Hard Rock, Meadowlands to unveil plan this week
After years of avoiding the question in deference to lawmakers and casino owners in southern New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie last week said it is time to break the constitutional monopoly restricting casinos to Atlantic City.
The comments, made by Christie on his monthly “Ask the Governor” call-in radio show on New Jersey 101.5 FM, came the same day the Meadowlands racetrack and Hard Rock International announced plans to partner on a major casino at the New York-area track, thought to be one of the nation’s prime spots for a casino.
Hard Rock and the racetrack announced the creation of Hard Rock Casino Meadowlands, a partnership between the Florida-based enterprise of the Seminole tribe and the racetrack that would be the name of a new racino at the track.
Any casino outside of Atlantic City would require a statewide referendum to amend the constitution. The 1976 constitutional amendment that created the Atlantic City casino industry stipulated that casinos are still illegal outside of the city’s limits. On the radio show, Christie said he has “absolutely no problem with that question going on the ballot right away.”
“The competition’s only going to grow, in New York, in particular,” Christie said. “And so if we could plant our flag firmly in the ground, I think it would make the project even more successful.” He added that the state tax on a North Jersey casino could benefit the struggling Atlantic City industry, and that he would like to see “right of first refusal” for new jobs to go to displaced Atlantic City casino workers from one of the four casinos that closed last year.
The issue would need to go to voters as a referendum on this November’s election ballot. Lawmakers would have to pass a referendum bill quickly to get it on this year’s ballot—June 30 is the deadline for state election officials to approve ballot questions for this year.
State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney is reportedly considering waiting for a ballot question on the 2016 general election, since off-year elections typically result in low turnover.
Casinos in North Jersey—in addition to Hard Rock, MGM has expressed interest in a casino in Jersey City—have long been an issue of contention in the state legislature, with North Jersey lawmakers pushing to end Atlantic City’s monopoly and South Jersey bemoaning Atlantic City’s chances if forced to compete with gaming inside the state, in addition to all the outside competitive pressures that caused four to close in 2014.
Sweeney spokesman Richard McGrath told the Bergen County Record that a North Jersey casino will benefit the entire state. “We believe that expanding gaming to North Jersey will strengthen the state’s casino industry, boost the economy and help Atlantic City’s financial recovery, but there is no specific timetable at this point,” McGrath said.
Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural is in more of a hurry, telling the newspaper that an estimated $400 million or more in annual tax revenue is needed now. “We’re offering to pay a high tax rate, around 50 percent, just like Pennsylvania,” Gural said. “I know there are people who think we’d just be building ‘slots in a box,’ but this is a spectacular project and I want them to see what we have in mind.”
The complete casino plan, including a video and renderings, will be presented a public press conference on Wednesday. According to Gural, the casino would be attached to the two-year-old grandstand at Meadowlands. Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment obtained a 16 percent equity stake in the grandstand, including an option to invest in “any projected future developments at the racetrack.”
The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has already issued a certificate of compliance to Hard Rock, satisfying the first step in obtaining a casino license.
