2002 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
BANGOR WANTS IN ON SLOTS
If anyone wondered why mystery man Shawn Scott
and his Las Vegas-based Capitol One LLC invested
in little Bangor Raceway in Maine recently,
they can stop wondering. A group led by the track
plans to petition for a statewide referendum on slots
at tracks in November, 2003. Although the question
supposedly would allow slots at Bangor and
at Scarborough Downs, a lawyer for Scarborough
says the proposal does not please his client, contending
it is written to benefit only Bangor Raceway.
The Bangor proposal calls for Bass Park in
Bangor to be renovated and a percentage of revenues
to go to helping senior citizens pay for prescription
drugs and help Maine students to attend
college. Maine voters also will be asked, however,
to legalize casino gambling for the
Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Nation Indian
tribes by building a $650 million casino in southern
Maine. The state expects to get $100 million
in revenue from that project, and as framed those
payments to the state would be nullified if Maine
authorizes slots at any location other than the tribal
casino. A leader of an anti-gambling group, Casinos
No!, says the organization will oppose both
proposals, saying that more than one casino would
mean the state would get nothing “except crime,
corruption and congestion.” Proponents of the idea
say slots at tracks would be well-regulated and a
natural step in adding another form of gaming
where gambling already is legal. The Bangor application
for a citizens’ referendum has been submitted
to Maine’s secretary of state for review.
Ten percent of Maine citizens who vote in the gubernatorial
election next month would be needed
for the referendum to be granted, and while that
number obviously is not known at present it is believed
more than 50,000 signatures would be
needed. A similar referendum to allow
VLTs at Scarborough Downs failed by a
3-2 ratio two years ago.
October 23, 2002
REMEMBER THIS STATEMENT
When Atlantic City casinos start snarling and fighting
about the possibility of slots at the Meadowlands,
and shout that the competition would seriously
injure them, remember this statement by
Gary Loveman, the president of Harrah’s: “I don’t
think even gaming in Philadelphia would pose a
long-term substantial threat to the invested capital
in Atlantic City.” Loveman was speaking on a
conference call reporting record earnings in the
third quarter at Harrah’s two Atlantic City casinos,
and he predicted that gambling expansion in
Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York wouldn’t
harm the future of Harrah’s casinos in Atlantic City.
He conceded legalized gaming was coming to those
states, calling it “almost a sure bet,” but he said
the Northeast has too few gambling outlets to meet
demand. That’s good news. The Meadowlands
would be a great place to help meet that demand.
And although Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania and
not New Jersey, Philadelphia is half the distance
from Atlantic City than the Meadowlands, and is
connected directly to the shore resort by the Atlantic
City Expressway.
MICHIGAN AND ITS KIDS
When Internet gaming is discussed, opponents
begin screaming about how the children of the land
will be protected. We hope they’ll be as equally
concerned about the state of Michigan’s decision
to allow instant lottery ticket vending machines in
up to 500 locations around the state. Tickets will
cost between $1 and $20, and prizes will vary from
$1 to $1 million. The state’s acting lottery commissioner
says the new machines will come
equipped with a shutoff switch that a store clerk
can activate if a minor messes with the machine.
Sure. That’s precisely why cigarette vending machines
were outlawed, and one expert, Charles
Clotfelder of Duke University, says he
doesn’t know how Michigan can monitor
vending machines.