New York State gaming forces are taking a more-than-disinterested view of the upcoming referendum on Atlantic City‘s monopoly on casino gambling in New Jersey. For instance, Genting Group, owner of Resorts World New York, is opposing the measure behind stalking horse PAC Trenton’s Bad Bet. More openly, the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council has declared its opposition and Empire State racino operator Jeff Gural is strongly in favor — especially considering that his Meadowlands Racetrack would be a heavy favorite to land a northern New Jersey casino. The ballot question is fading down the stretch, showing a surprising loss of support. A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind survey found 56% of voters against it and only 37% in favor.
“They don’t seem to be sold on the idea of saving the gaming industry in the state by allowing it to spread,” PublicMind Director Krista Jenkins said of the poll results. An election defeat would be a sharp rebuke to state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) and to Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D), who both put their weight behind the referendum. It would also be a loss of face for Gov. Chris Christie (R), who recently threw his weight behind casino expansion. Unions would be only too happy to see the ballot question go down in flames. Unlike New York’s, the Jersey legislation would not prevent megaresort operators from blocking unionization efforts. Said Hotel & Motel Trades Council President Peter Ward, “Our union has built a strong standard for gaming workers in the tri-state area, and until we have concrete assurances that those standards will be met, we will oppose any efforts to expand gaming into North Jersey.”
“We would certainly hire more people in New Jersey than they would lose jobs,” replied Gural. He is making his case for casino expansion, in part, by arguing that it will mean more revenue that the state can spend on senior citizens. If Gural and his allies are victorious, Atlantic City will have a few years’ grace period while the megaresort proposals are sorted out and built. But, after that, the picture looks awfully gloomy.
* Penn National Gaming‘s Plainridge Park didn’t live up to inflated expectations (otherwise known as the Penn National Effect) but it posted a robust first year, grossing almost $180 million, generating the highest revenue/slot/day numbers in the Penn empire and sending $88 million in tax dollars to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (It’s taxed at a usurious 49%.) When competition starts ramping up from the Mashpee Wampanoag‘s First Light casino (litigation permitting), expect Penn to start lobbying for table games — and a lower tax rate.
* Connecticut tribal casinos had a mixed July. Mohegan Sun reversed recent declines with a 4% uptick but Foxwoods Resort Casino was flat. Handle at Mohegan Sun was $669 million (+5%), while Foxwoods’ was $563 million (+2%). The Mohegan results add $13.5 million to state coffers.
* Affinity Gaming reported a $2 million profit for 2Q16, an improved result that CEO Michael Silberling chalked up to a new marketing approach. We blew up the existing marketing plan and are getting back to fundamentals,” he said, also crediting a capex investment in improving in-room technology with boosting performance. Affinity got more profit out of less revenue, as most of its markets were down. Decreased comping and promos were blamed for a dip at Affinity’s Midwest properties, while Silver Sevens was said to have suffered from nightmarish — is it ever! — traffic disruption in the area.
* In the evolving realm of skill-based slots, Gamblit Gaming has announced a meaningful partnership with PikPok, in which the latter’s games will be “gamblified” for casino deployment, starting in 2017. Expect Gamblit to lead off with rabidly popular zombie game Into the Dead, which already boasts 60 million downloads to its name. The New Zealand-based social-gaming manufacturer will also team with Gamblit to casino-ize its Breakneck game, though its popularity is a pittance compared to Into the Dead‘s … a ‘mere’ 5 million downloads.
