HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS Column: …It is true that overall gaming revenue declined in 2013 in Pennsylvania for the first time since legalized casino gambling was introduced here in 2006.
The $44 million drop-off from 2012’s record high of $3.16 billion represented an overall decline of 1.4 percent.
And in the future, Pennsylvania’s casinos are definitely going to encounter more regional competition for the gambling dollars that have provided most homeowners with small property tax breaks through the last decade… (more)
Reliance on gambling revenues by our state legislators is as foolish as their previous reliance on continued “guaranteed” stock market gains that have us in our current pension crisis.
I have nothing against gambling and our casino industry will NOT go bust; however, it will decline and I believe you may even see a casino or two close.
New York State will legalize casino gaming, not just at Indian casinos, and that will be the game changer. When a casino opens within 30-40 minutes of NYC you will see New Jersey take a whole new approach. To compete with New York, they will deal Atlantic City their final death blow with a casino at the Meadowlands to compete with New York and at least at a state level, maintain some gambling revenue since AC will be dead.
Anyone who does not see the impact that this will have here in PA is a fool and probably thought not funding pensions based on stock market gains was a good idea.
These markets are only so big and casinos, or convention centers, can only be the savior of a limited number of states/communities.
I am all for casinos and would love to see one in downtown Lancaster at the site of our convention center; however, if we think they are the longterm answer to our statewide budget problems, we have a much larger problem.