Study Finds NE Casino Gambling in Decline


Granite State Coalition
Against Expanded Gambling

Study Finds NE Casino Gambling in Decline
Contact: Jim Rubens, (603) 359-3300
A new report on gambling behavior and attitudes finds that New England residents are gambling closer to home and gambling less.
 
The report, “Bring It On Home, An Overview of Gaming Behavior in New England,” by Clyde Barrow of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, found that, between 2006 and 2012, the percentage of New England residents visiting a casino has dropped from 30 to 23 percent. The only exception to this decline was among Mainers, where casino gambling increased from 9 to 21 percent of residents. Casino gambling among Mainers increased largely as a result of the opening of the Oxford casino last year. The study also found that the remaining fraction of New Englanders who do so are visiting casinos closer to where they live.
 
Big picture for New Hampshire: casino gambling is in decline because the novelty effect of casinos has worn off and the New England casino market has become nearly saturated. Once the four Massachusetts casinos are built, New Hampshire will be surrounded by fifteen casinos.
 
Big Issue: Convenience Versus Destination Casino
 
Whether a Salem casino would be economically advantageous for New Hampshire hinges critically on whether it would attract out-of-state gamblers in large numbers. As you can see from the Barrow charts below, nearly 75 percent of visitors to Foxwoods, a Connecticut destination casino, live more than one hour distant. In contrast, 90 percent of visitors to Twin River in Rhode Island, a convenience or local market casino, live within one hour drive time.
 
Take home: nearly 70 percent of Twin River gamblers live within a 30 minute drive time.
 
Foxwood v Twin River Patron Drive Time  
 
The Twin River casino is highly similar to the casino proposed for Salem by Las-Vegas based Millennium Gaming. Twin River has 4,751 slot machines, electronic table games, restaurants and bars, a comedy club, and a 2,000 seat entertainment arena. Millennium is proposing 5,000 slots, table games, restaurants, and entertainment for Salem.
 
Salem Casino Is Anti Small Business
 
Like Twin River, a Salem casino would be a convenience or local market casino, with most gamblers living within a 30 minute drive time, with only a fraction of its revenues beyond that proximity zone.
 
Convenience casinos create no new wealth, skills, or incomes among residents within their market area. Ergo, consumer dollars lost at a Salem convenience casino are displaced or cannibalized from thousands of existing local restaurants, hotels, conference centers, and entertainment venues.
 
Same with casino jobs, which are cannibalized from our local business community.
 
Once facility construction is complete and construction jobs are gone, Salem casino revenues and jobs will be largely offset by declines in jobs and revenues on Concord’s Main Street, Manchester’s Elm Street and Verizon Center, Portsmouth’s Music Hall, and thousands of local businesses within the 30 minute drive time. Rather than being recycled back into the local economy and generating favorable multiplier effects, a Salem casino’s purchases and profits will bleed out of New Hampshire to its Las Vegas owners.
 
Take home: a Salem casino is an economic black hole.
 
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Teens Robbed of I-pod/Cell Phone

 

MANCHESTER, NH- On Monday, February 11, 2013, at about 6:30 PM, Manchester Police responded to a Clay Street address for a report of a robbery.  On arrival, they met with two 16 year old Manchester teens who reported they had been the victims of a robbery a short time earlier on Somerville Street, near Belmont Street.

 

According to the boys, they were walking in the area when they were approached by two men, one of whom demanded their belongings, indicating his companion had a gun, although no gun was observed.

 

One of the boys surrendered his I-pod Nano and Galaxy S3 cell phone and the men left.  They were last seen leaving the area as passengers in an older, dark colored 4-door sedan operated by a third individual who was possibly wearing a red sweatshirt.

 

The first suspect was described as a white male in his forties, about 6’3” tall with a slender build and dark “stubble” on his face.  He was last seen wearing a dark colored vest and a green “beanie” style hat.  The second man, alleged to have possessed a gun, was described as a clean-shaven white male in his forties with an average height and build.  He was last seen wearing a camouflage shirt and khaki pants.

 

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Manchester Police Department at 668-8711.  Anonymous tips for cash rewards can be made through Manchester Crimeline at 624-4040 or online at manchestercrimeline.org.