Clyde Barrow of UMass Dartmouth, who consults for the proposed Hudson casino, has just released his eagerly anticipated annual New England Casino Gaming update. Casino advocates tend to trust Barrow's data. Here are some interesting findings:

96 percent of the gamblers at the Bangor, Maine casino are Maine residents. A total of two percent of gamblers drive in from either Massachusetts or New Hampshire.

Take home: The North Country casinos proposed in SB489 will attract very few out of state tourists, but will instead suck money from existing North Country businesses and, to a greater degree than those businesses it would shrink or replace, send the money out of state. A North Country casino would be an unmitigated economic black hole for the North Country.

Barrow predicts that competition from legalized Massachusetts casinos would be "devastating" to Rhode Island's state budget. Rhode Island's state budget is now heavily dependent upon slots revenue from the two casinos there.

Take home: If New Hampshire became heavily dependent on casino revenue, as proposed in SB489, our state budget would be similarly devastated by bigger, flashier Massachusetts casinos. First mover is no defense.

Millennium's alleged "money migration" from New Hampshire residents to Connecticut casinos is relatively small and declining, dropping from $80 million in 2006 to $57 million in 2010, with New Hampshire residents contributing less than $8 million to Connecticut's state budget.

Take home: Far more money flows from Connecticut tourists into New Hampshire as a result of our state's stronger brand image and lack of a sales tax than flows from New Hampshire to Connecticut because of its casinos.

Casino saturation here would have the impact of an additional severe recession every ten years. Residents of New England states with more casino gambling lose more money at casinos, the proximity effect. If SB489 were to become law, permitting our state to become saturated with casinos and slot machines, casino gambling losses per New Hampshire adult could increase from $64 to $500 per year, an increase of $415 million in aggregate New Hampshire resident losses per year. See 2008 data below from Appendix C of the Barrow report.

Take home:  These gambling losses would be extracted from the New Hampshire economy in the form of increased household debt, decreased savings, and consumer spending cannibalized (displaced) from existing New Hampshire businesses, an impact roughly equal to an additional severe recession every ten years.

 

Reasons we oppose SB489, saturating the state with 6 casinos and 17,000 slots.

Reasons we oppose SB490, legalizing 3 "historic racing" slot casinos.

23 Reasons we oppose any type of slot casino anywhere in our state.