SHARE:
Gambling
House Odds
Will Florida Become a Vegas State?
Florida has 16 dog tracks, three thoroughbred tracks, one harness track and six frontons. Hurricanes in 2004 canceled 2,484 races and games in Florida and an entire Fort Pierce jai alai season, but the industry's decline is longer term. The drop in dog racing and jai alai -- Florida's the only state left with live jai alai -- has been most pronounced. Things would look worse if not for the growth in simulcasting. Poker, whose revenue isn't included here, has helped the pari-mutuels. The number of poker tables in the state increased to 371 last year from 290 the year before.
The Seminole Tribe runs 6,895 machines at its six casinos, the largest of which are the Seminole Hard Rock hotels and casinos in Tampa and Hollywood. The six have a total of 170 poker tables. The Miccosukee casino has more than 1,000 machines and 58 poker tables. Florida's Indian gambling revenue is growing faster than Indian gambling nationally, posting a 34% increase from 2003, says Alan Meister, author of the "Indian Gaming Industry Report" and a Los Angeles-based economist with Analysis Group.
Lottery growth has slowed, and the lottery will face increased competition when Vegas slots come to Broward pari-mutuels, the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability reported in January. The state's Revenue Estimating Conference projects that the money available to turn over for education from the lottery could drop between $5.7 million and $17.6 million as a result of slots. The lottery is looking at how to increase lottery wagering. Slots tax revenue is to go to education.
The number of gambling vessels in Florida, the nation's largest market, is down to 13 from 23 a decade ago, says Day Cruise Association Executive Director Jean Walder. Boat owners struggle with depreciating assets, marine costs and limited gambling hours. The casino ship operator most directly affected by Vegas-style slots in Broward, Port Everglades-based SeaEscape Entertainment, is encouraged that the opening of the Seminole Hard Rock in 2004 didn't adversely affect operations. One reason is that SeaEscape has roulette and other table games the tribes lack, says legal affairs Vice President Judi Jarvis.
Numbers are not available for how much residents of each state spend on internet gambling. But Americans overall spent an estimated $6 billion a year gambling online in 2005, and dividing the $6 billion by Florida's share of the U.S. population would mean Floridians gambled about $357 million online in 2005.
Bingo is suffering. The Florida Charitable Bingo Association dissolved, says its former lobbyist, Frank Mirabella. At last count, there were 400 bingo halls run by just three veterans groups. Many other groups -- churches, fraternal clubs -- have bingo. There were another 100 to 125 "leased facilities," the sometimes controversial halls that let charities use their facilities, but often drew scrutiny for essentially being commercial operations that gave a sliver of revenue to the charities that nominally held the games.
Fighting legal battles to operate, there are 200 adult arcades in Florida, usually mom-and-pop operations and mostly in south Florida. Their association compiles no revenue data. However, the state Department of Revenue reports 47,435 "amusement machines" in Florida in 2004, from juke boxes to video games to kid and adult arcade games. All told, they had $158 million in revenue, or an average of $3,331 per machine. Adult arcades have to have at least 50 machines to operate. If the average applied to all machines at all 200 sites, it would be a $33-million industry.
