Boyd Gaming history

The Boyd Gaming empire experienced its first expansion in 1979, when Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall opened along the Boulder Highway.

Boyd was asked to take over the Stardust in 1984 after a $3 million fine was levied against the property’s owners, and the casino was officially added to Boyd Gaming’s portfolio the following year.

The Boyd Group also acquired the Fremont Hotel and Casino in 1985.

Located along the Illinois River, the casino, which originally opened in 1991, contained 33,000 square feet of gaming space and sat adjacent to the Par-A-Dice Hotel, a 208-room, full-service hotel.

Company founder Sam Boyd died on January 15, 1993, at the age of 82, and was succeeded as Chief Executive Officer by Bill Boyd.

In 1994, the Boyd Group, renamed Boyd Gaming Corporation, took its first steps outside Nevada.

The company's efforts to expand its gaming empire rarely failed, but in 1995 the company recorded a notable mistake.

Less than two years later, in 1996, the property was expanded again.

Opened in 1997, the three-deck Blue Chip contained 37,000 square feet of gaming space and two restaurants, existing as one of five casino riverboats authorized to operate in Indiana along Lake Michigan.

Roughly three years later, in July 1998, the casino was closed.

2001: Delta Downs Racetrack is acquired.

In 2003 Boyd Gaming partnered with MGM Resorts International to build the $1.1 billion Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Completed on July 1, 2004, the $1.3 billion acquisition gave Boyd Gaming four additional Las Vegas properties—Suncoast; Gold Coast; the Orleans; and Barbary Coast.

Boyd Gaming completed the project and opened its doors on December 22, 2005.

Boyd Gaming operated the property for less than a year before selling it to former Coast CEO Michael Gaughan in 2006. (The property was rebranded to its current name, South Point, following the sale to Gaughan.)

In 2007, Boyd purchased Dania Jai Alai, a fronton in Dania Beach, Florida.

As the global recession deepened, the suspension continued; in October 2009, the company said it would likely be three to five years before development resumed.

Boyd agreed in 2011 to sell the property to Dania Entertainment for $80 million, but the deal was not completed.

In November 2012, Boyd acquired Peninsula Gaming, an Iowa-based company with five casinos in the Midwest and South, for $1.45 billion.

The two companies reached a new sale agreement in February 2013 for $65.5 million.

Boyd Gaming reported $2.14 billion in revenue in 2014.

The company made two deals in 2016 to expand its footprint in the Vegas locals market, acquiring the Aliante Casino and Hotel for $380 million and the two properties of Cannery Casino Resorts for $230 million.