Bloomberg – To bring Las Vegas-style gambling to Florida, casino operators like Sheldon Adelson are sending more than 100 lobbyists to the state Capitol to battle their biggest adversary: Mickey Mouse.
The clash pits casino operators Genting Bhd. (GENT) and Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), controlled by billionaire Adelson, against Walt Disney Co. (DIS), which runs theme parks and resorts near Orlando, and may face new competition for convention business. Companies on both sides of the dispute are sending lobbyists and campaign checks to Florida lawmakers, who say they’ll consider expanding gambling this year.
A state-commissioned study found that full-service casinos and their associated hotels could generate $1.5 billion in spending annually in Florida, making the fourth-most populous state an attractive target for the gambling industry as it pushes to expand in the U.S. The outcome is critical for Disney, as the world’s largest entertainment company seeks to protect its Walt Disney World Resort, which includes theme parks and five convention facilities.
“Gambling interests in Las Vegas and Atlantic City are looking for new territory, and opening Florida to them would be tremendous,” said Robert Jarvis, who teaches gambling law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. “The fear for Disney is that instead of people going to Disney and dropping their disposable income there, they’ll go to the destination casinos and drop their money there.”
Florida law limits gambling to eight Indian casinos, which offer Las Vegas-style gambling with the exception of craps and roulette, along with 31 pari-mutuel facilities. Casino operators want lawmakers to authorize as many as three resorts in South Florida that would offer the same range of games as in Las Vegas.
Casino resorts — which feature hotels, meeting space, gambling and other entertainment — would compete with Burbank, California-based Disney for tourists and conventions, said Jarvis.
Disney has 700,000 square feet of meeting space in its Florida resorts, according to the company’s website. Genting said in 2012 it wanted to build the world’s largest casino in Miami with 750,000 square feet of meeting space.
