News outlets covering the stretch drive of Richmond‘s controversial Urban One/Churchill Downs casino proposal report a “razor-thin” margin for whoever wins, aye nor nay. In an atmosphere like this, missteps could be killers. And boy, did Urban One step in it big-time. A radio show on Urban One, hosted by Urban One founder Cathy Hughes, became a megaphone for racism in the cause of casinos. Appearing on The Box 99.5, guest host Preston “Famous” Brown smeared casino adversary Paul Goldman as “a white Jew with the background of Judas.” The Box quickly backpedaled. “These statements were horrible and offensive. Once we heard the comments and because he was alone in the studio with his producer, I personally drove to the station and immediately removed him from the show. He will not be appearing again,” said Radio One Regional Vice President Marsha Landess. However, apologies from Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins and Landess may not be enough to undo the PR damage at this late date.
Richmond Mayor LeVar Stoney (D), whose baby the Urban One casino essentially is, joined the chorus of condemnation, saying, “We must call hate out in all of its forms, and [Brown’s] remarks are completely unacceptable.” However, both The Box and Praise 104.7 have been bullhorns of pro-casino, sometimes racist invective and hate, and casino enemies have the hot tape to prove it. Praise 104.7 took time out of glorifying the Almighty to slur casino adversaries Allan-Charles Chipman and Chelsea Higgs White as “self-hating Black folk.” Stoney (below) said nothing. These self-inflicted wounds occurred after a survey showed Churchill Downs/Urban One trailing in the polls 49%/51%. (Another poll had the ballot question tied, with 12% undecided.) It’s a tight race and Urban One may have just lost it, in more senses than one. At the risk of tipping its hand as the power behind the throne, Churchill Downs should have done more, in hindsight, to control the messaging being done in the project’s favor.
Hughes might need to be on a shorter PR rein herself. In a fit of noblesse oblige and pique, she harrumphed, “I am so mad at this opposition. Do you know how much good I could’ve done with $10 million I had to pay the lawyers and accountants and lobbyists? … 10 million will be the final paycheck just to get the opportunity for you all to vote.” We hope voters grovel with the sufficient amount of gratitude to Ms. Hughes. Urban One needs to get off its high horse and realize it’s not offering the cure for cancer and that mere opposition to its casino is not cause for umbrage. Hughes has blown $4.25 million on this tilt and over $2.5 million on the 2022 referendum. Maybe she needs to get off the stage and let somebody more adroit try to bring a casino to Richmond.
The failed casino owner commonly known as Donald Trump takes the witness stand today in the penalty phase of his fraud trial. Mind you, Trump has already been found guilty of fraud. The current fireworks surround just how much he’s going to have to pay New York State for routinely misstating the value of his assets. Already, Trump shyster Alina Habba has gone on TV to laughably claim that appending a giant, gold “Trump” to a automatically property doubles or triples its value. We’ve already seen through that as far back as 2007, when Trump Entertainment Resorts‘ three remaining casinos were some of the worst performers on the Boardwalk and the very worst in Atlantic City when it came to revenue declines. Customers avoided them like the veritable plague.
The penalty hearings also have a casino angle. If Bally’s Corp. Chairman Soo Kim doesn’t get a New York City megaresort, he should be forced to wear a t-shirt that says, “I paid $60 million for Trump Links and all I got was this lousy golf course.” Testimony in the case before Judge Arthur Engoron has already revealed the price tag on the former Trump Links (now rebranded as Bally’s). On the one hand, Bally’s got a golf course for half what the city spent to build it. On the other, good luck recovering that 60 mil if the casino-resort bid goes south. Fortunately for Bally’s, it has until late 2025 (per pundit Brendan Bussmann) to make its case. Also, the Trumps had tried to spin the sale as a $100 million bonanza. Turns out, Kim scored a relative bargain. Soo 1, Donald 0.
At the time we first reported on the impending Trump sale to Bally’s, the felony-convicted Trump Organization‘s official stance was that the course was modestly profitable. The Trump progeny who have testified for Engeron so far now say they don’t know if it made money or not. Which is fuzzy math at best and mightily expedient at worst. Wannabe casino mogul Eric Trump and brother Donald Trump Jr. have opted for The Idiot Defense, claiming ignorance of even the most basic Trump Organization functions, Eric having been too busy “pouring concrete,” he says, and trying to pin the fraud on low-level accountants and execs who had no evident motive to lie. (Sample testimony by Eric: “yes, I’m fairly sure I understand that we have financial statements.” Ya think?) If Eric still has designs on making Trump Doral a casino, Florida regulators should take a hard look at last week’s testimony.
The whitest man in America, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has gone off the rez again. In typical fashion, he’s unleashed a sports betting proposal that was arrived at unilaterally, without tribal input and one that’s doomed to court failure. It was even snuck out while Stitt was overseas. This has led to a certain amount of consternation among Stitt’s ostensible Republican allies in the Lege (to the extent that Stitt is ever on the same page with anyone). If enacted, the Stitt recipe would blow a $190 million-a-year hole in the Sooner State budget. Why? Because—with customary Stitt condescension—it would grant the tribes retail-only sports betting, while opening up lucrative OSB to the private sector, a clear violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. That would be sufficient to prompt Oklahoma’s gaming-enabled tribes to take their $190 million ball and go home.
Stitt wants to stick it to the Indians so badly that he’s willing to give away OSB in return. On top of a 20% tax rate, online providers would only have to pay $500,000 upfront and $100,000 annually. For all Stitt’s protestations that he’s looking out for Sooner taxpayers, his actions say quite the contrary. Although the tribes were hardly clamoring for sports betting (that’s Stitt’s particular obsession), they’re het up about being palmed off with only the unremunerative retail portion. Meanwhile, a puzzled state Sen. Bill Coleman (R), who’s trying to shepherd sports wagering through the Lege, was fazed by the latest Lone Ranger gambit from the guv: “It’s frustrating that he didn’t feel it necessary to collaborate with those of us who have been diligently working on this major issue for over a year now, but I’m hopeful that will change in the coming weeks.” Stitt change? That’s a good one.
Sin City’s dead tree of record officially went into Overkill Mode after the Las Vegas Raiders stomped all over the sad-sack New York Giants. Granted, in its first outing under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, the Silver & Black offense put up 30 points for the first time this season. And even a mediocre record will probably be good enough to secure a wild-card playoff berth in a pretty dismal NFL (especially in a division that’s the Kansas City Chiefs andsomeotherpeople). But … it was the Giants, one of the most incompetent teams in the NFL, who got blown out. The Raiders haven’t played a good team this season, save for the Buffalo Bills, who eviscerated them. Next Sunday’s prime-time tilt against the New York Jets at Allegiant Stadium will tell us if these seemingly rejuvenated Raiders are for real or not. For Pierce’s job security, let’s hope they are.
Quote of the Day: “Football is a mysterious game sometimes.”—former Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, a few weeks before he was canned.
great read, thanks.