FRANKLYSPEAKING Magic Kingdom
massive casino resorts in South Florida has failed. Casinos failed in Florida? Wow, I didn’t see that coming! Seriously, I can remember the first time I wrote about
A
resort casinos possibly coming to Miami. It was in 1986, and I was editor of a magazine called Casino Gaming, when I got to plant a cool, glitzy Miami Vice kind of picture on the cover, because Miami was going to be the next place where we’d see casinos. Since casinos were only in Nevada and Atlantic City at the time, it was big news. The reason I remember it so well is that the cover
photo was an overhead shot, and if you look at it real closely, the word “LEFT” painted on a highway turn lane is backwards. It was from a slide, and apparently, it was turned the wrong way and no one noticed. Hey, I was only 29, and things like that used to happen
back in the pre-digital age of journalism. We also used hot wax and exacto knives. But I digress. As I was reminded by that headline on page 8 of this issue,
“Mickey’s Revenge,” the reason the casino idea went down in flames back when I still had hair was Mickey Mouse. The state that hosted Disney World was not going to host gambling, unless it was cordoned off and isolated in the dog and jai alai tracks. Back then, by the way, the gamblers actually outnumbered the dogs. You see, in addition to fairy-tale characters, cartoon ducks and
grumpy dwarves, Mickey had an army of lobbyists at the ready—not to mention all those millions of dollars we willing schmucks leave inside the gates of the Magic Kingdom. Tinker Bell has sprinkled her fairy dust on the campaign warchests of more than a few state lawmakers. The thing is, I thought this year would be different. In 1986, if
Floridians wanted to play poker or dice or slots, they had to get on a boat and ride out into international waters. Then, they could gamble until their money ran out, and sit around doing nothing but getting fat on cruise food until they got back to shore, where they could get more money. (Eventually, those gamblers were too fat to float on water, so sev- eral cruise lines failed. But that’s another story.) I thought Florida was more open to big casinos around Miami now,
since they already have slots at the tracks and a couple of big resort casinos run by the Seminoles. But Mickey’s lobbyists and Tinker Bell’s campaign wand won the day again, with an assist from the Seminoles, who have their own lob- bying warchest. Disney is still pulling major political weight in Florida, and those who continue
to fight gambling expansion legislation in the Sunshine State always say the same thing: A collection of resort casinos would overshadow the squeaky-clean image of Florida.
58 Global Gaming Business • March 2012
s I see from our Dateline USA section on page 8—yes, I read this fine magazine too, almost every month—the bill to create three
by Frank Legato
The latest bill died in committee faster than bullets in a Miami street
shooting. Not that the anti-gamers have a
valid argument. The Seminole Hard Rock casinos in Tampa and Hollywood did nothing to tarnish Florida’s image, or Disney’s image. Even with the Seminole casinos drawing thousands of customers, the other untold thousands still went through the Magic Kingdom’s turn- stiles and stood in long, sweaty lines with screaming kids for the opportunity to overpay for amusement rides
and buy $20 hamburgers. Casinos have the same
uncanny non-effect on life as we know it everywhere else they are introduced. Pennsylvania’s 11th casi-
no opens next month, but people still go to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, they still go to Gettysburg National Military Park (and yes, they still would if there was a casi- no in Gettysburg!), they still go to Steelers and Penguins games in Pittsburgh (maybe soon, Pirates games
too), and still visit the Whitaker science museum in Harrisburg. (“Have fun while you learn something!”) Has the casino in Perryville,
Maryland affected attendance at the near- by duck-hunting Decoy Museum in Havre
de Grace? The answer is no! So, looking ahead to the ultimate legal- ization of mega-resorts in South Florida,
allow me to show you the anti-gamers’ worst nightmare: “When you wish upon a star...” “Eli Manning, you just won the Super
Bowl! What are you going to do now?” “I’m going to the Sands!”
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