DETROIT — Ilitch Cos., which owns and operates the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers, pizza chain Little Caesar’s and Olympia Entertainment, has agreed to acquire Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville, Miss., as well as the remaining 50 percent ownership interest in Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.
In conjunction, Ilitch Cos. CEO Chris Ilitch has also announced the formation of Ilitch Gaming, a new enterprise that will oversee the company’s gaming businesses, including the two new casinos. Detroit-based Ilitch Cos. also owns MotorCity Casino Hotel, located in Detroit, which will also now come under Ilitch Gaming’s operating umbrella.
Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort is a 300-key hotel with a gaming floor containing more than 800 slots and video poker machines and 30 table games. The property also features multiple amenities and a 36-hole miniature golf course. The purchase of Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort marks the third market Ilitch Cos. has expanded into.
Ocean Casino Resort features 1,860 rooms with a 135,000-square-foot casino floor, a 4,500-seat concert venue and 160,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. The beachfront property spans than 20 acres and offers proximity to the Atlantic City Boardwalk. In addition, Ocean Casino Resort offers a holographic mini golf experience, restaurants by chefs Stephen Starr and Jose Garces and a nightclub. Ilitch Cos. first purchased 50 percent interest in the property in 2021 and will now control the entire complex.
Both purchases remain subject to regulatory approval.
The Ilitch family has owned casinos since 1999 as a founding investor and 25 percent owner of MotorCity Casino Hotel. In 2005, Marian Ilitch, wife of Mike Ilitch, then-CEO of the company, purchased an additional 53.5 percent ownership stake of the hotel, taking control and subsequently investing $300 million in renovations.
— Matthew Auchincloss