In an opinion piece that appeared in the Wall Street Journal newspaper on Tuesday, Dale Buss authored “Will Gambling Continue to Grow? All Bets Are Off.” In it, he described the apparent downfall of gambling and quoted Annenberg Public Policy Center Director Dan Romer, who labeled poker as a “fad.”
The Wall Street Journal piece begins by noting that a group of 100 people from Casino-Free Philadelphia gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The reason, according to Buss, is as follows: “They were able to commemorate success in keeping casinos out of Philadelphia despite the fact that two huge gambling operators desperately want to locate there.” In essence, the end-of-year party served as another successful crusade by Casino-Free Philadelphia to keep mega-establishments out of the City of Brotherly Love.
Joe Brennan, the Chairman of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and a native of Philadelphia, told Poker News Daily why casinos have yet to make inroads in the East Coast city: “The claims that Buss makes on behalf of the group of 100 in Philadelphia are outlandish. They are not responsible for casinos not being built in Philly. It all comes down to zoning. It’s an argument over location.” Foxwoods Casino, for example, is looking at potentially setting up shop in Chinatown. The waterfront and the airport are also possible locations for casinos looking to enter the Philadelphia market.
Buss then states that the dramatic downturn in the economy and falling gambling revenues mean that the industry is affected just like any other: “Battered incomes last year proved in spades that this is not a ‘recession-proof’ business.” Brennan retorted, “The only thing that stopped gambling this year is the economy.” Nevada gambling revenue was down 22% in October of 2008 in comparison to October of 2007. However, the entire economy is also noticeably off. Crude oil, for example, which once traded at $147 per barrel in July, has now plummeted to $45 at the time of writing, a drop of 69%. GM stock was trading at $14.62 in July. It is now down to $3.20, a dive of 78%. Several car manufacturers have gone so far as to shut down plants during the early part of 2009, laying off workers in the process. Buss, however, points out that “Native American casinos are laying off workers from Connecticut to California.”
The Wall Street Journal opinion piece also notes, “Three casinos have opened in Detroit, but the city looks as desiccated as ever, and one of the operators is embroiled in bankruptcy court.” Brennan responded, “It can all be tied to the economy. He’s trying to imply that bankruptcy is a judgment. It’s the soft economy.” Much of the real estate market has crashed as well, which also affects casinos and the value of the land they sit on.
Dan Romer from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania stated, “The fad has peaked,” referring to poker. Brennan explained, “He’s saying that poker peaked in popularity in 2004 and it has been down ever since. When you look at online poker, it could be attributed to Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) being enacted.” The UIGEA was passed into law in the waning moments of the 2006 Congressional session by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The UIGEA’s passage eliminated many of the deposit options available to players from the United States. In turn, it could be argued that casual fans have been deterred from trying to play on their computers.
Despite the label as a “fad,” the popularity of the World Series of Poker ballooned in 2008. ESPN television ratings for the November final table were up 50% in 2008 in comparison to 2007. The 2.08 rating for the second hour of that telecast was the highest mark for a poker show since 2004. There were 59,767 total entrants in WSOP events, which was up 9% from 2007. Hailing from Denmark, Peter Eastgate became the youngest Main Event Champion ever at age 22 and took home the second largest WSOP prize ever doled out, $9.1 million. The total WSOP prize pool was $190 million, up 13% from the previous year.
Buss, who is described by the newspaper as a “journalist and author,” is from Michigan. He has published “Family Man,” which is a biography of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. The organization is a staunch opponent of gambling.
Joe Brennan is completely wrong. When Foxwoods and SugarHouse tried to build in Philadelphia they had the support of the most powerful politicians in the city and state. They came in with no public input or scrutiny — and no chance for the citizens to have input over if, when, or how casino slots are built in Philly.
Only when citizens called foul did politicians begin to switch sides and did we bring zoning issues to the surface. (Even the casinos cite us as reasons they are not building.)
We have thrown everything at casino development to bring it to a halt — including zoning, location, and the kitchen sink. If Joe was reading the newspaper, watching TVs, or talked to politicians in the city, he would know that it is citizens’ efforts that are the reason no casinos have been built.
Uh. Excuse me, Dan, but you should check your sources more carefully. Both casinos already have their zoning in place. The PA Supreme Court handed down decisions that forced the City of Philadelphia to grant the necessary Commercial Entertainment District zoning classification for the locations of SugarHouse and Foxwoods. As a resident, I can assure you that it was and is the actions of the very courageous leaders of Casino-Free that are keeping the casinos from cashing in.
It’s a strange choice of words to describe that opinion piece as an “attack” on gambling just because it acknowledges the slow-down in the industry and doesn’t act like a cheerleader.
I can assure you, Mr. Hunter, that I’ve been on top of the ongoing coverage by the Inquirer and Daily News, WPHT and KYW 1060, as well as my old buddies in City Hall on this issue, and I am far from wrong about the nature of the tie-ups affecting casino development in Philly.
The holdup comes from Foxwoods deciding to switch their development plans from Pennsport down on the Delaware waterfront to redeveloping the old Gallery Mall on East Market Street, which has been hailed by Mayor Nutter and Gov. Rendell as an even better plan.
Why? It brings the project into an area already developed for high traffic and tourism – with the convention center and Independence Mall within walking distance. It also replaces a car-dependent site on the waterfront with a location with huge public transportation access. Add to this the fact that, as Mayor Nutter so accurate put it – “Market Street is a dead zone at night” – it would bring people to an area that’s been struggling to build a nightlife for as far back as I can remember.
Heck, even the Friends of Independence National Historic Park support it. They’re not exactly know as a group that caves to pressure from city hall on the behalf of the almighty dollar.
And let’s not forget the unions. Philadelphia is still (I’m proud to say) a union town, and they’re going to want all of the jobs that will come from this development.
So, while Mr. Hunter is entitled to his own opinion, he’s not entitled to his own facts.
I do, though, strongly support the right of Casino-Free Philadelphia and other groups to express their opposition to this development effort. They’ve done a good job of generating media attention for themselves, and their contribution will keep the process fair. I think they’re on the wrong side of this issue, but I hope their involvement will keep all parties honest.
PS – Mr. Hunter, when it comes to my beloved hometown, you can be sure I’m reading, watching and listening to everything possible. I may be in Washington DC, but Philly is for me what Dublin was for Joyce.
I don’t think Joe and I will agree, given how differently we see this issue. We do agree that massive opposition exists to all the sites (he’d surely agree with that about the new location in Foxwoods, opposed by local residents, numerous politicians, and many more). And we do agree that Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell have little to no support for Foxwoods or SugarHouse’s plans along the riverfront.
But he acts as though Foxwoods willingly moved sites. That’s where he and I disagree strongly. Foxwoods preferred the riverfront site, within a few hundred feet of people’s homes in South Philadelphia. Time after time they reiterated “it was our first choice.” The public switch came after the Mayor, the Governor, and other politicos said it’s time for them to move — that they would not allow Foxwoods to be built at that site. And why did people like the Governor, who have supported Foxwoods from the start, change their minds? Because of thousands of voters expressing their opinions — and refusing to allow Foxwoods to build on that site, even expressing their opposition, as Joe and I both support, through the channels available to them.
One reason I believe that it’s important to get the facts right, is that while Joe says he asserts our right to express our opposition, he does not acknowledge its impact in the process. Two and a half years ago when Casino-Free Philadelphia started, it was pundits who told us that there was no way we could win. We built a way out of no way by thoughtful community organizing and bringing diverse communities together.
There’s power in the people — and we’ll continue to be an example of that. More importantly, we’ll continue to oppose any casino development within the City of Brotherly Love. No casino in our neighborhoods, in the heart of the city, or wherever our quality of life will be reduced for the sake of some rich tycoons in Connecticut or Chicago.