Casinos in Northern New Jersey will benefit the state economy with little negative impact, according to this N.J. tourism scholar.
By Jack B. Samuels
The casino gaming referendum facing New Jersey Voters in November is probably of greater importance to the economic success of New Jersey in the future than the Presidential Election. It is something that the electorate should consider carefully and it goes beyond just the immediate creation of jobs, but perhaps the long term financial future of the State.
In the mid-1980's this author predicted the eventual downfall of the casino gaming market in Atlantic City and why the market would fall apart. What we learned from this exploration is the most important underlying factor for consideration of gaming in Northern New Jersey. We showed that Casino Gaming would in the future not be a tourist attraction but rather an entertainment or local recreation activity.
As a result of these findings it is clear that New Jersey has fallen behind in the revenue share and employment garnered from casinos. There are now casinos everywhere we look and the ones in closest proximity to various population concentrations are the ones that garner the most revenues and are most successful. Therefore, it is clear that there is not enough casinos in New Jersey to garner our full share of the casino market.
Here are some points which you might consider regarding casinos in Northern New Jersey:
1. Casinos in Northern New Jersey will not provide the final death to Atlantic City. Atlantic City will continue to fail regardless of Northern New Jersey Casinos because it is failing right now without them. The only thing that will turn around Atlantic City is a massive change in the tourism environment including strong investment in year round entertainment and sports betting if we can somehow get the authority to have it, or maybe it will become New Jersey's Marijuana Mecca.
2. Perhaps casinos in Northern New Jersey might be viewed as some people profiteering off of the industry. State casinos are generally not a good idea, so the best choice is commercial competition with the government insuring that the tax contributions are maximum to benefit the public at large.
3. Any social stigma of casinos is pretty much long gone. We are more interested in marijuana now as a social vice issue and that will probably become legal in more places than we can imagine as governments can't resist the revenues that it produces just like they did with casinos. In regards to marijuana there are some lessons to be learned from Casinos that are beyond the scope of this exploration.
4. The main possible valid argument against the casinos is the not in my backyard one. We are going to end up with a big influx of tourism anyway in Northern New Jersey due to the Meadowlands Mall. Sites such as the Meadowlands and Jersey City would have little impacts on local living beyond the existing situation. Casinos supply extra revenues and act in synergy with things that are tourism magnets and as such go well with such attractions. Having the casino and the mall and the secondary projects that will occur would provide the biggest boost to the New Jersey economy in modern history.
New Jersey voters should not make the same mistake we made with sports betting. The failure of the voters to approve sports betting years ago actually provided the final downfall to Atlantic City. If the voters had passed that A.C. would have survived as it would have been differentiated in the marketplace.
Let's not pass on another obvious opportunity for economic stability and growth. Casinos in Northern New Jersey will benefit the state economy with little negative impact.
Jack B. Samuels is professor of sports, events and tourism marketing at Montclair State University.
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