Jefferies gaming analyst David Katz opined this week that the potential smoking bans could hurt the two St. Louis casinos.<\/p>\n
\n“Our experience is that smoking bans could result in significant revenue declines,” Katz said in a note. “However, the detrimental effect may be mitigated given one proposal permits smoking on half the casino floor.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nIn St. Louis, Penn National owns Hollywood and is in the process of acquiring River City from Pinnacle Entertainment. Boyd Gaming is acquiring Ameristar from Pinnacle.<\/p>\n
Nationwide Smoke Out<\/b><\/h2>\n
St. Louis is just the latest region to consider banning smoking inside casinos.<\/p>\n
Illinois forced its casinos to go smoke-free in 2008. A decade later, operators there say the clean air regulations have led to a 20 percent drop in revenue.<\/p>\n
“We do know \u2026 that the more time someone spends on the casino floor, the more likely they are to keep playing,” Illinois Gaming Association Executive Director Tom Swoik said in January. “If they have to go outside to smoke, they’re more likely to light up and then leave.”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nCouncilmembers in Gary, Indiana, are currently considering extending its indoor smoking ban to casinos. Majestic Star CEO warned local officials that such a ban would result in the loss of 400 jobs, and $3 million in annual city tax revenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
St. Louis casinos are already struggling financially, and come November, the riverboats could face new hardships should voters decide to ban smoking on the gaming floors. Three casinos would be impacted should citizens in St. Louis and St. Charles counties support respective smoking bans. St. Charles County voters will ponder two proposed smoking prohibitions. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":86916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
St. Louis Casinos Face Smoking Ban, Jeopardize Gaming Revenue<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n