Connecticut shouldn’t gamble on slots for revenue
If you have any extra cash lying around, please visit the state”™s two casinos and plunk it into the slots.
And, oh yes, we hope you don”™t win.
This antithetical pro-gambling message may soon be suggested by members of the General Assembly in light of last week”™s news that the budget writers might have been too optimistic ”“ or out of the loop ”“ when they inked in a 4 percent increase in state revenue over the next two years from the slots at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort.
Apparently they missed that report during the summer in which Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods said their respective slot revenues were down 11 percent and 13 percent.
Tough luck.
Shoring up the state budget deficit by counting on a dropping slot revenue sounds like a bad bet for business owners and other taxpayers alike who will end up backing the big payout to the growing state deficit.
Connecticut receives 25 percent of the slot machine revenues from each casino.
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In the fiscal year 2007-08, the state received $19 million less, dropping its share to $411.4 million.
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Numerous pundits have offered their views as to why slots are off ”“ the economy, price of gas, etc. But a bigger reason might be that more states have added casinos or racinos to generate more revenue for their coffers.
And let us not forget online gambling. Last week the Illinois Racing Board approved licensing three companies to accept online horse racing bets. One Illinois racing official said such betting could become a $100 million to a $150 million industry in the state in 2010.
And you don”™t have to sit at your computer to bet. In addition to computers, Illinois”™ approval includes betting from phones, interactive TVs and other mobile devices.
“Despite its slowdown, Indian gaming”™s growth still outpaced that of commercial casinos, but not racinos,” according to Casino City”™s 2008-09 Indian Gaming Industry Report.
And that bit of information has proved true of the racino situated 90 minutes west of the two Indian casinos.
Since October 2006, when the racino opened at Empire City at Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County, through Oct. 3 of this year net machine income was $1,336,104,879. When it first opened, the weekly income from the video slots was $3.7 million. For the week ending Oct. 3, it was nearly $11 million.
New York”™s winning ways have apparently led to Connecticut”™s drop.
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More trouble for Connecticut”™s budget is on the horizon from Massachusetts, where lawmakers could soon be considering the approval of casinos.
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What could also be working against the Nutmeg State if it continues to tap the casinos for revenue is the Mohegan tribe”™s plan to open a casino in Massachusetts. That could be detrimental to Connecticut since those slot players from the Bay State would be more likely to play at home.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs Foxwoods, is also trying to keep itself in the black. Last week it unveiled its casino-branded iPhone application, which includes a game feature that lets users try their hand at Foxwoods-themed games using play money. It also includes a concierge service that allows for making room reservations.
Perhaps state lawmakers could work with the tribe to create an app allowing online slot playing.
We”™re asking that the executive branch of state government start now to look at other revenue streams to bolster the budget.
Betting on future slot projections is sure to be long shot.