Snake Eyes: All Odds Are Against the Philly Casinos
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Oct. 7, 2009 — Let us be the first to tell you: the Philadelphia casinos are going to do far worse than the expectations. They are going to do terribly, perhaps so terribly that they may never open their doors — or be the first casino slot parlors in Pennsylvania to close.
We think this is good news because we oppose casino slot parlors. We oppose them in our neighborhoods just as we oppose them in the rural areas of Pennsylvania. We oppose their predatory approach, requiring addicts to sustain their income. We oppose them as a regressive tax led by a cowardly Governor unwilling to persuasively argue for the value of increasing taxes to fund essential services. And we oppose government agencies who snub their noses at the public and refuse to take local issues into consideration.
Those are our beliefs. But let the arguments and the numbers be persuasive to you. We see three trends that will cause the Philadelphia casinos to report abysmal numbers:
- Economic recession
- Market saturation
- Competitive disadvantages
In this report we focus on the market saturation effect and the competitive disadvantages, since they have been given less attention, especially within the Philadelphia area. Saturation and competitive disadvantages will dramatically affect the Philadelphia casinos’ revenues, and while the economic recession may decrease, those two factors are unlikely to get better over time. Many of the competitive disadvantages are a result of Casino-Free Philadelphia’s efforts.
In our conclusion, we compare Neil Bluhm’s SugarHouse Casino’s numbers with those of its sister casino, Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. If Philadelphia casinos do even close to as poorly as Rivers Casino, they will gather 25% to 40% lower revenue than projected. And we suggest they will do even worse.
If casinos ever open in Philadelphia, they will prove that the house does not always win — they will be rolling snake eyes.
Download the complete report (PDF, 1.8MB)
Table of Contents
- Economic Recession
- Saturated Market
- National Saturation
- Regional Saturation
- Pennsylvania and the Philly Saturation
- Competitive Disadvantages
- Competition with Existing Casinos
- Smoking Ban
- Scaled-Down Design, Few Amenities, Bad Parking, Poor Location
- Protesters and Ongoing Local Tension
- Delay Costing Casinos Millions
- Conclusion: Poor Philly Casino Performance
- If Philadelphia Were Pittsburgh...
- Philadelphia Should Stop Ignoring the Trend
- Casino Snake Eyes
- Appendixes
- Atlantic City: Still a Red Herring
- Casino-Free Philadelphia's Three-Year Review
