Gambling with the riverfront’s future - the DiamondJacks property

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) - Right off I-20 and sitting right along Bossier City’s coveted riverfront sits a real estate crapshoot.

With it’s doors closed for nearly a year now and hundreds of employees left without jobs, what does the future hold for DiamondJacks casino?

Diamond Jacks closed in March of 2020 and never reopened.(KSLA)

For the past few years, rumors have swirled about the owners wishing to move that license to a south Louisiana destination. Now this week in a NOLA.com report, Los Angeles-based Peninsula Pacific Entertainment started discussions with local officials on a proposal to build a $250 million casino and resort on Slidell waterfront.

In an interview with the Louisiana Gaming Board Chairman Mike Noel, he says if that were to happen, it would still be months before any major steps would take place.

St. Tammany Parish residents would have to vote on allowing gaming in the parish. The last time such a vote took place, a 1996 referendum was shot down.

In a 'Spectrum Gaming' study in 2019, it reported that the casino market in northwest Louisiana... — In a 'Spectrum Gaming' study in 2019, it reported that the casino market in northwest Louisiana was oversaturated.(KSLA)

In our one-on-one interview with Noel, we discuss the likelihood of this happening, if the Shreveport-Bossier gaming market is already too saturated for a replacement casino and the role the board will play in the future of gaming in northwest Louisiana.