Nebraska's first full-scale casino opens its doors with $185 million Grand Island Casino Resort launch

Nebraska's gambling industry marked a new milestone on Thursday with the grand opening of the Grand Island Casino Resort, the state’s first full-scale casino and resort. Developed at a cost of $185 million through a partnership between Elite Casino Resorts and Fonner Park, the seven-story facility is now open to the public and will operate 24 hours a day, year-round.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony drew state and local officials, industry leaders, and hundreds of guests who gathered to celebrate what is expected to become a premier destination for gaming, entertainment, and hospitality in Nebraska. The project began taking shape after voters approved casino gaming in 2020.

“This new resort is more than just a casino,” said Dan Kehl, CEO of Elite Casino Resorts. “It’s a place where people will gather to dine, celebrate, enjoy live entertainment and yes, cheer on the horses from our outdoor entertainment deck. It’s a place that honors the past, and it’s going to embrace the future.”

The resort features a gaming floor with 750 slot machines, 20 table games, and Nebraska’s first live poker room, in addition to a full-service spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and a hotel with 162 rooms, including luxury suites.

Additional amenities include multiple dining venues such as Ruthie’s Steak & Seafood, a nod to Kehl’s mother and co-founder of the family business, along with a show lounge, a banquet hall that seats 200 guests, and a scenic outdoor deck overlooking the Fonner Park horse track.

Vince Fiala, general manager of the Grand Island Casino Resort, called the opening an exciting moment for the region. “Today we celebrate the grand opening of Grand Island Casino Resort,” said Fiala. “Fonner Park chose us as a partner. There were a lot of meetings and presentations, but we knew they were the right partners for us and they knew we'd be the right partners for them.”

The resort is expected to create economic benefits for Grand Island and the surrounding area. Grand Island Mayor Roger Steele emphasized the resort will provide permanent jobs across operations, with an estimated annual payroll of $13.6 million annually. During construction, over 877 workers from 77 different contractors and vendors were involved.

“The Grand Island Casino Resorts represents more than just a new attraction,” Steele said. “It symbolizes our new growth and vitality with more than four hundred new jobs being created.”

For Fonner Park and the broader horse racing community, the casino's opening signals a long-awaited lifeline. “It just seems like the process has gone so fast, but it was necessary for Nebraska Thoroughbred Racing to sustain itself because, frankly, it was not sustaining itself. So I'm tickled to death that it's finally here. This is our savior,” said Chris Kotulak, CEO of Fonner Park.

From the start, Fonner Park stated that its ideal casino partner must understand the importance of reinvesting in horse racing. According to Kotulak, Fonner distributed about $2.5 million to horses and horsemen, and another $500,000 to breeders in 2023 and 2024.

“The theme has been without horse racing, we would not have casinos,” said Casey Ricketts, executive director of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission.

Commissioner Chris Stinson noted the sport’s previous decline, attributing its recent turnaround to the introduction of casino revenue. “For a while, it felt like it’s been an irreversible decline, a lot of these horsemen and horsewomen don’t do it for the money," he pointed out. "They’re not making any money until recently, so they do it for the love sport. I’m really happy we have casinos now.”