Parq Vancouver’s CA$108.5-Million Loss and Recent Scandals Prompt Structural Changes

Parq Vancouver has had a rough couple of weeks ever since the beginning of November when major celebrity Drake accused the venue in allegedly racially profiling him and preventing him from playing. This Thursday saw Dundee Corporation Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Goodman announcing that considerable loss over 2018 third quarter has prompted the introduction of a new partner in the resort operation.

Bad news never comes alone and such has been the case with Parq Casino in the past several weeks of operation. First, it was the mandatory report which shed more light onto the operation of the year-old integrated resort. According to the information issued this Wednesday, the first nine months of operation for the location saw a loss of about CA$108.5 million. Taking into account only operation, the figure reached some CA$17.7 million.

New Partner to Be Introduced Soon

It could be recalled that the month of March saw the first signs of the hard times ahead, as the location was in need of a boost in the form of $CA33.4 million in order to dot the i’s and cross the t’s of its building and hedging payments. Moreover, the last days of September saw the casino resort welcome additional CA$20 million provided by an undisclosed investor.

Upon further consideration and estimation, the investment company based in Toronto made the official announcement yesterday that fundamental changes are in order. Mr. Goodman stated that the project will have to welcome some fresh blood to the structure of the casino resort. This measure will aim to elevate the project’s performance and make sure cost-saving practices are implemented throughout the entire operation.

Dundee Corporation teamed up with casino developer and operator Paragon Gaming in order to bring to life its project, located in the vicinity of BC Place stadium in Vancouver. The casino resort is able to provide casino offerings along with more family-friendly operation thanks to the couple of Marriott premium hotel towers which feature some 517 rooms available for booking. Furthermore, on-site there is a conference venue spanning over some 60,000 square feet able to welcome large crowds.

Drake Scandal Makes Headlines

The very first days of this month saw Parq Casino making headlines, as worldwide-known rapper Audrey Drake Graham, 32, posted an Instagram post claiming that he was racially profiled at the casino venue and floor management refused to let him play. The performer better known for his middle name is well-known in Canada with his habit of gambling around his birthday on October 24.

It was a story that dominated headlines this week. The refusal by a downtown Vancouver casino to accept money from Drake was because the casino was following the new anti-money laundering rules. https://t.co/pYO7UdGzVp

— CTV Vancouver (@CTVVancouver) November 11, 2018

Such was the case on November 2 when the casino venue staff allegedly refused to let him play despite Drake having “everything they originally asked for”. Shortly after the scandal took over news outlets around the globe, a Reddit user claiming to work at the said gaming venue provided his own version of the situation. According to him, the newly implemented BCLC policy mandates that all players provide Source of Funds before they attempt to buy in for more than CA$10,000.

Later on, the user O-A-N added that in fact, Drake did play at the casino venue for some time, but after losing the cash he decided to post on Instagram. Any casino venue which allows casino patrons to play without the said verification is threatened by license revocation penalty.