For many proponents of expanding casinos in New Jersey to the northern part of the state, getting eventual approval from New Jersey voters is often talked about as a sure thing.
But a new poll has found that residents aren’t sure about it at all.
The poll, from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind, found that half of the state’s residents oppose casinos outside of Atlantic City while only 42 percent are in favor.
The poll specifically asked respondents if they would favor the construction of a new casino in The Meadowlands Sports Complex or at Monmouth Park horseracing track.
Residents showed slightly more support for a Meadowlands casino then at the racetrack. The poll, however, did not mention plans to build a $4.6 billion mega-casino/entertainment complex in Jersey City, which was only recently announced.
Still, the poll shows that casino expansion is not broadly supported in the state.
Residents under 35 years old were more likely to favor expansion, supporting it by a 52-38 margin, while voters over 60 were the least likely, opposing it 56-36.
“New Jersey has a couple of reasons to be skeptical about opening new casinos outside of Atlantic City,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson and an analyst for the poll. “Increased competition is only going to hurt Atlantic City more, and casinos just aren’t the revenue source for the state that they were ten or fifteen years ago.”
As Atlantic City has seen its casino revenue steadily decline—and with the city facing three possible casino closures—plans for allowing new casinos in the state have been gaining momentum in the State House.
Northern New Jersey casinos are seen by proponents as a way for the state to fight new competition from casinos planned in New York and throughout the Northeast. However, some analysts warn that the Northeast is already saturated with casinos and new casinos would face their own stiff competition and only further erode Atlantic City’s casino market.
But any expansion would require a public referendum to change the state’s constitution. Officials have said a referendum could be on the state’s 2015 general election ballot.
The poll also found that of the two choices for locations given respondents, the Meadowlands had slightly more support at 47 percent in favor to 42 percent opposed.
“New Jersey is faced with a quandary in this situation. Adding strategic gambling sites outside of Atlantic City will recover millions of dollars in gaming revenue lost to bordering states but will negatively affect gaming revenue in Atlantic City,” said Donald Hoover senior lecturer at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Despite recent moves for expanding casinos, the poll noted that the 42 percent in favor of new construction is the exact same figure as polls in 2010 showed.
The telephone poll of 819 randomly selected adults was conducted from July 14-20. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll was good news for residents of South Jersey who oppose expanded gaming in New Jersey. Atlantic City, New Jersey is in Atlantic County and as you’d expect, municipal mayors in the county want to preserve the resort’s monopoly on casino gaming in the state.
The Atlantic County Mayors Association held a special meeting to discuss its response to recent proposals to locate casinos in the northern part of the state including at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
Assemblyman Chris Brown—a vocal critic of the idea—drafted a resolution for the association opposing any expansion of casinos outside of Atlantic City. Brown maintains that such a move would devastate Atlantic City, especially as the city is working to diversify its revenue to non-gaming attractions.
“If the Atlantic City casino industry plummets, we lose residents who are forced into unemployment, forced to move elsewhere, forced to take their children out of our schools. Our local businesses suffer; it’s a trickle-down effect,” Somers Point Mayor Jack Glasser, president of the association, said.
The mayors pointed to a Casino Association of New Jersey study that concluded a Meadowlands casino would cannibalize 45 percent of gambling revenue from Atlantic City and the entire New Jersey casino industry would lose 3,800 jobs.
