Nevada’s prime gaming regulator tells Affinity CEO Primm is a ‘grave concern’

Primm is “just not viable as a casino operation,” Affinity Gaming CEO Scott Butera instructed the Gaming Control Board on Thursday, including that it is unclear what the long run holds for the soon-to-be-closed gaming market. 

The Las Vegas-based firm introduced earlier this month that the final of Primm’s three casinos would completely shut July 4, together with Primm Center, which has a number of meals and sundries retailers, the Flying J truck cease and the Primm Valley Lotto Store, simply throughout the state line in California. Some 344 employees are shedding their jobs, practically 75 % of whom need to vacate their company-owned flats behind the casinos.

Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer instructed Butera that the regulatory company was watching the occasions unfold in Primm “with grave concern for the community.”

Butera instructed the regulators the corporate was “working very closely with the landlord, looking at either [another operator] potentially taking over the asset or hopefully selling the asset.” He instructed the management board that “a potential suitor” submitted a letter of curiosity for the property.

“We’re hoping that we’ll have a transition on the property, but we are exiting as the tenant.”

Affinity was in entrance of the management board with Boomer’s Sports Book, which was permitted for a license to take over the betting location inside the corporate’s off-Strip Silver Sevens Casino and Hotel.

Dreitzer, nonetheless, needed to handle a few of the questions surrounding Primm, which he deemed the primary city that greets guests from Southern California when they’re driving into Nevada on Interstate 15.

“This is of critical importance to the state, and good faith is not only requested, but it’s required,” he stated.

Butera, who had been overseeing Affinity’s digital division since March 2023 earlier than being named CEO in 2024, stated Affinity, which has operated the Primm resorts for greater than a decade, stated the gaming market on the border was declining.

“It’s been losing money, and we’ve been investing a lot of money over the years to no avail,” Butera stated. “We’ve tried many things there, including building a new sign and new slot machines.”

He instructed the management board that Affinity’s lease with the Primm household requires a on line casino operation. However, the corporate instructed the household it was now not in a position to function a on line casino.

After the listening to, a spokesperson for New York City-based hedge fund Z Capital Group, which acquired the previous property operator Herbst Gaming out of chapter in 2010, wrote in an electronic mail that the market has been “a significant cash drain and management distraction for Affinity for many years,” calling the closure of Primm “a prudent business decision.”

The spokesperson added that Affinity “embarked on an exhaustive analysis, an extensive evaluation of alternatives, and a robust sale process that yielded no potential buyers.”

Dreitzer warned Affinity that the corporate should make a “good-faith attempt” that might enable Primm to proceed in “the fullest way possible.” The state gaming trade’s chief regulator added that “we’re going to keep a close eye on it to make sure that that’s the case. We wanted to establish that [on the] record.”

Butera stated the corporate has been “working tirelessly” to assist soon-to-be-displaced Primm employees discover employment and housing.

“We’ve had many, many agencies there to assist the employees that are there, either in continuing their employment, hopefully, or finding new employment, housing, etc. So all I can say is we’ve been incredibly cooperative and hopeful that things are going well,” Butera stated. 

Butera instructed the management board that Affinity has introduced practically two dozen businesses, charities and assist organizations to go to the property. 

“We’ve organized everything from health care to relocation of housing and food programs,” Butera instructed the regulators. “We’ll also contract to run a shuttle back and forth to and from Las Vegas daily so people can interview for employment.”
Despite his assurances, Primm staff instructed The Nevada Independent final week that they’ve seen little assist from the corporate.