State Governments Continue To Approve New Casino Licenses

The gambling industry is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States and state governments derive a significant portion of their annual revenue from the taxes generated by these casinos. This is probably the main reason why state governments especially in the northeastern part of the country continue to approve casino licenses and encourage the construction of new casinos even though the U.S gambling industry has been in a slump for the last two years.

Atlantic City had four major casinos close down operations in 2014 as they were unable to break out of their cycle of debt and post a profit.

Casinos have reported a drop in the number of customers and also a reduction in the amount they spend at the gambling tables. This market stagnation has continued for close to two years and industry analysts predict that this trend will continue into 2016.

The Spectrum Gaming Group studied the gambling industry in the United States and stated that there are many as 60 casinos scheduled to open in the northeastern part of the country before the end of 2015. The number of casinos will increase to 65 by the end of 2018. The market stagnation in the gambling industry could become worse during the next few years due to the saturation of casinos in one part of the country.

Casino owners are also complaining about the number of casino licences being issued by the state government and want them to put a stop to it immediately. Atlantic City has faced stiff competition from Pennsylvania’s casino industry as customers tended to cross state lines as they wanted a new experience. This was one of the reasons why Atlantic City casino revenue fell by more than fifty percent. Now Pennsylvania finds itself in a similar situation as neighbouring states like Maryland and Ohio are drawing away customers from Pennsylvania.

In a statement, Wendy Hamilton, general manager of Philadelphia’s SugarHouse casino said

There’s not a politician in the land who is going to choose a tax increase when gaming looks so good on paper. We have to avoid the siren song. There’s not a zip code in the region that doesn’t have four or five (gambling) options within an hour. There’s a finite amount of gaming revenue out there. We are in a very volatile time and we’re in a frenzy of gaming expansion. It needs to stop.

Adrian Sterne

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