Tunica blues; Monticello racino folds early

“An aquatic center? A practice soccer field? They could have reconstructed this entire neighborhood.” So says Tunica resident Larry James of the misguided priorities that are leaving the county high and dry as the casino boom implodes. It certainly seems short-sighted of Tunica leadership to have built an airport and sports arena with casino-
driven tax money that now is a shadow of its former self. Some blame the casino industry for not paying higher taxes, others find it an unreliable source of income, like the security guard who will quit the business when his job at Tunica Roadhouse expires along with the casino at the end of the month. With casino gambling coming to nearby West Memphis, things are all but certain to get worse for Tunica. True, its 29% unemployment rate is unacceptably high, but it is better than the 45% in Quitman County. As Tunica County Board of Supervisors President James Dunn says, “The gaming industry brought Tunica into the 21st century.”

The challenge now — and this should be a cautionary tale for all metropolises that look to gambling as a magic elixir — is to diversify Tunica’s economy. “Plans are already in the works, they say, to build a water park on the site of the former Harrah’s Casino, a $90-million mixed-use development in the eastern part of the county, and one of the first large wind farms in the Deep South,” reports the San Diego Union Tribune. Already  two German-owned factories employ Tunicans to make stainless-steel auto parts. Let’s hope that there are more job-creators where those came. It would be a shame to see Tunica slide back into the mud, as it were. As one bartender says, “I’m so tired of being laid off. If I get another job at another casino, will it stay open or will it close?” We’d like to give him an affirmative answer but lack the confidence to do so.

* Since every Las Vegas casino must, probably by statute, have a steakhouse, Flamingo Las Vegas is bruited to be close to announcing replacing defunct Center Cut. Its unnamed replacement will be steered by Bobby Flay, word has it. These sort of celebrity-chef gigs are pretty lucrative, Scott Roeben reports: “the chef gets five percent of gross sales up to $10 million in revenue, and more if the restaurant exceeds that threshold.” Nice work if you can get it.

* Today’s not such a great day if you’re the Mashpee Wampanoag. It’s the day that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission convenes to debate whether to reopen the bidding process for southeast Massachusetts. As you will recall, the Mashpee Wamps are stalled by the Interior Department‘s refusal to recognize them as a tribe — the first disenrolled tribe of the 21st century. Mass Gaming & Entertainment, a stalking horse for Neil Bluhm‘s Rush Street Gaming is expected to put in another plug for its Brockton proposal: a $700 million casino for which everything is “ready to start,” including paying the $85 million licensing fee with cash on the barrelhead. We’ll be surprised if anything drastic happens today but the casino-development process in the Bay State has never been smooth (last week MGM Springfield was dogged with reports of a high crime rate near the casino).

* Here’s a man-bites-dog story: Genting is closing the casino portion of its racino at Monticello Raceway while keeping the harness track in business. But don’t break out the champagne yet. The track has been losing money hand over fist and Genting subsidiary Empire Resorts made no commitment in its latest SEC filing to keeping it open. Laid-off casino workers have been offered the chance to compete for jobs at Resorts World Catskills, although the latter was underperforming so much the last time we check that it would surprising to hear of job vacancies. Still, “We’re happy about the fact that they have offered jobs to laid-off members, and we’re constructively talking with the company about adding additional severance,” said the Hotel Trades Council.

The casino closure is not a surprise, given that Empire was competing with itself. However, it did come three months sooner then announced. One player interviewed stated a preference for newer, shinier Resorts World, while another — perhaps a fan of the ponies — said he’d be transferring his loyalty to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. As for Genting, it has obviously decided that — between Resorts World and Monticello — two Catskills casinos are one too many.