Legislation
US – Sands left disappointed as Florida House snatches the dice
By Phil - 5 March 2014
Las Vegas Sands has said it is disappointed by the Florida House’s intervention on gambling bills presented by the Florida State Senate, saying they will now merely ‘keep the status quo.’
Whilst a Senate measure promised to ‘roll the dice’ on casino expansion in Florida, politicians in the House snatched them away.
The Senate measure would have permitted one casino in Broward County and one casino in Miami-Dade County, with operators having to spend at least US$2bn on each project. However a House proposal released on the eve of Florida’s 2014 legislative session doesn’t allow for any expansion beyond what the state has now.
Instead it wants to leave any decision up to voters to decide if casinos could ever come to the Sunshine State.
Governor Rick Scott can approve or reject the casino proposal when he negotiates a new gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. He has until July 2015 to re-negotiate the 20-year compact.
Andy Abboud, Vice President of government relations and community development for Las Vegas Sands, said: “We’re disappointed in these bills and confused by the lack of substance. Both the House and the Senate do not match the integrity of the conversations we have been having with the Legislature, both publicly and in private meetings, for the last year. The Senate bill will not bring integrated resorts to Florida. It will continue the status quo of leaving everything as it is, and Florida will continue to expand by gaming creep without a comprehensive policy. We were led to believe that the Legislature was going to set forth a policy that would set the existing infrastructure and control growth in a meaningful way, and we’re confused as to why they want to stick with the status quo. There’s nothing in these bills to say, ‘We want to make Florida a better gaming environment.’ None of that is in there. We are disappointed, but we’ll continue to make our case, and we’ll see where things go.”
Florida’s Senate special committee had confirmed it wanted to ‘roll the dice’ on two casinos in south Florida, with a bill that aimed to reform and update the state’s gaming industry whilst pitching an election-year battle between ‘family fun’ and ‘gambling’ tourism.
The clash would have pitched Malaysian-owned Genting and Las Vegas Sands, controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, against Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney, which operates theme parks and resorts near Orlando, and would face extra competition for convention business.
As Florida’s 2014 legislative session got underway, Senator Garrett Richter said: “We’re getting ready to roll the dice. We’re probably at least five years away from the first destination resort casino opening its doors. If an election year has any influence, it could influence the magnitude of what’s undertaken.”
With over 450 pages, Senate Proposed Bill 7052 wanted to comprehensively change Florida’s gaming landscape, including the creation of a gaming control board and a move to consolidate all forms of gaming other than the lottery into a single statutory chapter. There was also a part dedicated to allowing the governor to renegotiate the gaming compact with the Seminoles. However, the jewel in the crown of the Senate package; a bill allowing the state to launch tenders for two destination casinos; one in Miami-Dade County and one in Broward County, was overlooked by the house. Both south Florida locations were at least a three-hour drive from Walt Disney World.
The Senate proposal outlined how interested parties would have to ‘demonstrate a commitment to spend a minimum of $2bn’ on each location within five years, and would have to plan mixed-use developments with no more than 10 per cent of total square footage devoted to casino operations.
They would have to pay an application fee of $125m, which would be paid back to unsuccessful applicants, and would have to pay $250,000 a year to fund initiatives to help problem gambling.
Disney claims that gambling would hurt the state.
Andrea Finger, a Disney spokeswoman, said: “The massive expansion of gambling that would come from legalizing mega-casinos would be a bad bet for Florida’s taxpayers, tourism brand and existing businesses. We oppose the legalisation of so-called destination resort casinos because this major expansion of gambling is inconsistent with Florida’s reputation as a family-friendly destination.”
She added that the opposition wasn’t fuelled by a fear of any potential threat to its convention bookings.
However, others don’t agree. Robert Jarvis, who lectures in gambling law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, said: “Hypocrisy is in the eye of the beholder. If they were honest, they would just come out and say, it’s Business 101. We’re trying to protect our turf, and we’ve always attempted to do that. The fear for Disney is that instead of people going to Disney and dropping their disposable income there, they’ll go to the destination casinos and drop their money there.”
Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist working for Las Vegas Sands said the Florida market was much better suited for casino development than some huge markets that have opened up to gaming in the last few years.
“Florida is better suited than even a New York or a Maryland for an integrated resort,” Mr. Iarossi explained. “Our tourism-based economy is really perfect for the convention and trade-show business.”
The move by House Republicans to axe the more ambitious proposal of their Senate counterparts is though another indication that the Legislature may not be able to reach any agreement on gambling expansion in Florida.
Committee Chairman Richter said of the amendments: “It’s kind of like a balloon. We’ll put it up in the air
and the wind will blow it one direction or another.”
