Casino Journal

Roundup: The Gulf

The Road to Recovery

Landed interest
Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos win right to operate on land
The Mississippi Senate and House have both narrowly passed a measure that would allow damaged Gulf Coast resorts to rebuild casinos on dry land. Gov. Haley Barbour will sign the bill into law once some last minute issues are resolved and the measure lands on his desk.

The bill, which passed in the state Senate by a 29-21 vote after the house had approved it by an equally narrow margin (60-53), will allow casinos to rebuild on land within 800 to 1,500 feet of Gulf waters. The move will allow operators to build facilities with greater hurricane resistance. Previously, casinos had to be on the water to be legal. Most of these floating casinos became unmoored in the fierce winds and storm surge of Hurricane Katrina and caused billions of dollars worth of damage as they beached on shore.

The legislation will also let operators build more elaborate and extensive casino resorts than previously existed on the coast. It will also allow casino owners to get the financing and insurance they need to rebuild the decimated properties.

Casino companies have already responded positively to the legislation, according to state officials.

"The industry is going to go back to the boardrooms and pull the blueprints they showed Chairman Jerry St. Pe and myself two weeks ago," Larry Gregory, director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, told the Biloxi Sun Herald, "buildings bigger and better than what was on the Coast a month ago. It will be a first-class resort destination with plenty of jobs, opportunities and hope."

Although it only took a couple of weeks to create and pass the shore-based casino bill, its path to legislative acceptance was far from easy. The strong pro-religion/anti-gaming sentinemt led to numerous instances of political wrangling. Indeed, as of press time of this issue, the bill was being held up over a debate on tideland leases. Some state senators want to make sure casinos continue to pay for these leases even if they are located on dry land.

Such delays are starting to raise the ire of Gulf Coast politicians, who view the shore-based legislation as a needed step to rebuild casinos and bring much needed jobs and tourists back to the region.

"You get up on Sunday morning, you go to church, you go home to an air-conditioned building!" chided Scottie Cuevas (D-Pass Christian) to his fellow senators when he heard of the delay due to the tidelands issue. "Our people are in tents, eating MREs! I have 600 people on Menge Avenue in tents! We still have people waiting to pick their loved ones who haven't been identified yet from refrigerated trucks! But still, we have people wanting to come up here and try to throw a monkey wrench in this debate! Do you not think us people from the Coast have dignity? Do you not think we know where we need to go? We have to go back home and face our people! You don't! You go back home and eat in your restaurants! We want to give them some dignity. Help us get this bill through and get our people back where they need to be!"
-Paul Doocey

Immediate response
National and regional gaming groups quickly mobilized relief efforts in wake of Katrina
The gaming industry is often vilified in the consumer press as being cold and heartless. Hopefully, this perception will be rethought in the aftermath of the actions the industry undertook in the hours and days following Hurricane Katrina.

Indeed, as soon as the severity of the storm and its damage was realized, nationwide gaming  trade groups immediately sprang into action to supply the commodity most desperately needed in situations such as this: money.

The effort that has garnered the most attention is the Gaming Industry Katrina Relief Fund, established by the American Gaming Association (AGA). The stated goal of the effort is to raise industry dollars to provide disaster relief and assistance to affected gaming employees in Mississippi and Louisiana. The program is envisioned as a broader industrywide effort to provide assistance beyond the funds individual Gulf Coast casino companies have set up to help their employees.
"This disaster is about much more than casinos-it is about people and communities and the struggle to rebuild lives, and our hearts go out to the thousands of gaming employees affected," said Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president and CEO of the AGA. "Watching the images on television, we simply could not sit by and do nothing. We know the funds we raise cannot replace the lives and livelihoods lost in the storm, but even if we make just a small impact, this effort will have been worth it."

Those wishing to donate to this fund can visit www.americangaming.org for more information.

On a more regional level, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Mississippi GulfCoast Convention and Visitors Bureau (MGCVB), two Mississippi organizations that have numerous casino members, have established Bring Back Our Coast fund. The purpose of this fund is to aid the economic recovery, rebuilding efforts and job regeneration in the coastal region.

"We salute all the organizations and individuals who are helping us from around the nation, and even the world, through their donations to organizations like the American Red Cross and other charities," said Steve Richer, executive director of the MGCVB. "We must, however, look at the long term needs of our community. That means jobs and bringing back the businesses that support them, particularly those generated by our hospitality industry."

Information for this fund can be found by visiting www.gulfcoastfoundation.org or www.gulfcoast.org.

Other gaming industry groups are also doing their part to help. Indian gaming tribes and organizations across the United States are working to raise money for the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund. Spearheading the fundraising efforts are two of the nation's largest Native American groups, the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).

"This is one of the worst tragedies in American history which demands our full-scale attention and concern as these regions begin rebuilding their lives, communities and economies out of the decimation that occurred," said NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. "NIGA and our member tribes are absolutely committed to assisting in the relief effort and are asking all American Indian tribes to help in this dark hour. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims, the survivors and their families at this time."

NIGA contributed $5,000 to begin the effort and is calling upon all tribes to help meet a $1 million goal for the relief fund.

For more information on how to contribute, please call Suzette Brewer at sbrewer@indiangaming.org.

Meanwhile, racing organizations across the country have rushed to help raise money for the American Red Cross and other relief funds aimed at Katrina's victims. In Louisiana, Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino in Opelousas donated 100 percent of its revenues from races held on September 4 to the Acadiana Chapter of the Red Cross Relief Fund. In California, a "Racing With Heart" effort throughout Labor Day weekend also helped raise funds for the Red Cross. Racetracks and off-track betting locations served as revenue collection centers; simulcast schedules were adjusted in order to accept wagers from Evangeline Downs to help support that track's efforts; and Del Mar's jockey colony volunteered to be dunk tank targets for fans making donations to the relief effort.

A far more widespread fundraising effort will take place on October 8, which has been designated as "Racing to the Rescue Day."

Numerous racetracks and horsemen's groups have already committed to the effort, including the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Churchill Downs, Inc., Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Thoroughbred Racing Associations member tracks, the national Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, American Quarter Horse Association, Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Thoroughbred Owners of California, The Jockey Club, Keeneland, Oak Tree Racing Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Television Games Network, Harness Tracks of America member racetracks, and the United States Trotting Association.
-Paul Doocey


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