Casino news source: Boston Herald - http://www.bostonherald.com
Casino interests down, but not out of fight
Top players in it for long haul
By Scott Van Voorhis
Thursday, March 27, 2008 - Updated 15h ago
Las Vegas casino interests have not yet written off Massachusetts, despite last week’s devastating gambling defeat on Beacon Hill, industry observers say.
Don’t count on any aggressive State House lobbying campaigns anytime soon. But the casino industry still views Massachusetts as one of the nation’s last big untapped markets, said Clyde Barrow, a professor and gaming industry expert at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
That’s even after a third gambling bill defeat in three years at the State House, not to mention the demise of several other casino plans over the past two decades.
“I think everyone is puzzled it has taken so long,” Barrow said. “I would say the industry views Massachusetts as one of three big apples still left on the tree. Ohio and Texas are the other two.”
Harrah’s Entertainment, the nation’s largest casino company, said it still plans to keep a close eye on Massachusetts - which, after all, is also home to its chief executive, former Harvard professor Gary Loveman.
While surprised at the rejection of Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino plan, Jan Jones, the Harrah’s government affairs chief, said that passing casino legislation can be a long-haul endeavor.
She points to Kansas, where Gov. Kathleen Sebelius began pitching a casino plan at the start of her term and, four years later, is just now seeing her proposal put into action.
“Politics is patience and perseverance,” said Jones, the former mayor of Las Vegas. “It doesn’t mean it will change this year or next year, but it doesn’t mean the opportunity won’t present itself again.”
Other major players are also playing a waiting game, industry executives said.
The Las Vegas Sands Corp., headed by native Bostonian Sheldon Adelson, is expected to continue to monitor events on Beacon Hill. And casino developer Richard Fields, now the lead investor at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, isn’t going anywhere either, executives said. |
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