Sheldon: I’ll take Florida

It’s amazing what a transformative effect a night’s stay at Venelazzo will have. After stopping by Sheldon Adelson‘s little pied-a-terre, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (left) has done a 180 on casino expansion in Florida. Now Scott, refreshed by an evening’s sleep on Sheldonian linens, is suddenly down with Adelson’s proposed, $3 billion Miami megaresort. That’s one possible by-blow of legislation currently being fast-tracked through the Sunshine State’s Legislature.

Points still to be debated include whether to give 75-mile-radius “exclusivity zones” to resort operators —  in return for a $50 million gratuity to the state — or opt for Las Vegas Strip-style critical mass. (Economic history would argue convincingly for the latter.) Scott’s excuse for his flip-flop is less than manly: “We’ve already approved gambling.” Yes, long before Scott ran for office on a we-don’t-need-casinos platform, so it’s not like he woke up one fine day in mid-November and suddenly discovered casinos in South Florida.

It’s also not as though adding four or five megaresorts is a done deal. Can the state override the county-by-county approval process? That remains to be litigated. Vegas-style casinos would almost certainly be the death knell for Florida’s parimutuels, already losing the revenue race to the Seminole Tribe. The Lege might throw tracks and frontons a life preserver in the form of a reduction of the gaming tax rate to around 9% (one of the lowest in the U.S., if enacted), way down from the current 35% — to say nothing of the confiscatory 50% rate originaly insisted upon by then-Gov. Jeb Bush (below).

The plan also drives a cart and horses through the state’s compact with the Seminoles, its ink barely dry, costing Tallahassee at least $150 million in annual revenue. Given that Florida’s casino market hasn’t lived up to expectations (and nobody was more initially bullish than S&G), Scott and lawmakers are clearly willing to wager the bird in their hands on the off chance of two in the bush.

An amusing footnote to the story is the speculation that, in addition to Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, Penn National Gaming and newly flush Genting Bhd, another company that “could come up with the cash” is Caesars Entertainment. The ex-Harrah’s can’t even scare up the money to finish its Octavius Tower at Caesars Palace. Going against Adelson in Florida is going to require a lot more spare change than Gary Loveman can muster from sweating comps and narrowing video poker paytables.

Congratulations, Singapore! As of Feb. 17, you’ll have a new, eco-friendly museum courtesy of Sheldon Adelson. That’s a feather in the city-state’s cap. It’s also cold comfort to the burghers of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who were promised a museum of their own by Adelson, lo these many years ago. In Bethlehem they’re waiting … and waiting … and waiting …