Today’s a big day for casino-related votes in New York State and Massachusetts. In the former, New York City holds the key to the outcome. The Five Boroughs are expected to represent for 42% of statewide voting. Mind you, NYC wouldn’t get a casino until 2020 at the soonest if Proposal One passes (good news for Atlantic City), which it is expected to do, 60/40. So Manhattan holds in its hands the fate of little burgs like Nichols, home to would-be racino Tioga Downs. Sitting on the Pennsylvania border, Tioga Downs theoretically could claw back some business from Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs but probably not much. Owner Jeff Gural has big plans for Tioga Downs, nonetheless, including a luxury spa and upscale entertainment.
There’s support for Proposal One even in areas where the question is moot, due to previous accords with Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D, above). In the Catskills, abandoned resorts that have “has all the makings of a scene from The Shining” are putting their eggs in the casino basket, too. In a move from the Nevada playbook, a $500 fee per slot machine will go to fund pathological-gambling treatment programs — another Prop One incentive. Since five new VLT-only casinos will be permitted if Proposal One fails, opponents find themselves in a lose-lose scenario. Caesars Entertainment has been playing both sides of the fence: Despite having four casinos in Atlantic City and one in Chester, it gave $100,000 to pro-casino New York Jobs Now Committee.
Up in Massachusetts, the prospect of a casino referendum in Milford (would-be home to Foxwoods Massachusetts) has driven a surge in voter registrations — probably a good sign for Foxwoods, although nothing in the Bay State has been predictable. Mohegan Sun‘s generous deal with western Palmer (right) goes before voters today and is expected to pass. The issue has traditionally polled well in the town. Clyde W. Barrow, director for the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth is predicting a narrow win for Mohegan Sun. Two mills in town have closed and one of the three schools is hanging by a thread, giving voters strong incentive to pull the “yes” lever. Heavy turnout is expected in a plebiscite that’s too close to call. (MGM Springfield, meanwhile, isn’t resting on its laurels.)
I’m not making election predictions but Jeffrey Compton definitely is. He thinks the promise of new revenue for New York City (minus downside) will put Proposal One over the top. Suffolk Downs loses in a split decision: Revere yes, East Boston no: “the Caesars’ fiasco is just too big of a log for the camel.” Finally, he thinks Palmer will say “aye” — and that if it doesn’t, it’s time to rethink this whole Bay State experiment.
777 Gaming, which operates a slew of upstate Nevada casinos and the one inside the Westin Casuarina has had a not-so-bright idea. It plans to re-dub the Westin’s gambling area Max Casino. That evokes the days that the property was known as the Maxim … and those weren’t good years for the property. Casino Executive Magazine‘s “Casino Critic” gave the Maxim his only-ever “F” grade, asking, “Is death contagious?” The Maxim closed soon after. Please, 777, forget this “Max Casino” madness.
In a not-exactly-george offer, the Menominee Tribe is making a grand gesture of taking 30 slot machines (yes, 30) offline in return for getting 3,100 at Dairyland Greyhound Park. The cream of the jest is that the Menominee are calling this “no net increase” in gaming in Wisconsin. The state’s governor, Scott Walker (R), doesn’t seem to be falling for it.
