
This neck and neck finish at Suffolk Downs Boston-area racetrack is symbolic of how their casino vote is unfolding. (Image source: Boston World)
These days: can the Red Sox win their third World Series title in 10 years in the city of Boston, there’s just one issue keeping city residents up at night? But while David Ortiz therefore the remaining portion of the Sox are busy battling the St. Louis Cardinals for baseball bragging liberties, there’s another battle brewing under the surface plus it could possibly be just as contentious as the obstruction ruling that finished Game 3.
Bugles Playing ‘First Call’
Both supporters and opponents for the intend to develop a casino in East Boston are ramping up their efforts to get out the vote in the last times before the November 5th election, as both sides are anticipating a close race that could drop to voter turnout. The casino, which may be placed at Suffolk Downs, became a hotly debated issue in churches, on road corners, and also among prospects for mayor.
Anti-casino forces feel just like they’re seeing some possible for the change by means of the vote though that could be either positive or negative. The exit of Caesars Entertainment as a partner for Suffolk Downs in the casino bid recently has thrown the competition into chaos, since it has confused voters over whether or maybe not they want to support the master plan.
That confusion has shown up in the polling of a company referred to as Friends of East Boston, which opposes the casino project. According to lead organizer Pedro Morales, the group does phone polling of 1,200 to 1,500 East Boston residents every day. Before the news about Caesars departure from the project, about ten percent of residents were still undecided about whether or not to ever support the Suffolk Downs bid. Now, that number is into the selection of 22 per cent to 24 percent every day.
‘Last evening, one precinct went from 22 percent to 37 percent,’ Morales told the Boston Herald. ‘I’m perhaps not saying at all that that’s immediately to our benefit. They could effortlessly state they’re waiting to see who the brand new partner is. The least that can be said is the fact that doubt has definitely been introduced.’
Neck and Neck Towards the Finish Line
According to Morales, his polling has shown that about 40 percent are for the casino bid, with another 40 percent opposing it. Suffolk Downs says that they don’t see exactly the same numbers, and they believe undecided voters can be won over by hearing the information on their proposal.
But regardless of the exact numbers they have, both sides plainly feel the issue hasn’t been decided yet and that means a lot of efforts to have voters on their respective sides within the final days before the election.
‘we are doing some door-to-door canvassing, we’re providing rides to the polls and we have been ID’ing supports along the way,’ said Suffolk Downs COO Chip Tuttle. According to Tuttle, hundreds of volunteer casino supporters are going to be canvassing on their behalf in the week that is last Election Day, planning to visit a huge number of voters and promote the virtues associated with the casino want to them.
Opponents associated with the casino bid won’t be sitting on their fingers, either. They’ve set up a base camp at a neighborhood church, where leaders that are religious other people into the community are working together to oppose the efforts of Suffolk Downs.
‘It’s really, really easy,’ Morales stated. ‘If you adore your community, family, your churches, the casino can not be good for you.’
New York Casino Expansion Could Prompt North Jersey Casino
If voters give a thumbs up to New York State casino expansion, will North Jersey be next to build? (Image source: WCBS 880)
In a lot of means, the battle for the northeastern casino market has turned into an arms race involving the states. And which means that when one neighbor unveils a brand new weapon, it’s just a matter of time before another answers in type. That’s why there’s now a great deal of speculation that the latest round of casino expansion planned for nyc could ultimately result in a unique casino in North Jersey, as nj-new Jersey continues to keep their shrinking share of the regional casino market in that area.
The threat that is new of in ny hasn’t materialized yet and it may never ever happen at all. New Yorkers are going to the polls on Election in November to decide whether or not to approve the building of new, ‘Las Vegas-style’ casino resorts in upstate New York day. But passage appears at least reasonably most likely, which could add yet more regional competition to the mix.
One Upsmanship But Can It Be Performing?
And should more casinos be added in other states, it is most likely that nj-new Jersey would see that as an invitation to incorporate a casino that is new of very own. In particular, politicians and industry insiders are imagining the chance of a casino in the Meadowlands, a place in northeast New Jersey that is currently the site of the Meadowlands Sports Complex: home to the Meadowlands Racetrack, MetLife Stadium (which houses the brand new York Jets and the New York Giants), as well as the Izod Center, which formerly hosted the brand new Jersey Nets (which have since get to be the Brooklyn Nets) and the New Jersey Devils hockey group.
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According for some in North Jersey, the state is losing a great amount of prospective revenue by not having a casino in that region of the state. An abundance of gamblers, they say, are headed to the Empire Casino in Yonkers, NY or nearby Pennsylvania casinos in Bethlehem and also the Poconos. These areas are lot far more convenient to access for many New Jersey residents than the casinos in their own personal state.
‘Do you think individuals from northern New Jersey are getting to drive most of the way to Atlantic City when they want to play the slots for the few hours?’ asked Jeffrey Gural, operator regarding the Meadowlands racetrack. ‘Gas is $4 a gallon. I am told by you.’
But while the threat of more regional casinos may function as spark that finally pushes the state to seriously consider a Meadowlands casino, the idea has been in the works for the while. And in reality, the battle that is biggest could be the one between Atlantic City and North Jersey. Many Atlantic City officials worry that a new casino in northern brand New Jersey may be the death knell for the city’s already flailing land video gaming industry.
Atlantic City Revival Still Needs A come to Jesus
The revival of Atlantic City has been a major policy point for brand New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who states he does not want any new casinos to be built outside of the city at minimum until his five-year plan for revitalizing the casino industry there was provided the opportunity to work. While that effort might not have had quite the results Christie was hoping for therefore far, losings have actually at the least slowed in Atlantic City and also the governor’s office says that he’d have followed the same plan even if he had known ny was likely to build new casinos.
‘[The plan to create new gambling enterprises in New York] doesn’t alter that we set out at the beginning of the administration to give Atlantic City the most readily useful opportunity we can to maintain or grow our presence in the competitive casino market,’ stated Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor.
LAND CASINO SATURATION IN THE USA:
Across the usa, gaming analysts warn that the brick-and-mortar casino industry is nearing its saturation point. A Fitch gaming analyst, told Bloomberg News that land-based gaming was ‘close’ to this level already, and University of Nevada, Reno professor Mark Nichols concurred, saying ‘…everybody is pretty much the same and everybody is on the same playing field in early 2013, Alex Bumazhny. Then it just comes down to location.’
With Atlantic City’s land video gaming revenues down a whopping 50 percent since neighboring Pennsylvania started its casino doors in 2006, sufficient reason for also newer casinos in Illinois and Maryland struggling to meet profit goals, it’s hard to argue using this obvious new reality.
Several states are actually looking to burgeoning appropriate and regulated online state-by-state gambling to choose the slack up. With Nevada already offering online poker, and Delaware and New Jersey perched to supply full casino games before year’s end, the gambling industry aswell as state coffers across the country will definitely be waiting and watching to observe this brand new aspect plays out.
Las Las Vegas Sands 3rd Quarter Macau Profits Shine In Comparison To Las Vegas
It’s exactly about Macau: Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s 3rd quarter earnings were soaring into the Asian gambling mecca.
Location, location, location: that is whatever they always say in real-estate. And for Las Vegas Sands Corp., that’s proving entirely true, even if, ironically, it’s Macau, not Las vegas, nevada, that’s turning out to be the casino company’s shining star.
‘(Las Las Vegas Sands) remains predominantly A china story that is secular-driven’ noted Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon following the Sands’ third quarter P & L statement. ‘In our view, Las Vegas Sands remains the best Asian gaming development and income investment tale.’
Macau Carries the Day
Despite a so-so performance from the Sands’ shnazzy Las Vegas Strip properties, the Venetian plus the Palazzo, analysts are still gung-ho on Las Vegas Sands’ overall monetary outlook.
‘We continue to such as the Macau gaming sector overall, driven by attractive marketwide revenue growth, especially in the mass gaming segment,’ added JP Morgan video gaming analyst Joe Greff. ‘Las Las Vegas Sands’ accommodation base should allow [the company] to grow line that is top [cash flows] in more than industry participants.’
Seems the bully gaming market in Macau is still growing at a steroidal rate; some analysts expect the end-of-October figures to exceed any single-month income records up to now. As well as the July September 2013 quarter showed a 43 percent boost in Sands’ four main Macau gaming divisions, and a staggering 89 percent bump from the same time duration last 12 months. With $2.34 billion in net revenues from their Macau properties for the third quarter, it adds up to an astonishing 65 per cent of the business’s overall intake of $3.57 billion.
No wonder Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson is pouring more development money into another project there; he’s $2.7 billion earmarked for a new 3,000-room property huuuge online casino that has a Parisian theme and a 2015 expected opening. That is likely to make five major casinos there ( and exactly why maybe not once they’re making cash hand over fist): the Venetian Macau, Four Seasons Macau, Sands Macau, and the multiple-hotel Sands Cotai Central project, combined with the new resort being planned.
Non-Gambling Profits Also Doing Well
And it’s not just gaming that’s going gangbusters for Sands in Asia; non-gaming revenues are pulling their weight also, according to Rob Goldstein, the company’s president of global video gaming operations.
‘With our room base, that is clearly a very good thing for us,’ Goldstein said, talking about the trend of mainland Chinese tourists coming to and staying in Macau. ‘They stay longer, come from further away and require sleeping rooms. So Sheldon’s (Adelson) 9,000 sleeping rooms in Cotai turned out become a pretty good concept.’
Susquehanna International Group gaming analyst Rachael Rothman agrees, adding that the growing influx of tourists to Macau highlights ‘…the importance for the infrastructure build-out in greater China that continues to increase Macau’s reach.’
Adelson are the major factor to that much-needed infrastructure, with a $10 billion Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge slated to open in 2016. The bridge will greatly reduce the drive time it takes for visitors to reach Macau from China, which, as anyone who has ever sat in traffic knows, is obviously a thing that is good.
Sands’ Macau success has analysts chomping to see what the casino company will do when and if Japan legalizes gambling also. Sands president Michael Leven says that Asian nation’s $6 billion a 12 months casino market would match what’s happening on the las vegas strip, but macau’s $38 billion take in 2012 would be hard to top, particularly as those figures are up another 17 percent as of end of third quarter 2013.