Experts say Biloxi Casinos should not fear
With the continuing talks of gambling coming to Florida and Alabama, casino operators on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are keeping a close eye at the effects this could cause of coast gambling.
BILOXI - After a record-breaking year at the Coast casinos, competition is closing in from Mobile and Florida as other states look to legalize gambling to pay for schools and Medicare.
The Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review last week said Mississippi could lose $254 million in yearly casino revenue and 3,191 direct jobs when the seven Seminole casinos in Florida are outfitted with new slot machines and table games. Because nearly all of the Florida gamblers play at the Coast casinos, those figures would mean one-quarter of the 12,328 people employed at the local casinos would lose their jobs.
Mississippi Gaming Commission Chairman Jerry St. Pé doesn’t believe the numbers. “The wolf’s not at the door,” he said. “Competition can be viewed as a stimulant.” For casinos that do a better job, “your market will be protected.”
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a 25-year casino compact with the Seminoles for class III gaming in return for a minimum of $100 million per year to fund schools. Although the compact is being challenged in the Florida Supreme Court, the Seminoles are moving slot machines into their six casinos in southern Florida and the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, the closest to Mississippi.
In Alabama, the House Tourism and Travel Committee approved a constitutional amendment to allow electronic bingo machines at greyhound dog tracks in Mobile and Birmingham. If the bill, passes the legislature the voters will decide the issue in a state referendum. These games look and play quite similar to the slot machines at the Coast casinos, said Ed Rogich, vice president of marketing with International Game Technology, the company that manufactures the machines.
“We keep our eye on what’s going on in Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” which St. Pé said also has an impact on the companies and investors doing business with Mississippi casinos. “We need to be as astute as we can,” he said, to protect casino tax revenue and jobs.
The MGC reports that 19.4 percent of the recent Coast’s casino visitors came from Florida and 14.8 percent from Alabama. An even larger percentage, 21.3 percent, came from Louisiana, which has casinos.
General Manager John Ferrucci said about 75 percent of the Silver Slipper Casino’s business is from Louisiana. “We’re already in competition with them. Florida is a threat only because they are going to introduce these games in key feeder markets for us.” He likes House Bill 1196 that would give tax breaks to casinos that invest at least $10 million in non-gambling amenities, including a hotel and marina at Silver Slipper, to attract visitors.
Source: Sun Herald