Competition is heating up in the ever-changing gaming destination landscape. Moves made by Eastern states to cash in on easy tax opportunities while propping up ailing racing industries are showing results.
At the same time, new and expanded betting palaces are churning up plenty of new action-packed meeting and entertainment options.
New to gaming, Pennsylvania has seen five racinos (racetrack casinos) open in less than a year and is about to get its first standalone casino resort.
New York has gone from zero racinos to eight in less than four years, and also boasts new tribal casino hotels.
Massive upscale construction is under way in Atlantic City and at the Connecticut casino and entertainment meccas of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Gaming facilities are also on the rise in Delaware and Rhode Island.
After years of political haggling over gaming, Maryland, which faces a $1.5 billion state budget shortfall next year, is expected to grant approval for racino development.
Atlantic City
Atlantic City is undergoing a huge transformation with 2,500 casino hotel rooms under construction and an estimated $10 billion in new casino development planned or under way.
Ironically, while it faces the first annual decline in casino revenues in its gaming history, meeting and convention business has taken off. Last year, meetings and conventions attendance increased 208 percent over 2005, to 849,626 delegates, according to the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority.
“The change is amazing,” says Daniel Heneghan, spokesman for the New Jersey Casino Control Board.
He singles out just one change to illustrate the new Atlantic City.
An easy 10-minute walk takes visitors from the Pier at Caesars through The Walk to the Atlantic City Convention Center, he says. The Pier, opened last year, boasts over 100 upscale retail stores and restaurants, while The Walk, which completed an expansion in August, offers a similar amount.
According to Heneghan, the influx of new casino hotel expansion in the city and neighboring areas is unlikely to have a negative impact on existing properties as it will create a larger market for gaming.
“This time competition is coming from outside the state. Pennsylvania is expanding the market, and some of those new to casinos will be coming to Atlantic City, where there is much more to do,” he says.
The Bogata is among several Atlantic City resorts undergoing expansion. Early next year it will open The Water Club, a $400 million addition that will include an 800-room hotel tower, a spa and 18,000 square feet of meeting space.
Earlier this year, the 1,626-room Harrah’s Atlantic City unveiled a new spa, buffet area, retail promenade, and a 172,000-square-foot glass-dome-enclosed swimming pool complex. This is the first phase of a $550 million expansion that will culminate with the mid-2008 opening of a 960-room hotel tower.
Also, the 1,250-room Trump Taj Mahal will add 786 guest rooms with the opening of a $250 million addition next summer.
Among other new projects on the horizon, the Atlantic City Hilton is designing a $1 billion, 1,000-room hotel and casino addition.
Revel Entertainment is planning a $2 billion, 4,000-room casino project for a site near the Showboat.
Pinnacle Entertainment acquired the 623-room Sands Casino Hotel, closed it last November and is planning to implode it later this year. It plans to open a $1.2 billion casino resort on the site in 2011.
Pennsylvania
Late last year, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved 11 casino projects, six for racetracks and five for stand-alone casinos.
Opening in November, the $412 million Mount Airy Resort & Casino in the Poconos’ Paradise Township will feature a 188-room hotel, golf, a spa, a 2,500-slot casino, and 7,200 square feet of meeting space. Another 200 rooms are scheduled to open next year.
The first racino out of the gate, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, opened last November and will complete a $150 million expansion in mid-2008. The newest racino, Meadows Racetrack & Casino, debuted in June near Pittsburgh and will unveil a $155 million expansion that includes a 400-room hotel in early 2009.
In Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Park Casino & Racetrack in Bensalem is expected to announce an expansion this fall. Harrah’s Chester Downs in Chester and the 2,000-slot Presque Isle Downs in Erie are new racetracks.
A sixth racino, at Penn National Racetrack near Harrisburg, is slated to open early next year.
Three riverfront casinos have each passed one city approval hurdle and received planning commission go-aheads. Two are planned for Philadelphia, the $550 million SugarHouse Casino with a 700-room hotel, and the $400 million Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia with a 500-room hotel. The third is planned for Pittsburgh, the $410 million Majestic Star Casino.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands is building the Bethworks Casino on the former Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem. Slated to open in early 2009, the $600 million project will include a 300-room hotel and a 50,000-square-foot event center complex.
New England
Connecticut’s two gaming and entertainment powerhouses, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, are expanding.
Mohegan Sun is in the midst of a $740 million expansion set for completion in spring 2010. The project includes a 1,000-room hotel with 300 House of Blues-themed rooms, a House of Blues Music Hall and a fourth casino.
Next spring Foxwoods Resort Casino will open the $700 million MGM Grand. Components include 826 guest rooms, 115,000 square feet of meeting space, a 4,000-seat performing arts theater, and a 21,000-square-foot spa.
The resort now has six casinos, 1,416 guest rooms, a spa, more than 50,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and five entertainment venues.
Rhode Island upped the ante with the expansion of Lincoln Park in Lincoln. In March, the racetrack changed its name to Twin Falls with the completion of a $220 million expansion that added casino space, restaurants and a 2,000-seat events arena.
The state’s other racino, the 1,000-slot Newport Grand, began a $20 million expansion in August. Opening next summer, it includes new restaurants and additional gaming areas.
Meanwhile, in last November’s election, Rhode Island voters overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would allow a casino in West Warwick that was proposed by Harrah’s and the Narragansett tribe.
Now the hot gaming topic in New England is the prospect of Massachusetts becoming a major casino player.
In July, Middleborough, south of Boston, agreed to be the site of a proposed $1 billion casino owned by a new federally recognized tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag. State and U.S Department of the Interior approvals are being sought for the project.
Meanwhile, Maine’s lone racino is expanding. Penn National Gaming will replace its 2-year-old temporary Hollywood Slots at Bangor Raceway early next year with the opening of the $131 million, 152-room Hollywood Slots Hotel and Casino.
New York
The Empire State set out six years ago to expand gaming, passing enabling legislation for gaming facilities at up to eight racetracks. It also allows for six additional tribal casinos, three for the Seneca Nation and three in the Catskills for other tribes.
The eighth and largest racino, the $300 million Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, opened in October 2006.
Two others also debuted last year: Houston-based Nevada Gold and Casinos opened the 750-slot Tioga Downs in Nicols and the 1,000-slot Vernon Downs Racetrack near Syracuse. In addition, the company renovated and reopened the racetracks. Vernon Downs had been closed for two years; Tioga Downs, for three decades.
In June, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in Saratoga Springs completed a 45,000-square-foot addition that includes a new nightclub and restaurant space.
New York, like some other racino states, doesn’t use the world “casino,” and gaming machines are called video lottery terminals (VLTs).
In September, Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced plans for up to 4,500 VLTs at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, one of three state-owned thoroughbred racing facilities.
Of the six new tribal casinos, three allotted to the Seneca Nation are open.
In March 2006, the tribe unveiled the 604-room Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls with a spa, 30,000 square feet of meeting space and an expansion of its original casino, which opened in 2002. The tribe is building an 18-hole golf course in nearby Lewiston.
Last March the Seneca Nation opened a $160 million, 212-room hotel adjacent to its 1,900-slot casino in Salamanca, now called the Seneca Allegheny Casino & Hotel, and is planning an events center. Then in June the tribe opened Buffalo Creek Casino, a $6 million temporary casino in downtown Buffalo, which it plans to replace with a permanent facility.
Nearby Niagara Falls, Ontario, offers two casinos, including the 3-year old, 368-room Fallsview Casino Resort, which has 50,000 square feet of meeting space.
Several tribes have proposed projects for three allocated Catskills casinos, but they have become mired in legal and land issues. However, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, in partnership with Empire Resorts, is progressing with plans. Gov. Spitzer has given the go-ahead for a $600 million casino resort next to Monticello Racetrack. Interior Department approval is being sought.
New York’s gaming resort standout is Turning Stone Resort and Casino, east of Syracuse, which hosts more than 1,000 meetings and conventions a year. Its offers 700 guest rooms, over 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and three golf courses.
Owned by the Oneida Indian Nation, the resort opened a fitness center and a 23,000-square-foot spa a year ago, and this year has opened a clubhouse and tennis facility at its golf training school, a kosher kitchen for groups and a 21,500-square-foot dance club.
Delaware
With competition from Pennsylvania looming, Delaware, which has three racinos, passed legislation last year allowing racetracks and more slots. Two have since expanded.
Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, which has a conference center, recently completed a $52 million expansion, adding a spa and increasing the room count from 232 to 500. Next August it will unveil a 70,000-square-foot casino, restaurant and retail expansion.
Also, Harrington Raceway & Casino opened a new $40 million casino wing in August and will be opening new restaurants and event space through December.
