Although he may be considered Public Enemy #1 to most in the poker community, Las Vegas Sands Corporation chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson is now also looking to use his money in the U. S. gaming industry.
Adelson, ranked in 2013 by Forbes Magazine as the fifteenth wealthiest person in the world and eleventh wealthiest person in the United States (at $28.5 billion), is now releasing the hounds on the state of Florida as it decides its future in gaming. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, two Adelson controlled companies – Genting Berhad and the LVSC – are looking to expand gaming in the Sunshine State outside of the eight Seminole Indian casinos that are currently in existence. To achieve that goal, the two companies are spending manpower (lobbyists) and money (in the form of campaign contributions) to push through a law that would truly explode the Florida gaming scene.
The Adelson properties are facing a huge challenge to their offensive in the form of the House of Mouse. Walt Disney Company, which owns the monstrous Disney World amusement park (as well as other theme parks and resorts in the state), is also throwing its monetary and manpower weight around in an attempt to prevent further expansion of gaming in Florida. For Disney, the battle is as much about gaming (and maintaining the “family friendly atmosphere” of the state) as it is about another key industry.
Bloomberg Businessweek writer Toluse Olorunnipa quotes Robert Jarvis, a gambling law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, as saying, “Gambling interests in Las Vegas and Atlantic City are looking for new territory and opening Florida would be tremendous. The fear for Disney is that, instead of people going to Disney and dropping their disposable income, they’ll go to the destination casinos and drop their money there.”
The second industry that would be strongly affected is that of the convention and trade show industry. According to Olorunnipa, Disney currently offers 700,000 square feet of meeting space in its resort properties, by far the largest in the state. If the Adelson-led forces are allowed into the state, they have already stated that they would top that; in 2012, Genting announced it was looking to build the world’s largest casino in Miami that encompassed a whopping 750,000 square feet of meeting space.
Disney and the Adelson faction naturally differ on their opinions of what an expansion of casino gaming in Florida would do. Disney believes that it would damage existing businesses, the state’s tourism industry and taxpayers. The Adelson Gang believes that it would bring further enhancements to the tourism industry, more jobs and expand the economy.
To reach their goals, both teams have opened up their purse strings. Florida lawmakers and Governor Rick Scott, who hasn’t yet declared for either side of the argument, have been the beneficiary of massive campaign contributions (Scott is facing a formidable challenger in his re-election campaign in the persona of former Governor Charlie Crist, who is running as a Democrat). Olorunnipa points out that, since 2012, there have been $3.4 million donated to the policy makers in Florida, with $1.7 million of that total coming from the Disney organization.
What isn’t talked about is the massive amounts of tax revenue generated by the Seminoles that might be lost if casino gaming is expanded. In 2010, the Seminole Indian tribe signed a compact with the state that guaranteed $1 billion to Florida’s coffers in a revenue sharing agreement over a five year span that would expand if profits were larger. A clause in that contract, however, states that the Seminoles would not have to pay that money if gaming were expanded in the state.
According to Olorunnipa, Florida legislators are drafting a bill that may be introduced at the next legislative session that begins on March 4. At that time, the battle for Florida’s gaming scene could truly take flight.
