UNLV Libraries Collection of Players International, Inc. Financial and Research Reports (MS-00975)

Players International, Inc. was a gaming company known for the riverboat casinos it operated in Illinois, Louisiana, and Missouri, and a racino, a racetrack with slot machines, in Kentucky in the 1990s. Player’s International, Inc. was founded in Calabasas, California, in 1984 by brothers Edward and David Fisherman, the creators of a Las Vegas, Nevada game show called Dealer’s Choice. The company began as an entertainment company focused on a discount travel service, Player’s Club. Additionally, they organized gaming tournaments in Las Vegas, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey, the only states that had legal casino gambling at the time. By 1990, these ventures proved to be profitable and they sought to expand their operations with activities such as call-in-games, in which a person used their touch tone telephones to call a special number to play an interactive game based on popular game shows such as Wheel of Fortune.

As casino gambling became legal in other states during the early 1990s, the Fisherman brothers dropped the Player’s Club and other ventures to focus on the development of a riverboat casino in Illinois. The company’s first riverboat casino, Metropolis, opened in February 1993 in Metropolis, Illinois. It was backed by game show host Merv Griffin. In December 1993, Player’s International, Inc. opened another riverboat casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Lake Charles riverboat benefited from a location close to Houston, Texas, and became one of the most profitable riverboat casinos at the time. The company also purchased Players Bluegrass Downs, a thoroughbred racetrack in Paducah, Kentucky. David Fisherman retired from the company in 1993. Edward Fisherman remained as CEO and chairman of the board.

In 1994, Players International, Inc. built and opened a hotel near the Metropolis property in a joint venture. The company’s affiliation with Merv Griffin continued with the Merv Griffin Theatre, located next to the hotel. Merv Griffin was both a major shareholder and a public representative for Players International, Inc. In 1995, the company purchased the Star Riverboat in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. Star Riverboat was moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, and shared a dock with the Lake Charles riverboat. The same year, Players International, Inc. opened the Players Island Resort in Mesquite, Nevada. The company continued to purchase and add to their various properties throughout 1996, icluding a joint venture with Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. to open the Riverport Casino Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri, with four permanently docked riverboat casinos.

As casino gaming grew across the U.S., competition resulted in decreased revenue for the company. They ceased new projects and began to sell their properties. In 1997, Players International, Inc. sold their Mesquite property to Black Gaming, a company that operated other casinos in Mesquite, Nevada. In 1999, Jackpot Enterprises, Inc. made an offer to acquire Players International, Inc. at $8.25 a share. On August 15, 1999, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. offered $8.50 and to assume $150 million in Player’s debt. Player International, Inc. paid to end their deal with Jackpot, and the deal with Harrah's was completed in 2000. Lake Charles and Metropolis added the Harrah’s brand to their names and Harrah’s kept a 50 percent interest in Bluegrass Downs.

Sources:

“Players International, Inc.” FundingUniverse, 1997. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/players-international-inc-history/.

Reuters. “Company News; Harrah's to Acquire Players International.” The New York Times., August 17, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/17/business/company-news-harrah-s-to-acquire-players-international.html.