Horseshoe Casino & Hotel Unveils Plans for a New CMT Themed Bar

Horseshoe Casino & Hotel Unveils Plans for a New CMT Themed Bar

Horseshoe in Bossier City, LA, signs agreement with CMT

BOSSIER CITY, La., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Horseshoe Casino and Hotel along with CMT today announced plans for the first ever CMT Crossroads Bar. An extension of CMT's hit television series, the bar will be located at Horseshoe, and will showcase local and regional musicians. The $3.3 million project will encompass 3,300 square feet with a stage, dance floor, and a grandiose 27-foot circular bar. CMT Crossroads Bar is already under construction, and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008.

"CMT prides itself on its long history of creating great music with country music's top stars, and we are delighted to partner with Harrah's Entertainment in bringing the CMT Crossroads brand a step closer to the fans," said Jeff Yapp, Executive Vice President, program enterprises, MTVN/CMT. "We believe this collaboration is the perfect opportunity to leverage the power of both brands for a truly unique and authentic entertainment experience."

Named after the popular CMT series, CMT Crossroads Bar is designed to capture the mood of a well-worn, well-loved Honky Tonk or roadhouse bar, with an authentically country decor. Set against dark wood tones and rusted metals, the interior will feature hand-scraped, wide-planked wood floors, and walls plastered with CMT Crossroads memorabilia and hand-drawn graphics. The design includes original artwork, neon signs, suspended hubcap ceilings, a belt buckle display, lights made from recycled traffic lights and LED screens throughout. The seating areas vary to provide flexibility in order to change the venue depending on the function of the day or night.

CMT Crossroads is the first outlet of this type for both partners. The concept came about after CMT presented the idea to officials of Horseshoe's parent company Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. With a close proximity to many major metropolitan areas, and a dedication to provide unparalleled entertainment, Horseshoe Bossier City is no doubt the location that would best capture the mission of CMT.

"Horseshoe Casino and CMT are a perfect fit; as we both continue to lead our industries in innovative concepts. Having CMT as part of the Horseshoe family will open the door to many possibilities and proves that we are dedicated to enhancing the entertainment experience of our guests," said Geno Iafrate, Regional President and General Manager of Horseshoe Casino and Hotel.

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with CMT in creating the first ever CMT Crossroads Bar," said Kris Hart, Vice President of Brand Management for Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. "We are committed to offering our customers a variety of entertainment options, and feel that the new CMT Crossroads Bar concept is an ideal marriage of two brands that have entertainment as a core value. We are also quite excited about leveraging this valuable relationship at some of our other properties around the country.

The hit television series CMT Crossroads pairs country music stars with popular artists from other genres, to play together, swap stories, and share their common love of music. Recent episodes have included Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers, Bon Jovi and Sugarland, Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire, Kenny "Babyface" Edmond and Trisha Yearwood, Joss Stone and LeAnn Rimes. The brand extension, CMT Crossroads, will feature a variety of local and regional acts. Horseshoe will also partner with local media outlets to host a night of live music each week.

CMT, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and Heartland entertainment, reaching more than 87 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment through operating subsidiaries. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada nearly 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The company's properties operate primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Harrah's also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.

This release includes "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements contain words such as "may," "will," "project," "might," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," "continue" or "pursue," or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. In particular, they include statements relating to, among other things, future actions, new projects, strategies, future performance, the outcomes of contingencies and future financial results of Harrah's. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events.

More information, please visit Harrah's Web site at - http://www.harrahs.com/.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, the actual performance of Harrah's may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following factors, as well as other factors described from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained therein): the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement with TPG and Apollo; the outcome of any legal proceedings that have been, or will be, instituted against the Company related to the merger agreement; the inability to complete the merger due the failure to satisfy conditions to completion of the merger, including the receipt of all regulatory approvals related to the merger; the failure to obtain the necessary financing arrangements set forth in the debt and equity commitment letters delivered pursuant to the merger agreement; risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the merger; the impact of the substantial indebtedness to be incurred to finance the consummation of the merger; the effects of local and national economic, credit and capital market conditions on the economy in general, and on the gaming and hotel industries in particular; construction factors, including delays, increased costs for labor and materials, availability of labor and materials, zoning issues, environmental restrictions, soil and water conditions, weather and other hazards, site access matters and building permit issues; the effects of environmental and structural building conditions relating to our properties; access to available and reasonable financing on a timely basis; the ability to timely and cost-effectively integrate acquisition into our operations, including London Clubs; changes in laws, including increased tax rates, regulations or accounting standards, third-party relations and approvals, and decisions of courts, regulators and governmental bodies; litigation outcomes and judicial actions, including gaming legislative action, referenda and taxation; the ability of our customer-tracking, customer loyalty and yield-management programs to continue to increase customer loyalty and same store sales or hotel sales; our ability to recoup costs of capital investments through higher revenues; acts of war or terrorist incidents or natural disasters; abnormal gaming holds; and the effects of competition, including locations of competitors and operating and market competition.

Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made. Harrah's disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.

GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-522-4700

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Horseshoe Casino and Hotel

CONTACT: Erika Roberts, +1-318-752-6929, or +1-318-272-2989, or
Jessica Herrington, +1-318-752-6908, or 318-207-7363, both of Horseshoe Casino
and Hotel; or Amanda Murphy of CMT, +1-615-335-8408

Web site: http://www.harrahs.com/
http://www.cmt.com/

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