For the past few months, Echo Entertainment and Crown Casinos have been embroiled in a bitter battle over Sydney’s gambling market. The two casino operators want to expand the local gambling industry, but politicians will only allow one operator to go ahead with their plans. Crown Casinos is offering to build a $1 billion high roller gambling venue, and Echo Entertainment has recently announced that it would match that offer.

For months, Echo Entertainment has kept its plans quiet, while James Packer of Crown Casino has boasted his plans. Everyone in the country knows that Packer wants to build a high-roller only casino worth $1 billion. He has even released potential designs for the building. In contrast, Echo Entertainment has kept its cards close to its chest, and is slowly revealing information.

This week, Echo Entertainment announced that the company is prepared to spend upwards of $1 billion on the expansion of The Star casino into a resort property. Since The Star is an existing property, spending as much money as Crown Casino will be spending on building a new property will make for an extensive renovation.

Although it will take more than money to convince local politicians that this is the best plan, it shows that Echo Entertainment is prepared to best its rival. “I have nothing against Crown or nothing against James Packer,” says Echo CEO John Redmond. “This is really an investment in Echo’s future. It should be only one casino and one city.”

If Echo Entertainment’s proposal is chosen, then the casino operator will maintain its exclusivity in Sydney’s gambling market. If not, then Crown Casinos will build Sydney’s second casino, which is targeted a high-roller gamblers and will not contain any poker machines. Each company is presenting a vastly different plan, and it will be very interesting to see which proposal is accepted.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.