Florida Governor Rick Scott has begun talks with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to renew a provision in the tribe’s gaming compact with the state. Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said, “We are having ongoing discussions to make sure we get the best deal for the state.”
The current compact guarantees the state a minimum of $1 billion from the tribe’s gambling revenue over five years, in return for exclusively offering blackjack and other card games at locations including Tampa’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The card game component expires in mid-2015 unless it is renewed. If the tribe would lose exclusive rights to offer Las Vegas-style games through expanded gambling, it could reduce payments to the state or stop making payments altogether.
Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said the tribe hopes negotiations “lead to a positive outcome for both the tribe and the state of Florida.” Tribe member and general trial counsel Jim Shore stated in an op-ed column that continuing the arrangement is good for Florida. But, he stated, “by not continuing, the state not only risks billions of dollars in future revenue, but also suggests a willingness to invest more in out-of-state interests whose primary focus is elsewhere, not Florida. The compact also ensures that Florida gaming is both profitable and controlled versus other places, like Atlantic City, where rapid gaming expansion came at a huge financial and social cost.”
While the Seminole compact debate continued, the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino Tampa celebrated its 10th anniversary. Starting as hotel and bingo hall on Orient Road, the property is the sixth-largest casino in the world, and the fifth-largest private employer in the Tampa Bay area, with a staff of more than 3,300 and an annual economic impact of $592 million. The resort features a casino larger than five football fields with more than 5,000 softs, 110 table games and 50 poker tables, plus a 12-story hotel with 250 rooms.
Commenting on the possible growth of gambling in Florida, Hard Rock International Chairman James Allen, chief executive of Seminole Gaming, said, “The casino industry has this way of trying to create a lot of excitement. If you look historically, whether it be here in state of Florida or throughout United States, bills always start with everything in it for everybody. And then obviously as the process gets navigated, you’ll end up with something that hopefully is beneficial to the tribe and beneficial to the citizens of the state of Florida.”
The House of Representatives’ bill does not allow destination casinos, whereas the Senate bill permits one each in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The House proposal eliminates nearly a dozen inactive parimutuel permits and also establishes a statewide gambling oversight body. House Speaker Will Weatherford has stated he wants a constitutional amendment before more gambling is allowed.
The House bill does not address the issue of decoupling—the requirement that racetracks run a minimum number of races in order to be allowed to operate a card room. Phil Combest, president of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said, “Because state governments allow gambling as a means for revenue generation, any good public policy must incorporate the vast economic benefit of the horse industry compared to a casino-only scenario. In Florida, creating an untenable business climate for horseracing in favor of stand-alone casinos will mean far fewer jobs, much less economic impact, and loss of one of our signature industries. At a time when Florida’s horse racing industry is once again showing growth, decoupling” is a bad idea. We urge our legislators not to allow it to happen.”
In regard to the two South Florida destination casinos allowed in the Senate bill, competitors for a gaming license would have to demonstrate a commitment to spend a minimum of $2 billion on each location within five years, and would have to plan mixed-use developments with no more than 10 percent of total square footage devoted to casino operations. The refundable license application fee would be $125 million and the licensees would have to contribute $250,000 a year to gambling addiction programs.
The Senate bill also would create a Gaming Control Department that would absorb the existing state lottery and regulate existing parimutuel establishments. A separate bill provides for a constitutional amendment on the November ballot, providing that no further expansion of gambling would be allowed without majority approval by Florida voters.
“We’re probably at least five years away from the first destination resort casino opening its doors,” said Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter.
Naturally hundreds of lobbyists are prowling the state capitol on behalf of parimutuel racing and jai-alai, as well Disney World and other family-oriented attractions. In addition, Malaysia’s Genting Group and the Las Vegas Sands Corporation are spending millions on lobbyists and political campaigns.
In 2011 Genting Group paid $400 million for the former Miami Herald complex in hopes of building a $ billion casino resort with 50 restaurants, 5,200 hotel rooms and 8,000 slot machines. Currently Genting is planning to use a slot machine license held by Gulfstream Racetrack to open a slots-only casino on the site.
And on the internet café front, commissioners in Leesburg recently reviewed an ordinance restricting “gaming centers,” to pre-emptively stop the return of internet cafes using new computer software. Governor Scott signed a bill banning the cafes on April 10, 2013 in response to a charity scam. Leesburg Community Development Director Bill Wiley said, “Only months after the state closed them down, internet cafés have reopened with new computer software that has supposedly changed them from a game of chance to a game of skill.”
State Senators also are considering a bill that would clarify the law that shut down the internet cafes, in response to businesses like Chuck E. Cheese’s that are concerned the law could inadvertently affect the games they offer.
