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Seneca Nation president: Casino compact talks progressing
So what's the latest on negotiations over a new gaming compact between the state of New York and the Seneca Nation of Indians?
During a recent interview with the Niagara Gazette, Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong Sr. said, from his point of view, talks are progressing.
Armstrong said representatives from the Nation continue to meet regularly with state officials and he remains hopeful that a tentative deal will be in place for review by the federal government by the summer of 2023.
"We've made every effort to make progress," Armstrong said.
"We want to continue to work toward a new gaming compact that reflects the gaming landscape in Buffalo, Niagara Falls," he added.
The current gaming compact, which provides the Seneca Nation with exclusive rights to operate Class III casinos in Western New York, including Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca, is set to expire in December 2023.
Seneca officials have argued in the past that since the signing of the original compact, other gaming outlets, including so-called "racinos" in Hamburg and Batavia, cut into their exclusivity by offering video lottery terminals similar to slot machines.
Armstrong said the Nation has been working on its end of the proposed agreement for about two years and that he's confident the Nation has "covered all of our bases."
He maintains that the Seneca Gaming Corp.'s three local casinos have provided economic benefit to host communities like the Falls and Buffalo, in the form of jobs and spinoff from investments made by the companies with local vendors.
In addition, the compact has allowed the state of New York to collect a percentage of slot machine revenues from Seneca casinos, with 25% of those dollars being distributed to the Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca.
"I'm hopeful that the state recognizes the impact we've had on Western New York," Armstrong said.
In a statement in response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said the executive chamber and the state gaming commission have been having "substantive negotiations" with the Seneca Nation for months.
"We are fully committed to continuing to meet, discuss, and negotiate a compact, and we are confident that the process will continue in a way that best serves New Yorkers," the spokesperson said.
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Sin Tax To Be Raised In Australia...
Here we go again. More sin tax! Brace yourself for more ads sternly pointing out government failings on everything from plain packaging for cigarettes to poker machines and carbon tax, with advertising figures predicting more lobby groups will turn to ads to push their causes. Following this week's spate of ads on TV and in newspapers attacking plans for plain cigarette packets on the grounds that no one wants to live in a nanny state, many have predicted that there will soon be more such efforts to sway public opinion against planned government policy. The Australian chairman of Grey Group, Paul Gardner, said lobby groups had been encouraged to turn to advertising, rather than more traditional lobbying based on access to politicians, by the success of the anti-mining tax campaign. It's going to be either a taxing or entertaining campaign. Time will tell. Are you a sinner or not? Tell us in the forum, or try your luck on the Sin City online slot game, as found on Media Man International.
Aussie James Packer To Build 3rd Casino In Macau...
JP's Macau casino joint venture plans to build a massive $US2.5 billion ($2.3bn) casino resort...the group's lucky third in the Chinese territory. This will see them look capitalise on surging gaming revenues in the red hot part of the world. Melco Crown Entertainment yesterday signed off on a $US360 million deal to gain control of the Macau Studio City project, an "integrated resort project" on hold since the global financial crisis and in planning for more than 10 years. The firms chief executive, Lawrence Ho, advised the property's theme and demographic target focus would be differentiated from the company's existing Macau property assets, the City of Dreams and the Altira Macau. Construction is due to start early next year and it is believed the partners have no plans for an equity issue to fund the project. "We believe Macau Studio City's existing land grant and previously completed site work will allow us to significantly expedite its construction timetable," Ho told the press yesterday. It will be Melco Crown's second project on Macau's Cotai strip, a vast stretch of reclaimed land situated between the islands of Taipa and Coloane that land based casino developers in Macau, such as Ho and Packer, are promoting as the orient's answer to the Las Vegas strip aka "Sin City". City of Dreams is in Cotai. Last year, Ho said Melco Crown was prepared to build more casino resort developments in Macau and elsewhere in Asia. Packer's Crown holds a 33.4% stake in Melco Crown. The Studio City site is one of the last prime land sites available in Macau for development. It is located at the Lotus Bridge immigration point, making it the virgin resort that tourists encounter via entering Cotai. Before the financial meltdown, Melco Crown had a management arrangement with Studio City's owners to run the casino at the site, but elected to take control of the project after it became troublesome for the owners to properly fund it within the prior structure. Melco Crown is understood to have codenamed the deal Project Eagle. The deal ends 3 long years of delays caused by legal matters and a range of dramas between the Hong Kong and US investors. Studio City was previously owned by a joint venture between Hong Kong-listed entertainment company eSun Holdings and New Cotai Holdings, an entity controlled by funds managed by US firms Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital Management. New Cotai Holdings will hold a 40% stake. Melco Crown will pay New Cotai $US100m in 3 instalments over two years. Before the financial crunch, the casino development was to have included a specially designed 4000-seat arena, a 2300-seat theatre, Asia's first "Playboy Mansion" and 4 new classy hotels - a Ritz-Carlton, a W Hotel, a Marriott and the world's first Tang Hotel. Last month, Macau gaming revenues rose 42.4% to a record $US3.03bn, what Vegas casino operators dream of. They were rocketed by the opening of Galaxy Entertainment Group's $US2bn resort development at Cotai, which is nearby to the City of Dreams. "We remain bullish on Macau's prospects and believe high-quality new supply, such as Macau Studio City, will continue to drive incremental demand," Ho said. Media Man has been speaking to property and gaming experts about the Packer - Macau developments, with 95% believing that the latest Packer Macau project with be a "good to great business and investment". Friends, good punting, know your limits and bet with your head, not over it.
Aristocrat Leisure And Clubs Australia Fire Up Gambling Debate...
The Australian gambling debate continues to roll on, with Aristocrat Leisure being the latest gambling company to weigh in with proposals as to how they think that the problem could be more easily regulated. Many see their proposal as one that is stuffed with self-interest though – including the man heading up the inquiry, MP Andrew Wilkie. The proposals put forward by Aristocrat Leisure encompassed many different points, but the one that was the most talked about was their idea for a “machine based” solution to end the problem of gambling addiction in the country. This was due to their belief that a monitoring system – an idea muted by the government recently – wouldn’t be achievable by the government’s target of 2012, mainly due to the complexity of the task. In fact, their submission stated that this wouldn’t even be possible by 2014, therefore putting the whole overhaul of the system back by 2 years. The main reason why pro-reform figures see this announcement in a suspicious light is due to the fact that Aristocrat Leisure say they would roll out this system as part of their normal replacement cycle, which means that they would not have to interrupt operations in order to comply with any future regulations. This would obviously save the company huge amounts of money and would therefore ensure that their business remains a viable one through the period of change. In response to this scepticism, Aristocrat Leisure stated that a new pokie games machine retails at about $25,000, whereas implementing a software upgrade would cost them just $3000 per machine. This, they said, means that their suggestion in fact would cost them more to implement – therefore meaning that they have taken a cut in profits in order to assist those with gambling problems. In addition to Aristocrat Leisure weighing in with their argument yesterday, Club Australia also joined the chorus of businesses opposing the methods that the Australian government want to introduce to curb gambling problems. In a long statement they essentially said that the Australian government have underestimated the amount of work and logistics that will need to go in to setting up the system that they have proposed. They also stated that the system will have a hugely detrimental affect on the smaller clubs in Australia, who current only see about $25 worth of profit a day from each machine that they own. This, they say, means that the disputed figure for the amount of money the government thinks a machine will lose per day under new regulations - $1.50 – will actually represent a large percentage of income for these clubs. The final results of these inquiries are still very much in the balance, with both sides seeing significant numbers of support being gained in recent weeks. Stay tuned as the weekly saga continues. "Mr X" (satire) is not ready to give up, not quite yet anyway.
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