“We’re not hunting or going after people and we’re not in a mindset of trying to be adversarial with the industry. But these events have happened, it seems, one after another… It’s about sending a message to the industry.”
—Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett, commenting on the agency’s rash of seven-figure fines to casinos during the past 15 months
“Those new customers they get online might be in a younger demographic that doesn’t want to go into the casino and play slot machines. That’s the value in a land-based casino that goes online—it could eventually bring new people into the casino itself.”
—Online gaming consultant Sue Schneider, on the benefits of online gaming to land-based operators in New Jersey
“Online gaming is growing our database, creating a long-term opportunity to market Borgata to an entirely new group of customers.”
—Boyd Gaming President and CEO Keith Smith
“There’s nobody around in the evenings because everyone is going there. It’s cheaper. They give away free beer. I can’t compete with their prices. People want everything: gambling, booze, food, and I can’t compete with it.”
—Lou Dominick, owner of Dominick’s Cafe in Plains Twp. Pennsylvania, to the Scranton Times-Tribune on the effect the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has had on some local businesses
“The potential impact of casinos goes to the core of the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The people of Boston deserve the Democratic process.”
—Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston, Massachusetts, arguing before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that his city should be designated as a “host community” for both the Everett and Revere casino resort projects being considered for the Bay State
“Since this casino development engagement was announced in January, Flanagan has acted like Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch because he was so excited about Katie Holmes.”
—Steve Urbon, writing for South Coast Today about Fall River, Massachusetts Mayor Will Flanagan’s efforts to promote the casino for his town
“Massachusetts voters are intelligent, and when presented with the data and facts that casinos do not bring the economic revitalization that they falsely promise, voters stand against the casino culture.”
—John Ribeiro, chairman of Repeal the Casino Deal, reacting to polls showing that support for casinos in Massachusetts has declined in recent months
“It must be difficult for the Maliseets or members of any other tribe to have to depend on the Legislature or any other body when they want to do any kind of development.”
—Maine Senator Margaret Craven, explaining why she voted to support bills that would have allowed the state’s Indian tribes to offer Indian gaming— bills that were defeated
“They’ve had more than enough time to come up with a strategy or policy to address that. What more can we do? If that’s part of the reason for voting it down tonight, we’re not satisfied with that being a reason to deny us yet again.”
—Joseph Socobasin, chief of the Passamaquoddy tribe of Maine, reacting to a vote of the Senate that will prevent his tribe from offering gaming
“Macau will continue to grow. The force of nature and will of a country as large as China is hard to overestimate.”
?Jim Murren, CEO, MGM Resorts, predicting China will reach annual gaming revenue of up to $70 billion by 2019
“Say someone has a rough day at work and for whatever reason wants to escape and turns his computer on and blows his paycheck because he is at home. Morally and for the health of our society, having gaming in people’s homes is not good. At least with a casino, you have to make the effort. It would be foolish of us to let this happen.”
?John Farahi, CEO, Atlantis Casino in Reno, Nevada, who is “1,000 percent opposed” to online gaming
“The way we look at it, the chauffeur is like the pilot of an airplane. If anything illegal is occurring, the pilot is going to land the plane and the passenger is arrested. In our case, we’re not going to invade our customers’ privacy, but if we suspect anything illegal is going on, smoking marijuana, using illegal drugs, we can stop and tell them their ride’s over. But I can’t recall that ever happening.”
?Alex Waxler, owner of AWG, a party-limo service in Las Vegas
“Las Vegas is America’s No. 1 convention city, and it has 150,000 hotel rooms, most of them in close proximity to each other. Plus, it was a major source of Republican campaign contributions in the 2012 election?remember Sheldon Adelson? ?and that money will be available to help pay for the convention. Finally, unlike many of its seven competitors, Las Vegas doesn’t have an NBA or NHL team, so there won’t be any problem in getting access to its arena in June 2016.”
?Washington, DC, Business Journal, on the likelihood Las Vegas will prevail in its quest to host the 2016 Republican National Convention
“The prospect of an additional casino in the region will have a far-reaching and damaging effect on businesses that rely on the success of Batavia Downs and Finger Lakes Gaming. The upstate horse industry would likely be forced out of business, and that industry in itself is responsible for thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for the state.”
?Michael D. Kane, president, Western Regional Off-Track Betting of New York, on a proposed casino in the town of Henrietta, near Rochester
“I like what I hear, but what you don’t hear is what you’ve got to be concerned with. How do you say no to $10 million?”
?Carolyn McLaughlin, Albany, NY, councilwoman, on the multimillion-dollar casino proposed by David Flaum
“Please think of this as more of an entertainment complex. It’s not about taking the last dollar out of someone’s pocket.”
?David Flaum, developer, on his Albany casino plan. Flaum spoke before the city council accompanied by a behavioral counselor
“If you build it, they will come. Dad can go to the roulette table, mom and the kids can go to the pool or water park, or they can come down to Howe Caverns. Howe Caverns wants to keep this a family destination.”
?Chris Tague, Howe Caverns Development Corp. in Schoharie County, NY. The county Board of Supervisors voted 13-3 last week to approve a casino above the underground caves
