Indiana Casino Says Smoking Ban Would Cost 400 Jobs, $3 Million Annually
Posted on: November 11, 2017, 10:00h.
Last updated on: November 14, 2017, 02:22h.
Northwest Indiana casino operator Majestic Star is threatening local officials in Gary on the dangers of implementing a smoking ban that would extend to its riverboat gambling floors.
In 2012, Indiana enacted a statewide indoor smoking ban, but exemptions were provided for private membership clubs, bars and taverns were liquor sales outsell food, retail tobacco shops including cigar bars and hookah lounges, horse racetrack facilities, and casinos. Local towns, however, have the right to further expand the indoor smoking ban to such establishments.
The Gary Common Council is considering doing just that. Majestic Star CEO Peter Liguori warned the panel that a ban on smoking inside its two riverboats would result in the loss of 400 jobs, and cost the city and state $3 million annually in tax revenue.
The smoking ban ordinance is being pushed by a group called “Smoke-Free in the G.” Numerous casino employees attended the Council meeting, as well as protesters from the American Heart Association. Many were wearing shirts that read, “Every worker deserves the right to breathe smoke-free air.”
The nine-member Council will hold a public information session on the issue on November 21. The committee could vote on the ban at that time, a majority needed to pass the ordinance.
Majestic Star Tad Mundane
The riverboats Majestic Star I and Majestic Star II sit next to one another in Lake Michigan, some 30 miles south of Chicago. Combined, the boats have six floors of gambling, with approximately 1,700 slot machines, 70 table games, plus poker and baccarat rooms. Majestic Star II was formerly the Trump Casino, owned by now-President Donald Trump.
The Majestic Star casinos are the only casinos in Gary, but the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, Indiana, is less than two miles west. Another six miles northwest, and Caesars’ Horseshoe Diamond Riverboat presently takes in the most visitation and gaming dollars of Indiana’s 12 casino venues.
Liguori said smokers being forced outside at Majestic would simply encourage them to visit the nearby casinos. His threat that Indiana and the city would lose $3 million annually represents almost a third of the Mastic Star casinos’ annual total tax payments.
In 2016, the casinos paid a combined $9,919,198 in total tax. Of the four Northwest Indiana riverboats, the Majestic Stars pulled in the least number of visitors with 852,752 combined. Horseshoe led the way with 1.7 million patrons, followed by Blue Chip in Michigan City (1.15 million), and Ameristar at just over one million guests.
Revenue Up in Smoke
Smoking and gambling have gone hand in hand for centuries, but local governments have been taking steps to extinguish the harmful smoke in recent years.
In Macau, casinos are adapting to stricter smoking rules, including how designated smoking lounges are constructed.
In the US, casinos in Louisiana cities New Orleans and Baton Rouge are both barred from allowing patrons to smoke indoors. Harrah’s New Orleans, the only casino in the Big Easy’s downtown, says the smoking ban, which went into effect in April of 2015, cost the casino nearly $70 million in the first two years.? ?
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Last Comments ( 3 )
As an employee of Majestic Star Casino this ban could very well cost me my job. People who work here choose to do so and to deal with the smoke as part of the job. I am not as smoker and hate the smoke but having my job is more important at this point and not only for me but many others here as well. This will not help business. Many customers have commented to me about this has said that they will no long come here if smoking is not allowed. They will be taking their money to Ameristar and out of Gary. Many patrons come from Illinois just to smoke and gamble at the casino. This ban, if pass will be the end on Majestic Star Casino within a few years and an end to millions of dollars towards Gary.
It's time for Gary and it's casinos to step into the 21st Century. Smokefree casinos will attract a large segment of the gaming public that refrains from patronizing the Majestic Stars because of the unhealthy smoky environments. Those who work in the casinos should not be treated as second class employees being exposed to toxic carcinogens for multiple hours just to earn a living.
Take a look at this study from the St. Louis Federal Reserve that shows the economic impact of smoking bans: "Clearing the Haze? New Evidence on the Economic Impact of Smoking Bans" https://www.stlouisfed.org/Publications/Regional-Economist/January-2008/Clearing-the-Haze-New-Evidence-on-the-Economic-Impact-of-Smoking-Bans