{"id":14145,"date":"2014-07-22T16:31:30","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T00:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=14145"},"modified":"2014-07-23T12:41:05","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T20:41:05","slug":"14145","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/14145\/","title":{"rendered":"Power play in Vegas; Positive talk in Pennsylvania"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jason<\/a>Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> and Bwin<\/strong> shareholder, and all-around string-puller Jason Ader<\/strong> is committing 350 million of (other people’s) dollars to bringing a Major League Soccer<\/strong> franchise to Las Vegas<\/strong>. Much of the investment would be realized through the EB-5<\/strong> visa program. (How many Chinese can an MLS team support?) A goodly chunk of the rest would be raised through taxpayer subsidies.\u00a0\u201cWe would be looking for a tax concession. The question is how much? It would need a subsidy,\u201d Ader told the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em>. Ader has offered to chip in some of his own capital<\/a>, though it’s unclear at this point how much.<\/p>\n

Trouble is, Las Vegas has already signed off on a development deal between Cordish Cos<\/strong>. and and Findlay Sports & Entertainment<\/strong>. The Findlay plan is scheduled to be announced on Aug. 6. On one point Mayor Carolyn Goodman<\/strong> is in sync with Ader: “We have known for years that the world sport is soccer.\u201d The area’s large Latino population and high number of European tourists are expected to make MLS viable here … more so than some other major league sports. And since Bwin is a sponsor of Real Madrid<\/strong>, we can rest assured that MLS isn’t going to be queasy about having ties to the gaming industry.<\/p>\n

* You shouldn’t have to wait until you’re dead to get into the American Gaming Association<\/strong>‘s Hall of Fame but that’s what happened to the late Bob Faiss<\/strong>. Joining Bob (right<\/em>) in the Class of ’14 are Patricia Becker<\/strong>, Caesars \"Bob<\/a>Entertainment<\/strong> lobbyist Jan Jones Blackhurst<\/strong> and National Indian Gaming Association<\/strong> Chairman Ernie Stevens<\/strong>. I’d say that the last two are still too active and young, but the example of Faiss illustrates that it’s better to induct too soon than too late<\/a>. Becker’s name may not ring many bells but she was the first — and, to date, only — woman to serve on the Nevada Gaming Control Board<\/strong>. Later, she went on to lead the International Gaming Institute<\/strong> at UNLV<\/strong> for five years, among many other accomplishments. S&G<\/em> congratulates all and sundry on their induction.<\/p>\n

* Pennsylvania<\/strong> is trying to make itself feel better about its first-ever, year-over-year decline in gaming revenues — nothing seismic, just 1%. Not even a haircut. In the course of researching Internet<\/strong> gambling, eConsult<\/strong> analyst Stephen Mullin<\/strong> concluded that Pennsylvania’s “industry mostly serves the state’s residents and nearby residents, along with visitors who are not coming to the state primarily for gaming.\u00a0This makes the future demand far more secure.”<\/p>\n

\"Pennsylvania<\/a>In a conclusion that’s rather a stretch, Mullin posited that adding a casino to Philadelphia<\/strong>‘s crowded market will grow revenue within the state. If you say so, pal. Mullin seized upon the revenue slippage to make a mixed bag of recommendations<\/a>, a variety of ideas both good and bad. For instance, keep the booze flowing after 2 a.m. (bad); accelerate the speed with which games to come to market (mixed); give casinos more discretion in their staffing requirements (good). Although Pennsylvania seems likely to adopt Internet gambling, Mullin kept his revenue projections conservative, budgeting $180 million for Year One, growing to $300 million. If New Jersey<\/strong> leaders had shown so much restraint they wouldn’t be backpedaling so hard now.<\/p>\n

* In an informal metric of how well it has done to date, Horseshoe Cincinnati<\/strong> is already expanding. It’s adding a covered, outdoor area for smokers. The puff-and-play constituency must be strong, if Caesars feels it must cater to it with a second smoking terrace. (The first is open to the elements.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas Sands and Bwin shareholder, and all-around string-puller Jason Ader is committing 350 million of (other people’s) dollars to bringing a Major League Soccer franchise to Las Vegas. Much of the investment would be realized through the EB-5 visa … 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":[51,7,22,37,71,95,25,74,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14145"}],"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=14145"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14158,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14145\/revisions\/14158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}