Retrofitting malls into casinos
From The Boston Globe:
The broader point of this article is about New Hampshire embracing this type of casino while Massachusetts has taken a more limiting approach.
Forget that. It highlights something bigger. What a sign of the times. A former department store has been turned into a casino.
It’s the type of thing you just never would have imaged in the ‘90s or even a decade ago. I wanted to know how this is happening. Why is there a casino boom in New Hampshire?
Just about every casino operator in New Hampshire has moved to expand since the state legalized historic horse racing machines in 2021, according to a 2024 market analysis by Spectrum Gaming Group.
While historic horse racing machines look similar to slot machines, their outcomes are based on decades of actual horse race results rather than random numbers.
Since slot machines still aren’t allowed in New Hampshire, the legalization of historic horse racing machines offered an opportunity for existing race tracks and smaller mom-and-pop gaming operations to expand.
Wow, the industry invented a slot machine that it could pitch the state as not a slot machine.1
How long until they turn commercial office space into slot parlors?
The other way New Hampshire rationalizes gambling is that a hefty portion of the losses from patrons get donated to charities. As I write that sentence I realize I need to say, that is not a joke. From the Globe article:
”The state stipulates that charities be given 35 percent of the revenue from table games and 8.75 percent of the revenue from historic horse racing machines. On top of that, the state takes 10 percent and 16.25 percent, respectively. Because of the state’s charitable gaming rules, The Nash projects that it will generate nearly $24 million each year for 104 nonprofits.”