{"id":12546,"date":"2014-01-27T13:13:48","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T21:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=12546"},"modified":"2014-01-27T13:13:48","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T21:13:48","slug":"getting-serious-in-massachusetts-i-flop-in-delaware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/getting-serious-in-massachusetts-i-flop-in-delaware\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting serious in Massachusetts; i-Flop in Delaware"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Coakley\"<\/a>A drive to repeal Massachusetts<\/strong>‘ casino-enabling legislation has got Bay State operators-to-be taking it very seriously. They’ve filed with the state Supreme Court to have it stricken from the state ballot<\/a>. (The state’s attorney general, Martha Coakley<\/strong>, pictured<\/em>, has already ruled it an unconstitutional taking of property but the courts have been unsympathetic.) They’re fighting on two fronts, trying to fend off the bluenoses while also striving for the approval of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong>. If the prudes win, $280 million in license fees will be forfeit and the casinos’ Massachusetts courtship will be an expensive exercise in futility. “It would be a gamble” says one pundit, and that’s rather an understatement for a change.<\/p>\n

If you’re Steve Wynn<\/strong> and you get your license in May, what do you do while waiting for the outcome of a November referendum? The repeal drive will have a chilling effect on casino development, whether it succeeds or not. At least Penn National Gaming<\/strong> spokesman Eric Schippers<\/strong> is sanguine, saying, “We\u2019ve seen these types of [repeal] challenges before and they\u2019ve never been successful<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Failure at the ballot box<\/strong> is proving rather costly<\/a> for Mohegan Sun<\/strong>. It’s having to reimburse Palmer<\/strong> $392,000 in host-community expenses. About half of that covers legal fees and another $120K goes to consultants. Mohegan Sun’s insistence upon a frivolous recount cost another $15,000-plus, so it’s good to know that the casino company is making good on the expenditure.<\/p>\n

Despite a complete lack <\/strong>of customer demand, Illinois<\/strong> legislators are intent upon forcing six more casinos on the saturated state. The same issues remain unresolved<\/a>, such as whether Chicago<\/strong> would be uniquely allowed to own and operate its casino. “I’ve been to casinos in the state, and I believe they are managed very properly and I think [the gaming board] has an excellent reputation<\/em>,” says Country Club Hills<\/strong> Mayor Dwight Welch<\/strong>. Mind you. Welch would like a casino for his town, too, developed by Cannery Casino Resorts.<\/p>\n

\"Slot<\/a>Already the state’s existing casinos are besieged by over 12,00 machines on slot routes. That’s as much as the Land of Lincoln’s 10 casinos are legally permitted to offer, but the tendrils of the slot routes continue to grow — taxed at a lower rate, too<\/a>. Already they have grossed $270 million in slightly less than a year. Add no-smoking policies and loss limits, and Illinois casinos are operating at a substantial, state-imposed handicap. Since Illinois’ casinos are a creature of the Legislature, it’s strange to see the Lege waging war on them. If one of them goes out of business, it’s not going to be some lawmaker who loses his job.<\/p>\n

Internet gambling<\/strong> has been a flop in Delaware<\/strong>. It grossed $253,000 in its first two months, meaning it has to make another $3.5 million<\/a> before casinos get their cut. Delaware Lottery<\/strong> Director Vernon Kirk<\/strong> counsels patience: “It\u2019s a piece of the puzzle, and it\u2019s got a lot of potential.” It’s certainly not going to come anywhere where near compensating for revenue declines at the state’s racinos. Geolocation issues and payment rejections have dogged the Delaware market but those can’t be the only reasons that players are staying away in droves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A drive to repeal Massachusetts‘ casino-enabling legislation has got Bay State operators-to-be taking it very seriously. They’ve filed with the state Supreme Court to have it stricken from the state ballot. (The state’s attorney general, Martha Coakley, pictured, has already … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[73,164,26,58,37,112,167,69,25,92],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12546"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12548,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12546\/revisions\/12548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}