Economic impact study of casino not favorable to Greene County
As the Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation prepares to make a presentation to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission next week promoting a casino license for Greene County, members received disheartening information. Consultants hired by the commission last summer to study whether the casino market is saturated reported their findings Tuesday. Both studies concluded that any new casinos in Iowa would cannibalize existing casinos. New casinos would not attract new customers, but in most cases, would only shift where current customers go.
Two consultants, Union Gaming Analytics of Las Vegas and Marquette Advisors of Minneapolis, were hired to study the markets affected by a pair of proposed casinos – Cedar Crossing Casino in downtown Cedar Rapids and Wild Rose-Jefferson.
Union Analytics estimates gaming revenue for a new Wild Rose casino at $33.2 million annually, but virtually all of that, $31.1 million, would come from other Iowa casinos. Prairie Meadows in Altoona would be the hardest hit, but the Wild Rose casino in Emmetsburg would also see a drop in revenue.
Marquette Advisors estimates $28 million in gaming revenue at Wild Rose-Jefferson, with about $22 million of that being drawn from existing casinos.
The consultants came to similar conclusions on the Cedar Crossing Casino. That casino would be much larger than the Jefferson casino, with 840 slot machines, 30 table games and a total cost of $165 million, compared to 525 gaming machines, 14 table games and a cost of $40 million, including a motel in Jefferson.
Developers of both proposed casinos say the facilities would be a boon for their local economies, providing jobs and spurring other growth.
The Cedar Crossing Casino is further along in the licensing process; the Racing and Gaming Commission will make a decision on that license April 17.
Grow Greene County will make a 45 minute presentation to the commission next Thursday, March 6, at 8:30 am at Prairie Meadows in Altoona. The presentation will include a video produced for Wild Rose to showcase Greene County. Grow Greene County is mobilizing to have as many casino supporters as possible at the meeting.
Guy Richardson, a member of Grow Greene County Gaming Corp, called the study “not particularly encouraging,” but said the group would present to the Racing and Gaming Commission the same reasoning put forward since the casino was first proposed. “We’ll talk about the tremendous economic boost this would be for Greene County, and for the entire area,” he said. “We need to convince the Racing and Gaming Commission that there are economic factors besides gross gaming revenue.”
A presentation of the two economic impact studies is also on the agenda. Richardson said he doesn’t know how much weight the commission will put on the studies.
The Racing and Gaming Commission will visit Jefferson and Greene County May 29. There will be a forum for public comments at that time. A decision on the gaming license is expected June 12.
The last time the Racing and Gaming Commission considered gaming licenses was 2010. The commission approved a license for the Grand Falls Casino in Lyon County and denied license requests from Tama, Ottumwa and Fort Dodge.
-Edited Feb. 26 at 5:45 pm
