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.