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New England Casino Market: Saturated

With four casinos in Massachusetts and two (maybe 3) in Maine, the New England casino market will be so saturated that the remaining New Hampshire market will be limited to smaller "convenience" casinos that attract only local, and primarily New Hampshire gamblers.

The New Hampshire casino market is simply too small to support the "destination-resort" casinos promised for Salem and Hudson.

Don't take it from us. Listen to Clyde Barrow, consultant for the proposed Hudson casino, talking about a proposed casino in Biddeford, Maine, south of Portland on I-95.

Barrow predicts that the Suffolk Downs casino to be built near Boston will entail a $1.3 billion investment, two hotels, and a dedicated water ferry service from the Boston convention center. "Biddeford's not going to attract anything outside of the state of Maine. Anything from Portsmouth, New Hampshire south will go to Massachusetts."

Don't buy Barrow's warning? Then consider a just-released report from Union Gaming Research, which warns that Biddeford will have to be "scaled down" if the Boston casino is built.

What does this mean?

NH Stuck With Convenience Casinos

Saturated markets mean that investment bankers and private equity funds cannot project returns on the money necessary to build the flashy casinos with hotel towers, multiple 5-star restaurants, and entertainment arenas necessary to draw gamblers from a distance. If casinos are ever built here, New Hampshire would get stuck with convenience casinos that pull most of their business -- not from tourists -- but from local residents living with 30 minutes' drive time.

Money spent on such convenience casinos is taken directly from existing local restaurants, retailers, and entertainment venues. Each job added at a convenience casino is a job lost at an existing local business.

Need more evidence? Massachusetts legislators required a minimum $500 million per casino investment. The gambling lobbyists who wrote HB593, the NH House casino bill, included no minimum casino investment requirement.