Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks Latest Nevada Property to Change Hands

The Nevada casino market has a new player.

Century Casinos, based in Colorado, is entering the Silver State’s casino game for the first time, announcing Wednesday that it had agreed to buy the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks from Marnell Gaming.

The sale price is $195 million, according to a release from Century Casinos. The deal is for all of the casino property and 50% of Smooth Bourbon LLC (PropCo), which owns the land and building. Century also has an option to buy the other half of PropCo later.

The Nugget is about 3 miles from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

“We have been looking at entering the Reno market for a long time, and we believe the Nugget is a perfect fit for our portfolio. We look forward to welcoming the great team at the Nugget to Century Casinos,” Century Co-CEOs Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger said in the company statement. “We believe there is a lot of upside to this transaction and that we identified some areas of improvement to continue the Nugget’s growth.”

Nevada Casino Scene Keeps Evolving

Sales and rebrands are nothing new for Nevada casinos, as the state with more gaming facilities than any other (more than 200, according to the American Gaming Association) continues to evolve.

In the Reno/Tahoe market, Bally Corp. bought the MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa in April 2021. That was part of a larger puzzle as Caesars and Eldorado merged in 2020.

And in January, another deal involving Bally Corp. was announced as the Bally’s Las Vegas casino began the process of rebranding to the Horseshoe Las Vegas. That casino will be the site of this year’s World Series of Poker, which runs from May 31 to July 19.

More About Nugget Sale and Century

Marnell Gaming bought the Nugget property in 2013, according to the Nevada Independent, and expanded it to its current size with 1,382 rooms and 75,000 square feet of gaming space. The property also has several bars and restaurants plus 110,000 square feet of space for convention activity.

The deal, pending approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

Century Casinos owns nine casinos in North America, according to its website – four in the Canadian province of Alberta, two in Colorado, two in Missouri and one in West Virginia.

There are no real money online casino options in Nevada; however, online poker is available, as is online sports betting.