“I do not simply toe the party line and instead hold our management team, including our chairman and CEO, accountable to our stockholders.”
—Elaine Wynn, in a statement on her removal from the board of Wynn Resorts, which she said would remove “a strong, independent voice” from the board
“All this is, is arcade games for the digital generation, but they no longer have to go down to an arcade. The arcade is on their phone, tablet or computer.”
—Caesars Interactive spokesman Seth Palansky, on the appeal of social casinos to younger players
“It gets the adrenaline going. I look for the controversies with buying these companies.”
—Glenn Straub, Florida developer to the Press of Atlantic City on his convoluted and often blocked attempts to buy Atlantic City’s bankrupt Revel casino
“We’re pushing hard to get it done. We need to get it done no later than August 3rd for it to be in the ballot in November.”
—Ralph Caputo, New Jersey assemblyman and chair of the state’s Assembly Gaming and Tourism committee to Caputo told PolitickerNJ on the push to have a referendum to expand casino gaming in the state
“We have bounced back from an economic recession. We have bounced back from Superstorm Sandy and we’ll bounce back from the storm now buffeting Atlantic City. The good news about Atlantic City is that it remains the go-to tourist destination in New Jersey. The bad news is that the closing of some hotels and casinos has cost tourism workers their jobs. We’re done with that. We’re putting those days behind us.”
—Kim Guadagno, New Jersey Lt. Governor at a tourism seminar in Atlantic City where she announced a record $42.1 billion in tourism economic impact for 2014 in the state
“Asia is a long way off from saturation where, potentially, new supply would eat into existing operator revenues. The overall pie will continue to grow.”
?Michael Paladino, senior director at Fitch Ratings, on the overall health of the Asian casino market
“We are very concerned with how much people can bet on one spin of the machine and how the machines can be used for money laundering. There is betting shop after betting shop in each parade because they open within a hundred yards of each other or right next to each other.”
?Ross Hatfull, British cabinet member for community safety and enforcement, who supports a plan to keep fixed-odds betting terminals from proliferating in the U.K.
“A lot of this tribes are taught to protect that sovereignty over decades, faced with extinction. The best economic driver that they have discovered especially in the 21st century has been gaming. The gaming destinations are reflective of their society and their culture. And that’s what Indian gaming so unique.”
—Jason Giles, executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association, commenting on the innovation of Indian gaming
“With the uncertainty of the region’s license creating a successful venture in any manner maybe it’s time for southeastern Massachusetts towns to instead band together, jointly ditch casino efforts, and instead ask for a different type of investment in the region.”
—Will Richmond, writing for the Herald News about the process of approving a casino license for the southeastern casino zone of Massachusetts
“The monopoly has been broken. You can’t un-break a monopoly.”
—Connecticut State Senator Michael McLachlan commenting on efforts in the legislature to allow the state’s two casino tribes to operate more casinos in an effort to protect their revenues from out-of-state competition
“Enough with the rhetoric. Connecticut has been luring Bay State gamblers here for two decades. That Massachusetts and other states would seek a piece of the action was almost inevitable. The question is how to respond.”
—Editorial, Hartford Courant, responding to statements by Connecticut lawmakers that Massachusetts building of casinos amounts to economic warfare
“Even though our tribes have a long history of fierce competition and even though we are competitors in business today, this threat is serious. It creates a common ground, for everyone in this room, Democrat and Republican, sovereign tribe to sovereign state, tribe to tribe, union to nonunion.”
—Kevin Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, speaking before the Connecticut Senate’s Public Safety Committee on allow the state to add Indian casinos
“All of the relevant stakeholders need to concentrate on the areas of common ground, recognize that there will be plenty of business advantage to go around, rely on proven experienced experts in the industry to help craft a well-regulated (not over-regulated) industry which will benefit everyone.”
—Dave Vialpando, chairman of the Santa Ysabel Tribal Gaming Commission, urging passage of online gaming in the Golden State
“We need more jobs in the West Valley, and this casino is already providing immediate employment to the construction sector and will provide many permanent full- and part-time jobs once the casino opens.”
— Mayor Sharon Wolcott of Surprise, Arizona, commenting on the effect the Tohono O’odham Nation’s casino in Glendale will have on her city
“It’s no secret we will be impacted, and it’s no secret MGM is planning a casino in Springfield. They’re forecast to extract more business from Connecticut than from Massachusetts. It’s prudent for casinos here and for the state to make sure we keep jobs and revenues in the state of Connecticut.”
—Bobby Soper, recently appointed Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority President, commented on how casinos in Massachusetts will impact the Mohegan Sun’s profits
“MGM and the commission should promptly wrap up the rest, clearing the way for the project to move ahead full-steam. Slowing the process for the sake of a few buildings of limited historic value does not honor the past, but it does jeopardize the future.”
—Editorial, the Republican, calling on work on the MGM Springfield casino in Massachusetts to move forward, despite objections by the city’s historical commission
“I don’t suppose the problems are ever going to go away. This is a problematic planet we live on. But what this does really is provide a regulatory framework. It’s going to help with those problems.”
—Tom Loertscher, state representative, Idaho, who has proposed the state create a new Gaming Commission to oversee all Idaho gambling
“Fireworks and cigarettes? What could go wrong?”
—Chuck Hamsher, public policy director for Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia, sarcastically giving his opinion on a casino smoking ban repeal
