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Recession Letting UpTuesday, March 9th, 2010 The performance of Calder Casino and Race Course may be a sign that the recession may be loosening its, until now, unforgiving grip on the gambling market in Florida. Calder Casino only recent completed their first month of operation and has already show a modest yet promising income. Of the other five slots parlors in the southeastern region of Florida, Calder revenue was the third highest. Many industry analysts prefer to take a casinos average daily profit per slot machine as an indicator of how well the casino is performing. Back in 2006, Florida slot machines were averaging about $190 per day. By the time 2007 and 2008 rolled around that had been lowered to $185 per day. That number only continued to decline during the recession. Calder’s number after their first month in operations might be modest but they are an improvement over what other tracks were making around the same time last year. Calder was performing hire in February in 2010 than Gulfstream Park and harness track Isle Casino and Racing at Pompano Park during this time 2009. “The recession has had a big impact on discretionary income,” said Calder owner Tom O’Donnell. “Everyone (in gaming) is street-fighting for [...] Continue Reading… Calder Game PlanTuesday, March 9th, 2010 You got to have a game plan, both long term and short term, that is the key to success. I caught a dear friend of mine saying that he has trouble planning more that a few days ahead at a time. While he spoke, it dawned on me that this very same friend consistently found himself just living day to day and paycheck to paycheck. Nothing wrong with that life style, but if you want to break it, it is impossible to do that without a long term plan. Slots parlor are certainly the type of business that require extensive short term and long term planning. Tom O’Donnell, the owner and manager of Calder Casino in Miami Gardens, had a very smart short term goal for his casino. It was very important to him and the parent company Churchill Downs Inc. that the new casino be opened before the big NFL Pro Bowl. The casino is only mile south of the Sun Life Stadium which is where both the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl were held this year. The plan was for the new $85 million casino to really cash in on the travelers that came down [...] Continue Reading… Build It And They Might ComeTuesday, March 9th, 2010 No matter where you are operating, the gambling market is highly competitive. There seems to be this misguided belief about slot parlors that if you build it they will come. Although slot machines have the reputation of paying for themselves several times over, it still takes a lot of advertising and brand building to get people to come to a casino; particularly if you are a new casino in an already competitive market. That is exactly the case for Calder Casino & Race Course in southeast Florida. The racino is off to a modest but promising start, but according to Tom O’Donnell, president and general manager of Calder, it will be a matter of slow and steady wins the race. “We are pleased with our start,” claims O’Donnell. The main focus of the new racetrack, only just now finishing its first full month of operation, has been to focus on building strong brand recognition and customer loyalty. That is their game plan to attaining higher and higher revenues. Before the venue even opened quite a great deal was spent on early television, radio, and newspaper advertising. As a result of all the hard work the slot machines of Calder Casino and Race Course [...] Continue Reading… Mass Debate Over Slot MachinesTuesday, March 9th, 2010 There are a lot of people pulling for new slot machines at the racetracks in Massachusetts. Everyone has there own reasons, but the common themes seem to be new jobs, and increased revenue. It is possible that no one is pulling harder for the slot machines than Raynham Park. Raynham Park has been left sort of future less after dog racing was made illegal in the state at the beginning of the year. Some debate surrounds the best way to implement slot machines. Legislators like House Speaker Robert DeLeo would like to see slot machines at all of the tracks in the state and at two resort casinos. On the other hand Governor Deval Patrick has been vying for the creation of all new casinos in the state. According to George Carney, owner of Raynham Park, the former is the best possible solution for the track. According to Carney, slot machines at the track mean thousands of new jobs. Carney believes the process of transforming Raynham Park in to a destination gambling sport will require at least 500 temporary construction jobs and 1,500 new permanent jobs. These numbers flies in the face of Governor Patrick’s reasoning for against bringing slot [...] Continue Reading… Unsolved ProblemsTuesday, March 9th, 2010 It is a shame, however common, for politicians to make decisions without thinking of their outcome. Perhaps they are well aware of the outcome, but neglect to address the problems. On January 1st of this year dog racing became illegal in the state of Massachusetts. This is a huge victory for the animal rights activists of the state, but a significant loss for the residents of Massachusetts. The race track became a contributor to the nation high job loss and unemployment numbers. There have been bill presented that suggest ways of saving the states racing venues. The one receiving the most current attention was introduced by House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Representative DeLeo’s plan calls for slot machines at the state’s four racetracks and at two casino resorts. That, however, is not the first plan to introduces slot machines at the tracks. In 2009, state Representative David L. Flynn filed a bill that would have allowed each racetrack to operate 2,500 slot machines. The problem that this bill faced and all others bills suggesting slot machines is time. There is not a lot of time left for the racetracks in Massachusetts. In order for the tracks to keep their doors open, they [...] Continue Reading… Strong Chance Not EnoughTuesday, March 9th, 2010 Due to the recession, the slots bill recently presented by House Speaker Robert DeLeo has a strong chance of passing into law. Let’s face it, Massachusetts could use the revenue. However, a strong chance is not remotely a guarantee. There are several obstacles standing in the way of the bill. One of the biggest hurdles that will need to be jumped is none other than Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Patrick is in favor of gambling revenues aiding the state but he is not so big a fan of introducing slot machines to racetracks and creating two casino resorts and Representative DeLeo’s plan calls for. Governor Patrick would like to see full casinos built all across the state. The difference for Patrick is the retention of a few jobs, as would be the case with introducing slot machines to racing tracks, and creating new jobs, under his plan of creating new gambling venues. Some have argued, however, that if slot machines are not brought to racetracks and new casinos are built, it would be likely that the jobs created by the casino would only be replacing the jobs lost at the tracks. However, creating new casinos also create several new, temporary [...] Continue Reading… Mass ProblemsTuesday, March 9th, 2010 Massachusetts is desperately trying to solve several problems. The first problem facing the state is a problem mirrored by most states in the nation; a need to generate additional income in order to deal with a large budget deficit. The other problem, loosely related to the prior issues, it what to do with the states dog racing tracks now that dog racing is illegal. House Speaker Robert DeLeo believes he has an answer and revealed his plan to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce last weeks. Representative DeLeo’s plan involves slot machines and lots of them. The plan presented by Representative DeLeo calls for the two resort casino and a limited number of slot machines at the state’s four racetracks. His plan will be debated either later this month or early in April. It is no coincidence the Representative DeLeo is in such support of the slot machines at the state’s dog racing tracks. The reasons are several. First the dog racing tracks of Massachusetts no longer serve much purpose after dog racing was made illegal at the first of this year. Slot machines would allow the tracks to retain employees and keep Massachusetts resident employed. However DeLeo’s reasons are clearly [...] Continue Reading… Successful Slot MachinesTuesday, March 9th, 2010 Several factors make a successful slots program in a state. The first stage of the battle, obviously, is to make your gambling market attractive to the industry as a whole. That was the initial failure on the part of Maryland. Maryland found themselves in a situation where they had legalized slot machines and no casino operators wanted to do serious business in the state. That was not the tale of Pennsylvania however. Pennsylvania slot machines got serious interest immediately and continue to report impressive and growing number over the years. This past month of snowy and blizzard pocked February was dismal for the casino business in the northeastern region. It would have been expected and not even frowned upon of slot machines in Pennsylvania showed signs of decreased revenue. However, Pennsylvania managed to improve its number thanks to the presence of two new casinos that opened over the past year. Pennsylvania also displays another sign of a successful slot machine program; generating revenue that will help tax payers. In the month of February of 2010, slot machines in Pennsylvania generated $168,279,514. Since the state collects a 55 percent tax rate on gross revenue that means they state took in a healthy [...] Continue Reading… Individual Lose, Collective GainTuesday, March 9th, 2010 February managed to be a month of individual loses, yet a collective success in the Pennsylvania gambling market. While each of the individual slots parlors reported significant loses, slot machines as a whole in the state reported a significant gain over the same time last year. The terrible winter weather that refused to give Pennsylvania a break was the cause of the losses. The only saving grace for the state is that over the last year two more slots parlors opened up, generating pleasing revenue numbers. The seven casinos that already existed in Pennsylvania did not do so hot; the winter and snow definitely won that battle. It is hard for slot machines to compete when the casino is forced to close its door in preparation a series of blizzards and no one is leaving their house except to buy everything off of the grocery store shelves. In the window between February of 2009 and February of 2010, the seven casinos reported a revenue decrease of 9.74 percent. Most expect those numbers to rebound this month as long as the weather stays as pleasant as it has been. The positive is reserved for the state itself. In February of 2009 the [...] Continue Reading… Resilience and VulnerabilityTuesday, March 9th, 2010 Pennsylvania slot machines managed to show both their resilience and their vulnerability in the month of February. There are currently nine slots parlors open in Pennsylvania; that ended up being very helpful for the state this month. If a few new casinos had not opened their doors in Pennsylvania this year, the states slot machines certainly would have reported a loss. Slot machines revenue were down for individual revenues but overall the state displayed a significant increase in slots revenues total. The reason for the individually lousy numbers was the fact that February was a particularly brutal month as far as weather goes. Pennsylvania was hammered by relentless and seemingly endless snow storms. This year brought a record snowfall in the region. Snowy conditions had several direct affects on slots parlor operations, including casinos that were force to close down for the day; this is a huge deal because most of the casinos in Pennsylvania are open 24 hours a day. The terrible road conditions also led to a low turnout of gamblers. Regardless of the few issues, slot machines in Pennsylvania managed to earn 16 % more in February of this year over February of 2009. Pennsylvania continues to assert [...] Continue Reading… |
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