Florida doesn’t need international casino operators building $2 billion waterfront entertainment meccas in Southeast Florida or a Native American group opening venues along the Interstate 10 corridor to be considered a “major gambling state,” according to a state-commissioned study released Monday.
With Indian casinos, pari-mutuel facilities, day-cruise and cruise vessels and one of the largest state lotteries, Florida already is one of the nation’s top spots for gamblers.
The 307-page study also showed that while the opportunity to play games of chance has grown, the money spent at casinos and card rooms hasn’t resulted in vast job creation outside the industry.
The state released a draft of the first part of a study by the New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming Group on the present and future of gaming in the Sunshine State.
The study declares that Florida — despite opposition to the growth of gambling by powerful players such as Walt Disney World and the Florida Chamber of Commerce — already is “a major gambling state, with a wide array of options.”
More importantly, the gaming industry will grow, with or haphazardly without state regulation.
“Intentionally or not, the policies established by lawmakers — or the lack thereof — play a critical role in the evolution and expansion of gaming,” Spectrum stated.
The study comes as the state Legislature is expected to tackle the future of gambling during the 2014 session.
In a memo to the Senate that accompanied the study, Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter (R-Naples) simply said his committee will “review gambling statutes, to address the ambiguities, inconsistencies, and exceptions in current law, and to craft an action plan.”
John Sowinski of No Casinos in Florida, an Orlando-based group opposed to the expansion of gambling, said the study shows the only way to control gambling is for lawmakers to close existing loopholes as they did in prohibiting the majority of electronic games at adult arcades in April.
With the Florida chamber maintaining a near two-decade opposition to the expansion of gambling, spokeswoman Edie Ousley said the business advocacy group is waiting for the rest of the study before fully commenting.
Associated Industries of Florida, a proponent of allowing mega-casinos when the idea went before the Legislature in 2012, declined comment Monday because it was still reviewing the study.
The rest of the $388,845 study is expected to look into the potential economic impacts of changing gaming across Florida, such as the impacts of ending or altering the exclusive Seminole Indian compact and allowing international casino operators into the state. It is due by Oct. 1.
Spectrum declares it isn’t making any recommendations, but notes that “the combination of consumer acceptance, technological advances (such as the Internet) and government desire for revenue will continue to cause further expansion.”