Casinos and horsemen reject video gaming

The possible legalisation of additional games in Pennsylvania faced strong opposition among gaming representatives.

US.- Whilst Pennsylvania General Assembly is closer to legislate a new gambling regulation, local horsemen groups and casino operators expressed their opposition. The gaming bill would enable bars and taverns to operate video gaming machines and airports to add slot machines in their terminals, in order to increase the state budget.

The opposition is based on a field studied made by horsemen’s groups Pennsylvania. These groups run three Thoroughbred tracks and three Standardbred facilities, all with casino gambling. The results show that legal operation of video gaming in bars and taverns would lead to a 25 percent to 30 percent reduction in revenue from the Race Horse Development Fund. Currently, the entity generated more than US$243 million, according to Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board statistics.

However, authorities consider that the activity would boost the local revenues because the tax rate for the proposed video gaming regulation would be 34 percent, the same rate charged to the state’s casinos. Furthermore, Pennsylvania casinos cooperated with over 50 percent in taxes due to the payment of Race Horse Development Fund and other programs.

“We are here to say that diversification is needed because Pennsylvania’s brick and mortar casinos are leaving too much of the market untapped. At the state level, legalising video gaming translates into US$400 million in tax and fee revenue for the general fund that is otherwise left on the table every year. To look at this another way, Pennsylvania has missed out on an additional US$4 billion in general fund revenue over the past decade,” explained Mark Mustio, an Allegheny County Republican who is backing the bill.

In response, the Pennsylvania Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association released a statement that said: “This legislation would provide video gaming companies a third of all revenues generated by the new machines, taking money out of the pockets of property owners, the local horse racing industry, its employees, and the farmers who depend on it. Statewide, gaming has generated billions of dollars in property tax relief, and the horseracing industry has created 23,000 jobs and invested over US$200 million in goods and services in farms and other businesses. All of this would be in jeopardy if this legislation is passed to create thousands of video gaming mini-casinos that would literally pop up on countless street corners across Pennsylvania.”