Fuzzy Math: Casinos coming to Kansas

[Fuzzy Math]

The state of Kansas recently ran studies on the effects of legalized casino gambling. Link below.

If a major "casino-resort" facility pops up in KCK without any silly loss limits, I would imagine that the four competing Missouri boats would have to look for ways to keep their market share -- like maybe convert to S17 DA2 DAS. =) Will be interesting to see how things unfold.

Newspaper article

[SOTSOG]

North of Topeka, Harrahs runs one on an Indian Reservation.

Studies I have seen have shown the SouthEast Corner of Kansas would probably be the most profitable location. Avoid the KCMO competition, and draw from Arkansas, Oklahoma, SW Missouri. (ie. Springfield, Joplin, Tulsa, Little Rock population centers.)

[Sun Runner]

That would be sweet.

I didn't log on the the Kansas City Star. Are they talking about more Indian casino's or a state run operation?

Thanks.

[Fuzzy Math]

> That would be sweet.

> I didn't log on the the Kansas City Star.
> Are they talking about more Indian casino's
> or a state run operation?

> Thanks.

Sorry... forgot about the registration thing.

Posted on Fri, Mar. 12, 2004

Report favors only one KCK casino

By JOHN L. PETTERSON The Kansas City Star

?Kansans strongly prefer destination casinos to other forms of gaming.?

Matt All, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' general counsel

TOPEKA?A Kansas Lottery consultant concluded in a report released Thursday that the Kansas City, Kan., market could support only one destination casino.

The report, prepared for the lottery by Christiansen Capital Advisors of New Gloucester, Maine, estimated that a destination casino in Wyandotte County could generate as much as $235 million in tax revenue annually.

Results of the gambling study and an accompanying telephone survey were presented to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, which is considering Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' plan for expanded gambling in Kansas.

The report included results from a telephone survey of 900 Kansans who were asked about expanded gambling.

Of those polled, 55 percent of adult Kansans said they favor expansion of destination resort gambling but surveyors said they were ambivalent about placing slot machines at horse and dog tracks.

Half of those polled oppose allowing Indian tribes to build casinos on nonreservation land or installing video lottery terminals at Kansas Lottery retail outlets.

Sebelius' gambling plan is scheduled for committee action Wednesday.

It calls for up to five destination casinos and placement of slot machines at state-licensed racetracks. In addition, slot machines could be placed in scores of fraternal and veterans' clubs throughout the state.

It would be assumed that one of the destination casinos would be in Wyandotte County.

Placement of a destination casino in Kansas City, Kan., has a number of pluses.

?No loss limits and a quality destination casino would allow Kansas to recapture a significant portion of the Kansas personal income now flowing into Missouri casinos,? the report predicted.

?Moreover, Kansas City (Kan.) already has two powerful nongaming attractions: Cabela's and the nearby Kansas Speedway. A joint casino-resort facility development with either of these attractions would make sense if Kansas elects to build a large new casino,? the report continued.

Details of the report were presented to the Senate committee by Ed Van Petten, executive director of the lottery.

He said the consultant was paid about $80,000, none of which came from tax collections.

The money was from a contract the lottery has with one of its private consultants and is to be used to explore new gambling opportunities.

Van Petten said so many studies about gambling had been produced that it was difficult to determine which ones were accurate.

The new plan, he said, was prepared by an impartial company, which was told: ?We don't care what you come up with, we just want a valid figure.?

Matt All, Sebelius' general counsel, told the committee that the public opinion data ?are unmistakable and clear-cut.?

?Kansans strongly prefer destination casinos to other forms of gaming,? he said. ?And, of those who approve expanded gaming, far more Kansans (63 percent) are interested in visiting state-owned destination casinos than other gaming venues.?

He said the report demonstrated that high-quality destination casinos with dining, entertainment and other attractions would generate much more revenue and would be much more likely to succeed than ?average' gambling facilities.

All noted that the consultant's report showed that a destination casino in the far southeast corner of the state had a great potential for revenue production because it could draw gamblers not only from Kansas but also from Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The consultants predicted that a southeast Kansas casino at Galena could generate as much as $240.8 million annually.

That marked the first time that a casino in that location had been mentioned.

?My rough calculations, based on the framework of (the governor's plan) suggest that the state of Kansas could collect over $250 million from this voluntary entertainment activity,? All said.

Meanwhile... why couldn't they pay *me* $80,000 to call 900 random people on the phone to ask a couple questions?

[SOTSOG]

Have to laugh. The huge non-gaming "attractions" of Kansas City, Kansas ...

Moreover, Kansas City (Kan.) already has two powerful nongaming attractions:

Cabela's -- for those not in the hip crowd, this is a large mail order camping, hunting, and fishing operation. Stock up on those fishing lures and deer scent on your visit.

and the nearby Kansas Speedway. -- A nice race track with 2 NASCAR events a year. I wonder what will bring the crowds the other 50 weekends a year?

I guess they won't mention that there are also 4 other non-Kansas casinos within an hour's drive. Some of the other non-gaming attractions (MLB Royals Stadium, NFL Arrowhead, Kemper Arena, World's of Fun Amusement Park, etc.) are all much closer to the Missouri casinos.

Dodge City was looked at as one of the "destinations", until it was pointed out that even if you could throw a rock 150 miles in any direction, you only have a chance of hitting about 70,000 people.

Numbers from the report:
"Wyandotte County could generate as much as $235 million in tax revenue annually."
"A southeast Kansas casino at Galena could generate as much as $240.8 million annually."

So, I wonder how much I could charge them as a consultant to tell them Southeast Kansas is worth 5 million a year more than Kansas City, Kansas?

[Fuzzy Math]

> I guess they won't mention that there are
> also 4 other non-Kansas casinos within an
> hour's drive. Some of the other non-gaming
> attractions (MLB Royals Stadium, NFL
> Arrowhead, Kemper Arena, World's of Fun
> Amusement Park, etc.) are all much closer to
> the Missouri casinos.

Yes... those are also all in Missouri though. ;P Not much of interest is on the Kansas side... IMHO, they'd be better off just building the damn thing in Overland Park and targetting locals.