Any financial aid that gaming businesses obtain from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package currently under consideration on Capitol Hill will help the industry right itself following 2020’s economic devastation brought about by the ongoing pandemic.
Still, American Gaming Association Bill Miller said Thursday said the funds would just be a start.
Miller said other legislative efforts on Capitol Hill, including tax incentives, liability protections, and economic stimulus measures are needed to help the commercial and tribal casino markets dig themselves out of financial holes caused by the pandemic.
During a half-hour webinar discussion with the gaming industry, followed by a 30-minute press briefing, Miller outlined a four-point plan the gaming industry’s Washington D.C. trade organization plans to manage through what many have predicted will be a long recovery period for the gaming, tourism, and travel industries.
“We believe that getting beyond the first wave of COVID relief, we’re going to work hard in that it will meaningfully help juice the business travel and convention and trade show space, which is critically important for us to get from where we are now, to where we want to be, as to where we were in 2019,” Miller said.
He highlighted numerous areas where gaming industry leadership plans to have an active voice, including efforts on the state level where increases to existing gaming taxes would harm an already burdened industry. Miller said casinos contributed $10 billion in gaming taxes alone in 2019 to state governments.
“We often shoulder an overall higher tax rate, and we will oppose any attempt to burden the industry any further,” Miller said.
On the same day Nevada gaming regulators said the nation’s largest gaming market – the Las Vegas Strip – saw a 43.3% decline in gaming revenues during 2020, Miller estimated the overall commercial market gaming revenues were down roughly 32% through November.
Last spring, the AGA and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators and congressional leaders spent weeks lobbying the White House and the Treasury Department for the industry’s inclusion in the $2.2 trillion CARES package. The effort allowed small gaming companies and businesses that service casinos to participate in the paycheck protection program.
The casino industry was also included in December’s $900 billion COVID-19 relief package.
Previously, the casino industry was left out of federal economic relief efforts, including those helping victims of Gulf Coast hurricanes and other disasters.
“For me, the most important threshold to achieve was zero. That’s what we had gotten from Congress,” Miller said. “We just wanted to be treated like everyone else.”
Miller said the AGA would work with the Biden Administration and the new Congress in lobbying for the relief package. He recently a letter to Congress – targeting the 44 new members from gaming states – detailing gaming’s federal policy agenda for accelerating recovery.
Among the proposals is the industry’s long-standing request to increase the $1,200 reporting threshold for slot machine jackpots and bingo winnings, saying the figure hasn’t been increased “since the Carter Administration.”
Miller said in the industry would back legislation introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota in October that offers tax credits and other incentives to boost the struggling convention and tradeshow business, while offering relief and recovery measures to the hospitality, travel, and tourism industries.
The bill would establish a tax credit for the cost of attending or hosting a conference or tradeshow in the United States from 2021 through 2023.
Cortez Masto said the bill would help Las Vegas, where airline volume into McCarran International Airport is down more than 60%. The Las Vegas Strip’s convention business fell 74% in 2020. She said other big convention cities, such as Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, and San Francisco, would also benefit.
“Going forward, gaming just wants to be treated the same as everyone else in business,” Miller said. “We’re not trying to be greedy or selfish and we’re not separating ourselves from other businesses that have suffered devastating economic harm. We don’t want to be discriminated against.”
Nearly 1,000 commercial and Indian casinos in 43 states were closed starting at the end of March by governments and tribal authorities, with the majority of the shutdowns ending in the middle of summer. However, a COVID-19 surge at the end of the year forced casinos to close once again in several states, including Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
“We went through January and February with record numbers, and then we fell off a cliff,” Miller said in reference to the shutdowns.
The bright spot, however, is sports betting. The industry will exceed $21 billion in wagers in 2020, leading to $210 million in state and local tax revenue. Last week, Virginia became the 20th state – as well as Washington D.C. – to have legal sports betting. Five additional states have legalized sports betting but have yet to launch. Another 12 states are considering legislation.
Miller said online gaming is now available in four states. Through November, it generated $1.4 billion in revenue and $340 million in taxes.
Miller said the industry would continue to use its “proprietary research” to provide “unique insights” into the gaming industry’s nationwide economic impact.
“We come into 2021 with a strong foundation, a clear focus, record levels of support among Americans, and a loyal customer base,” Miller said.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
