It has the potential for jobs and new construction, but at what cost?”Įarlier this month, Gabe projected that the proposed Oxford County casino would generate $127 million in annual revenue and visitors would spend an additional $51 million on food and services. “The coalition is not opposed to healthy competition it’s the unfair advantages that have us concerned,” Cashman said. Hollywood Slots currently is licensed only for slot machines. The Oxford County casino as proposed would allow both slot machines and table games such as poker and blackjack. From August 2009 to August 2010, the average monthly net revenue at Hollywood Slots was just over $5 million, and revenue never dipped below $4 million in any month. Hollywood Slots, the only gambling facility that has been approved by voters to date, has become almost machine-like in its revenue generation. In 2008 in Ohio, Penn National spent more than $40 million on ads to help defeat a casino initiative. Penn National has consistently opposed competing casinos in states where it operates and has spent millions to fight new casino proposals. Osborne said he couldn’t predict what a yes vote on Question 1 would mean for his operation, although Hollywood Slots and its parent company, Penn National Inc., have opposed the Oxford County casino initiative. If there is widespread concern that a new Maine casino would take big chunks of revenue from Hollywood Slots, its executives are showing a good poker face. In the past, Hollywood Slots General Manager John Osborne and others have said that the biggest market for the Bangor casino is the 100-mile radius around the city, but the facility has made marketing pushes into the Portland area and Atlantic Canada. If you assume three hours, there likely would be impact.”

If you’re talking one hour, there is no impact. “There is certainly the possibility that they would take a hit,” Gabe said. But this week, Gabe said that could be the case.

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