Rock" theme. However, Warner owns the name separately from Hard Rock International, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. "I think it'll be better than the Hard Rock," Morgan told KMEG-TV of Ho-Chunk's proposal. Get the Story: