The Louisiana Senate Judiciary Revenue and Fiscal Committee recently held a hearing on legalizing online casino gambling. This hearing was heated and revealed who is in support and who opposes online gambling in Louisiana. Cordish Companies and the VGT industry were vehemently opposed. Cordish general council, Mark Stewart, showed many charts and graphs revealing why online gambling was a ‘bad idea’ in Louisiana.
The Cordish Companies are recognized developers of large-scale real estate projects and entertainment districts. A consultant at the hearing called out Cordish for its apparently contradictory stance. It doesn’t want legal online gambling in Louisiana but operates an online casino in Pennsylvania.
The Cordish viewpoint
The stance of Cordish isn’t that surprising. The Cordish Companies don’t have moral objections to online gambling. They do believe that online casinos can divert consumer spending away from land-based casinos. They have been very upfront about opposition to online gambling for the reason that they cannibalize land-based casino revenue.
However, if gambling becomes legal in Louisiana, Cordish will be involved. Parx Casino PA took a similar stance in Pennsylvania. It was opposed at first to online gambling but embraced it once it was legal. To put it simply, if online casinos are going to take revenue away from Cordish land-based properties, it wants to benefit from the online revenue.
Is land-based casino revenue declining?
Online gambling advocates push back against the claims that consumer spending is shifting away from land-based to online gambling. They say that land-based revenue isn’t declining but it is flat. New Jersey’s numbers seem to corroborate this.
Many people are betting online and they aren’t going to stop doing so. Playing your favorite games online offers great convenience and you can use your mobile device and a casino app to play on the go.
Trying to help land-based casinos by resisting legislation can have negative consequences. Gamblers will gamble at gray and black market operations rather than not being able to gamble online at all.
What is the best option for land-based casino operators?
Cordish family investments have been made since the company was founded in 1999. It has land-based casinos in various states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, and Louisiana. It has pushed back in other states like Maryland when lawmakers tried to legalize online casinos.
The best option for land-based casino operators is to advocate for policies where online gambling interacts positively with existing gambling. This puts them in a position to be significant players once online gambling is legalized. They are then able to earn money online and on their casino floors.
Synergy between online and land-based gambling
The competition for the wallets of players who gamble online or at land-based casinos isn’t a win-win for anyone. Online gambling can attract different kinds of customers to land-based casinos. Many land-based casino operators believe online gambling doesn’t take gamblers away from their casinos but brings new players to the market.