Land-based Casino Gambling in Florida

[Kurt]

Could casinos awaken the ‘sleeping giant' in Florida? | casinos, florida, giant - Northwest Florida Daily News

SANDESTIN ? When it?s rolling the dice on the craps tables or besting the dealer in blackjack, Webster Franklin says Florida is a potential gold mine for gambling.

?Florida is a sleeping giant,? said Franklin, executive director of the Tunica, Miss., Convention and Visitors Bureau. ?It?s already the largest tourism attraction on the East Coast, so when you add that element to it, it?s just that much more money that would be put into the Florida economy.?

Franklin and Beverly Martin, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Association, spoke to about 100 tourism and marketing professionals last week at the Southeast Tourism Society?s spring meeting at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

Franklin told the crowd there was not much happening in Tunica County before 1994. At the time, there was not one four-lane highway and only one stoplight. The biggest news in town was the installation of a second stoplight.

When local officials were approached about bringing casinos and gambling to the area, Franklin said they answered that the idea was crazy and that nobody would come to Tunica to gamble.

Well, after collecting $650 million in gaming taxes since 1994, Franklin said it turned out pretty well.

?We now have one of the best infrastructures around,? he said. ?It transformed what we thought of ourselves in Tunica ? It transformed, I think, the tourism industry of my state and somewhat of the Southeast.?

Locally, Destin Mayor Sam Seevers said gambling has been discussed for years.

?It was before my time on council,? she remembered. ?People had been talking about it, saying it would help. There was a core group of people who supported it and wanted to do it, but from what I remember the outpouring of people who were against it was overwhelming.?

More recently, Seevers said she was approached by a longtime Destin resident who was upset that the city didn?t have any gambling options.

?It was surprising,? Seevers said after Franklin?s and Martin?s presentation. ?They said it was a ?missed opportunity.? ?

Back at Sandestin, Franklin said that in addition to the tax revenue, more than 30 million visitors came to Mississippi to visit the state?s 30 operating casinos in the last year.

He said the gaming industry has been the catalyst that helped create the tourism environment that the state now is known for.

In most places, however, gambling is still taboo, he added.

?It?s still not recognized for the economic impact that it had, and for the image-changing ability it had for Mississippi,? Franklin said. ?I think elected leaders in our states need to realize the value and to not say what?s always worked is going to continue to work.?

Would gambling be accepted in Destin? Seevers said it was possible.

?It might be something that?s worth discussing. It may come out that it?s something we don?t want to do, but who knows??

 

[Matt J]

Interesting that Vision Airlines just moved to VPS...

 

[MrMentalFitness]

Nawsir, I don't like it. I don't want casinos anywhere near here.

Personally, I'd rather 'revenue' be generated by retail sales, tourism, and the usual business industries not based on vice. When a State starts looking to take advantage of vice, that's not a good thing. It's lazy leadership born of vision-limited officials' inability inspire or tap into other forms potential - so they take the 'easy' road paved of avaricious dreams that end up nightmarish reliances on vice-driven alliances. What is Atlantic City without it's vice dens? Nothing. Vegas? Nothing. Could they be more? Sure, if there were minds keen enough and balls large enough.

From the seed of vice springs a tree that bears fruit with little nutritional value.

Vision. Moxy. Creativity. Inspiration. Innovation. Industry. Leadership.

Nah, screw that - let the State capitalize on and feed off of human weakness, temptation, and attraction to risk. Let's repackage it with neat terms like revenue generation, tax bases, jobs, and funding education. Let self-serving bureaucrats lord their ineptitude over liquor, casino gambling, sports betting, smoking, prostitution, horse racing, dog tracks, and eventually, female mud wrestling.

That's my two cents worth. Put it all on red, baby - Papa needs a new addiction!

 

[Andy A]

I really don't care one way or the other but I certainly see nothing wrong with it provided it increases state revenues. I quit gambling years ago but it can be addictive. But then, so can cocaine, smoking and other vices. Live and let live.