Casinos facing fight for revenues
Benjamin Oreskes
Albany
On the same day that marked the deadline to submit proposals for new upstate casinos, Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook on the national gaming industry from "stable" to "negative." Its analysis, released last week, noted that revenues in many of the larger regional gaming markets — including New York State — are expected to continue declining over the next 12 to 18 months.
Moody's shift didn't surprise experts in the gaming industry.
Alan R. Woinski of Gaming USA, a consulting firm and industry newsletter publisher, said the Moody's report merely acknowledged trends that insiders have been seeing for some time. The analysis, he said, "should have been printed three years ago."
Nationally, Moody's partially blamed the softening outlook in the gaming industry on the aftermath of the 2008 recession. "U.S. consumers will continue to limit their spending to items more essential than gaming, even as the U.S. economy continues to improve," the report says. Industry observers say even regular gamblers are affected: Those who might have previously brought $50 to play have gotten in the habit of bringing $30.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Casinos-facing-fight-for-revenues-5614062.php
