Maryland: Buried in $56 MILLION Advertising

Maryland gambling issue has netted $56 million from companies for ad blitz
By John Wagner
Published: October 20
The Washington Post

Dueling out-of-state gambling companies and their allies have poured $56 million into the fight over whether to allow a Las Vegas-style casino in Prince George’s County, fueling an unprecedented advertising blitz in what has become one of the most visible races in the region.

The money, which is being shelled out at a rate of $6 million a week, exceeds what the candidates spent in Maryland’s past two gubernatorial races combined. With two weeks to go, the spending has already eclipsed that of all but a handful of other recent ballot measures across the country. And it is unlike anything previously seen in Maryland politics.

The fight over Question 7, as it will appear on Maryland’s Nov. 6 ballot, has included celebrity endorsers, including illusionist David Copperfield and “Golden Boy” fighter Oscar De La Hoya, who said in a recent robo-call that the proposed casino would be a “destination resort” that will create “thousands of jobs for hard-working people.”

Those claims, funded in large part by the $21 million MGM Resorts has ponied up so far, have been met head-on with a nearly $30 million campaign by Penn National Gaming aimed at convincing voters that the promised jobs and money for education won’t materialize.

The ads have targeted an electorate that in 2008 approved Maryland’s slots program in a landslide, 59 percent to 41 percent. But now, among likely voters this year in Maryland, 46 percent favor Question 7 while 48 percent are opposed, according to a new Washington Post poll that also shows widespread doubt that the measure would boost education funding as advertised.

In addition to a Prince George’s casino, the expansion plan, backed by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), would also allow table games, such as blackjack and roulette, at the state’s five previously authorized slots locations.

Maryland voters embraced the slots plan just four years ago in a relatively low-dollar referendum — with a combined $8 million in spending and muted opposition — that set the previous record for a statewide ballot-issue campaign in the Free State.

This year’s ads have been so relentless that O’Malley recently pushed back, telling reporters in Annapolis, in unusually colorful language, that the opposition claims were “hogwash, a bunch of West Virginia casino hooey.” He has since appeared in an ad funded by MGM and its allies seeking to rebut the claims.

Those ads have touted the money that could be generated for schools by expanded gambling, as well as the promise of thousands of jobs. Proponents, such as O’Malley, have also argued that Penn’s opposition stems from its own business interests: Its properties include Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, W.Va., which stands to take a big hit if another large-scale venue opens in Maryland.

MGM has a lot at stake as well. The company, which owns several hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas strip and elsewhere, is angling to build a high-end casino by 2016 at National Harbor, the mini-city on the banks of the Potomac River. MGM executives envision a 400-room hotel, a spa, high-end retail and restaurants, convention space, and possibly venues for concerts and shows.


From comments:

So it comes down to we have a choice between a Pennsylvania based gambling chain and another which essentially lost its New Jersey gambling license because of suspected ties to organized crime.

When Marylanders first voted for slots, a few years ago, it was promoted to save the horse racing industry. But along the way, the idea got hijacked. The prostitutes in Annapolis sold out to the gambling chains so now we have only one horse racing related facility out of five.

I say a pox upon both of their houses. Start voting no for any additional casinos.

We already have enough corruption in Maryland

BOTTOM LINE: Your vote for Question 7 is a vote to support a firm with suspected ties to organized crime to get a toe hold at National Harbor.

Bad ideas (cigarettes, casinos) are often promoted by big ad campaigns. Hopefully the ad money is being spent with Maryland firms. Any net benefit from jobs at casinos (nice, high skilled jobs that will employ our underemployed college grads?) will be more than balanced by the fact that casinos are really a tax on people who don't understand mathematics and statistics - the lowest paid members of society who can least afford to gamble - and use the lure of gambling as a substitute for planning for retirement. If the revenues from casinos will help so much - let's legalize prostitution - those revenues will probably far exceed the revenues generated by casinos - generate lots of jobs for small businesses, and lots of tax revenue for the state.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/maryland-gambling-issue-has-netted-56-million-from-companies-for-ad-blitz/2012/10/20/4e20eda0-1a3c-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_story.html