David McKee

“Prior to the official opening, a 60-minute opening ceremony was held outside of the main entrance to the casino, where local and state politicians patted each other on the back for finally getting the casino opened, a mere 10 years – exactly 3,650 days – after legislation was signed by then-Gov. George Pataki to allow casinos at racetracks.” That’s David Grening‘s acidic take on the glacial pace of racino development in New York State, prompted by the opening of Resorts World New York. To no one’s surprise, customers turned out in abundance — which means that November’s revenue report from Atlantic City will now be awaited with bated breath.

Coincidentally or not, Caesars Entertainment and Unite-Here reached a four-casino/three-year pact in A.C., which will be put to a vote tomorrow. It seems to be a given that the union made concessions, but exactly what it rendered unto Caesars won’t be known until after the balloting. If the Caesars workforce is amenable to the new deal, those Boardwalk properties whose employees are in a far weaker bargaining position (like those at Colony Capital‘s penniless, ludicrously re-named ACH), will be the next ones polled. Once the Caesars-workforce domino topples, everyone else will capitulate right quick. Interestingly, this is the opposite of the approach taken in Detroit, where employees at the lower-echelon casinos were polled first, setting up union bosses to be humiliated by their MGM Grand Detroit rank and file, who said the new arrangement was spinach and to hell with it.

Gambling expansion in Florida is running into a predictable but formidable opponent: Mickey Mouse. The mighty rodent and his puppet ally, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, are getting to rumble with the Lege. Ignore the mouthwash about protecting the kiddies. What’s at stake are convention revenues the Orlando area (aka Mouse Central) could lose to Dade and Broward counties. Miami Beach, whose convention facilities are antiquated, is going into a defensive crouch, opposing casino expansion instead of courting it. The Seminole Tribe seems to be playing a cagey game, simultaneously threatening to take its $200 million annual tax contribution off the table but signaling that it would be tractable to inclusion in the three-casino Miami-area expansion that’s under debate. Massachusetts has handed the Seminoles a useful precedent. Like their Bay State counterparts, Florida lawmakers could set aside Continue reading →