The Race to the Bottom

So sad!

The race to the bottom leads states to continuously expanded predatory gambling in a foolish frenzy to accomplish naught, except market saturation and destroy local businesses.

Magical dollars will fall from the sky like Manna from Heaven?

Discretionary spending has its limits.

From a regular reader:

The pie continues to get smaller as the race continues to the bottom.

By the time a Massachusetts based casino opened its doors, the market will have been super saturated. Just as we have seen in the golf markets where in the early ‘90’s, there was a new golf course opening every day of the year somewhere in the United States. Now, the figures are in the minus.

Due to the market being saturated, golf courses are being plowed up and turned into residential and commercial properties all over the country. This is what happens to industries that are based on discretionary spending. There is only so much to spend and far too many places to spend it! A per cent of revenues agreement could easily turn into a percentage of nothing. However, the impact costs don’t easily go away!
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Maryland Joining W.Va. Competitors

The legalized gambling bandwagon can hold only so many passengers. West Virginians, once in the driver's seat, are having to move over and make room for more states.

Last week a report to the Maryland legislature provided more reason for worry about our state's reliance on revenue from gambling.

Maryland is set to become a competitor against West Virginia in legalized video slot machines, a move that may have prompted approval of table gambling at the Charles Town, W.Va. casino. That racetrack became the last of four in the state to implement a full-scale casino.

But last week, Free State lawmakers were told by a special commission that they, too, should consider table gambling. While the panel stopped short of urging that lawmakers approve table gambling, it reminded them that other states have taken the step.

West Virginia no longer is the only regional provider of table gambling. It has been approved for Ohio and Pennsylvania, too.

While the Mountain State held a near-monopoly on some forms of gambling for several years, that has come to an end. Competition from Pennsylvania already has affected the two racetracks in our area. As noted above, it is entirely possible that a third track will be hurt badly by legalized gambling in Maryland. Once the slot machines begin humming there - and if table gambling is approved - the Charles Town track's revenue will suffer.

For years we have urged West Virginia legislators to begin planning for the day when competition from other states cut deeply into government revenue from legalized gambling. That already has begun - and it will get worse, quickly.

We realize there is no easy solution to loss of gambling revenue for the state - and for localities such as ours - that have come to depend on the money. But the longer state officials put off addressing the problem, the more difficult it will be to handle.