“While I would love to see 1,000 jobs created in Johnson City as a result of Traditions at the Glen getting a casino license, the simple fact that is that there are not enough people in the area to support a casino and a racino 25 miles apart. At Tioga [Downs Casino], we currently do […]
“While I would love to see 1,000 jobs created in Johnson City as a result of Traditions at the Glen getting a casino license, the simple fact that is that there are not enough people in the area to support a casino and a racino 25 miles apart.
At Tioga [Downs Casino], we currently do $60 million of slots revenue. And, [Traditions at the Glen owner Bill Walsh, who is bidding on a casino license from the state, said] he thought together we could do $165 million. I find it hard to believe that anyone really thinks that there is another $105 million of casino business in the Binghamton area.
Our own projections only show an increase of between $30 million and $40 million. It should also be noted that Mr. Walsh references Batavia Downs [Casino] and the fact that they co-exist with the Senecas [who operate the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel about 50 miles away], which is true. However, he fails to mention that there are 2.2 million people living within 50 miles of Batavia Downs while there are only about 800,000 people living within 50 miles of either Tioga Downs or [Traditions at the Glen.] That makes a big difference.
At Vernon [Downs], where we compete with Turning Stone [Resort Casino], which is only about 10 miles away, our slots revenue is only $40 million. The other error in Mr. Walsh’s analysis is his contention that our current gaming tax would decline from 68 percent to 37 percent. I wish that were the case, but, in reality, our gaming tax would only decline about 5 percent, which would not offset the approximate $20 million decline in revenue that even Mr. Walsh projects for Tioga [Downs Casino].
One additional concern is that, while we are arguing amongst ourselves, there is a third potential licensee [Rochester developer Thomas Wilmot] up in Tyre, which is in Seneca County, and [he] could be a strong contender for a license and we would end up with nothing down here where we desperately need more jobs. Obviously, the Governor has set up a process and hopefully we can convince the Site Selection Committee that we have the best proposal but the argument that 1 + 1 = 3 is unfortunately incorrect.”
Jeffrey Gural
Chairman & CEO
American Racing & Entertainment/
Tioga Downs Casino