“Anybody who supports the name Redskins in any way, shape or form is a strong disappointment not just to myself but to the majority of Native American people. Redskins is derogatory. It’s very disheartening and painful in my heart that anybody is using the term Redskins at this day and time.”
—National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr., after NIGA withdrew its name from a charity golf tournament for Navajo college students upon learning the main sponsor of the event was Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder
(Nevada Gaming Control Board officials) were very adamant that because of the federal-law issue, they did not want to touch it with a 10-foot pole. And the reality is if the Gaming Control Board says they don’t want to do it, the hotels (in Las Vegas) are going to stand behind them.”
—Nevada state Senator Tick Segerblom, who sponsored the state’s medical marijuana bill now being implemented, on how the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which the bill initially cited as the body to investigate potential distributors, refused the task because marijuana continues to be illegal at the federal level
“My moral standard compels me to speak out on this issue. I don’t see any compelling reason for the government to allow people to gamble on the internet.”
—Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, enlisting the support of Southern Baptists in South Carolina for his crusade against online gaming
“The flawed edifice is like an aspiring showgirl given the old vaudevillian hook before even stepping on stage. Never opened, the half-built husk sits empty, shrink-wrapped in ads, kept intact as evidence in a high-stakes trial this fall to determine who’s responsible for the major design and construction defects experts say could topple the building in a major earthquake.”
?Las Vegas Sun, on the pending demolition of the Harmon Hotel at CityCenter
“At least the rhetoric from all five commissioners recognizes the challenges faced in Region C, but the longer the process goes on, the more ground Southeastern Mass. gives up.”
—Editorial, South Coast Today, on increased attention being paid to the Southeastern Casino Zone by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission
“Tribal gaming has generated some of the most successful gaming models in the world, with strong regulations and tough controls. As a result, California has become a leader in the gaming market. Only a bill that replicates those standards will succeed in California.”
—Robert Smith, chairman of the Pala tribe in Southern California, commenting on what is needed for an online poker bill to be passed by the legislature
“My job is to make sure the people of East Boston are protected,” Walsh said on Friday. “The rhetoric about the city upset me. This is a game-changer. There will be no second shot. We have to make sure it’s right the first time.”
—Martin Walsh, mayor of Boston, who has challenged the authority of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to rule on his city’s assertion that it has a right to declare itself as the “host community” for two proposed casinos in the neighboring towns of Revere and Everett
“Massachusetts voters should not be denied the opportunity to be heard directly on the question of whether to invite a predatory and toxic industry to do business in the Commonwealth.”
—The Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University, arguing that casinos in Massachusetts will threaten public health and that an initiative that would repeal casino gaming in the Bay State be allowed on the ballot
“The casino industry is acutely aware that the Massachusetts landscape for casinos has shifted and the bubble of inevitability has long-ago burst,”
—John Ribeiro, a spokesman for Repeal the Casino Deal, reacting to the request by MGM Resorts, which wants to build a casino in Springfield, Massachusetts, that the licensing decision be pushed back because a casino repeal initiative his group is spearheading may make the November ballot
“It’s like a pillow fight in a dark room now.”
—Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner James McHugh, reacting to the uncertain nature of the process of awarding casino licenses in the Bay State
“It’s more like a baseball bat fight in a dark room.”
—Stephen Crosby, Massachusetts Gaming Commission chairman, reacting to James McHugh’s comment about pillow fights
“Put another way, businesses hate working in a climate of uncertainty, and giving voters the chance to undo the casino law would make the state the laughingstock of economic development officials nationwide.”
—Editorial, the Boston Globe, arguing against the repeal of the 2011 gaming expansion law in Massachusetts
“They were events for the nation’s evening news. But the era of the big boom as performance piece is over. Implosions became too big—middle-of-the-night spectacles that were just over the top. They were victims of their own success.”
?Mark Hall-Patton, Clark County Museum, on why the Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas is being dismantled piece by piece, rather than imploded
“We are all very, very excited. This is as big as it gets. We’re going to be bringing hundreds of thousands of folks to town over time, and I think it’s great for the town; good for Las Vegas, obviously great for the company. It’s kind of the peak in entertainment here.”
?Bill Hornbuckle, president, MGM Resorts International, on the Rock in Rio music festival, coming to Vegas in 2015
“My goal is to be able to share a part of my life, my culture and my family with every guest. I want my guests to feel like they are family entering my home. So it’s warm and soft with touches of femininity. It’s a new take on traditional Italian cuisine embracing my Roman heritage and mirroring my passion for Italian cooking with vibrant Californian influences.”
?Giada de Laurentiis, celebrity chef, who will open her first restaurant, Giada, at the Cromwell in Las Vegas next month
“That was 30 years ago, so maybe people have forgotten. But people who haven’t forgotten probably don’t want to go through that again.”
?Jeff Waddoups, UNLV labor economics professor, on a 1984 Las Vegas labor strike that lasted 75 days
“It’s not just about me. It’s about the people I work with. I’m trying to keep a level playing field for these generations coming up behind us. I feel like I’m fighting for everybody—my friends, my neighbors, my grandkids. But we’re all in this together. I just hate when they separate us. We’re all here for one common goal: to make this ship float and keep it floating.”
?Ronald Gladstone, Las Vegas Culinary Union member, on why he is willing to strike unsettled casinos if necessary
“It’s difficult to gauge China’s precise appetite for boxing. But there’s no question there’s an untapped market and a real, growing consumer interest. Could I see Americans like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Tim Bradley fighting in Macau? Absolutely. Stack the money high enough and it will be too much for anyone to turn down.”
?Max Kellerman, boxing analyst, on fight promoter Bob Arum’s inroads in Macau
“We had incorporated way too many clicks in this process, and so people who had played online poker in the past never had to go through this detailed process filled with all these extra clicks. Some people are taking a wait-and-see attitude about playing online games.”
—Tom Breitling of Ultimate Poker at the iGaming North America Summit in Las Vegas on some of the sign-up problems online gamblers have seen in New Jersey
“I think in some ways you could say Vegas has stayed the same, it constantly reinvents itself to match the shifting trends in the population. Back in the early ’80s, when boomers had kids, Vegas made itself into a family destination. As people lost interest in bringing kids to Vegas, it shifted to a more adult-oriented destination. Gambling is like an incidental activity for the young visiting Vegas. They’ll gamble a little, but they’re not recreating the Rat Pack days.”
?Stephen P.A. Brown, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, UNLV, on shifting spending patterns among Las Vegas tourists
“We’re going to do things like take wagon rides around the racetrack. We’re going to have a lighted tractor parade, which we’re kind of excited about. We’ll bring out live carolers. In the lobby here we’ll have Christmas trees that sing every half hour. It will be a great place to come.”
?Tom Osiecki, Tioga Downs raceway in Nichols, New York, on the decidedly non-Vegas attractions it will offer if it wins a casino license
“GE and Carrier and Kodak left and we are going to replace them with a casino? When you put it into an equation like that, it doesn’t sound like a solution.”
?John Cappra, Albany resident, on a plan by Rochester developer David Flaum to build a casino in the New York capital
