Maine’s existing casinos, the Hollywood Casino in Bangor and the Oxford Casino, are bankrolling efforts to keep a Las Vegas casino developer from bringing in a third.
The developer Shawn Scott, recently turned in more than 60,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office to put an initiative on the ballot that would let him build a third casino. He awaits verification of the signatures.
To help defeat Scott, Penn National Gaming, which owns the Bangor casino, and Churchill Downs, which operates the casino in Oxford, have joined forces with groups such as the Christian Civic League, whose executive director, Carroll Conley, told the Boston Globe: “They are willing to invest without restraint in the political process. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I guess.”
Ocean Properties, a nationally-known developer, is seeking a bill in the Maine legislature that would allow it to compete for a state license in the same are that Scott is trying to lock up for himself.
The Oxford Casino claims that more than two casinos will “cannibalize” the existing market, a point that was made about it by the Bangor casino a few years ago voters were asked to allow a second casino in the state.
Hollywood Slots opened in 2003 when Scott purchased an existing racetrack and floated an initiative that state voters approved. Scott then sold the casino to another company and it was eventually purchased by Penn National.
It turned out to be true that the Oxford Casino cut the Hollywood Casino’s revenues by more than 20 percent. But once it was part of the establishment it, too, became determined to shut the door on further casino expansion.
However, now they are fervent allies to prevent Scott from repeating his gambit a second time.
