Nov. 18--Neither of the other two companies that bid for the casino in Sumner County --Marvel Gaming and Penn National Gaming -- are champing at the bit to try to replace Harrah's.

The national economic slump and issues in the credit market will make it far more difficult for any casino company to gather the $250 million up-front investment required under state law.

Roger Wagner, president and chief executive of Marvel Gaming, said it would cost 40 to 50 percent more to borrow money for a Sumner County casino than casino proponents initially planned.

In addition, a casino developer would probably have to have a 40- to 50-percent down payment to secure a loan, compared to 10 to 20 percent a few months ago.

He said the company will probably at least consider rebidding, but added "it's probably not something we'll get real excited about. We're facing a lot of the same problems Harrah's has."

Eric Schippers, a vice president with Penn, said the company just found out about Harrah's pulling out and hasn't settled on a course of action.

Penn won the rights to develop a smaller casino in southeast Kansas but withdrew from that project after the company didn't get the nod for Sumner County.

Commenting on whether the company will try again is "sort of premature for us at this juncture," he said.

Both Wagner and Schippers said they would need to see details of the rebidding process before deciding how to proceed.

-----

To see more of The Wichita Eagle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansas.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. NASDAQ-NMS:PENN,