CHESTER - MTR Gaming, parent of Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort, is considering options for Ohio following Tuesday's passage of a casino gambling initiative for Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.
MTR Chief Executive Officer Robert Griffin told financial reporters during a news conference call Thursday afternoon that MTR is hoping for a resolution of Ohio's policy on slot machines or video lottery terminals at horse racing tracks. MTR owns the struggling Scioto Downs at Columbus.
"If there is a silver lining in this, from what we've seen in the last day, there is a lot of support out there to get us under the tent now," Griffin said.
"They need the money and they have the political cover of a statewide vote that approved gaming."
Griffin indicated there is a petition drive under way for a referendum on video lottery terminals at the state's race tracks, but the company is hopeful for a resolution without having to run a costly election campaign in Ohio in 2010. MTR continues to maintain that the state lottery commission can approve terminals for the race tracks without a referendum, and he indicated MTR is lobbying with the governor on that issue.
Griffin said from a timetable set out by Penn National Gaming in its recent quarterly conference call, it appears casinos for Ohio won't be ready for gamblers until early 2013.
He said there is a lot of support in the General Assembly for the state's horse tracks.
"They do not want to see the tracks close and those jobs disappear before the casinos open," Griffin said. "There are other ways we could go, but we don't want to tip our hand at this point."
Griffin indicated part of the issue will be the license fees the state wants to charge and if the track machines would be taxed at the 33 percent rate as the now permitted casinos or at a higher rate.
Griffin said overall, MTR is disappointed by the outcome in Tuesday's Ohio election.
The company statistics show 10 percent of Mountaineer's business is from Cuyahoga County, and a total of 76 percent comes from Ohio, which shows the potential impact of a Cleveland casino on Mountaineer's business.
MTR said net income for the third quarter was $577,000, compared with a net loss of $8.2 million in the third quarter last year. For the first nine months of 2009, MTR reported net income of $1.7 million, of which $1.4 million was from discontinued operations.
At Mountaineer, net revenue was down 11 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared with 2008, largely attributed by the company to the weak economy and competitive pressures. The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh opened in August. Table gaming revenue was $11.4 million, compared with $13.2 million for the same quarter last year, while slots revenue was down by $3.7 million.
David Hughes, chief financial officer, said employment at Mountaineer stood at 1,707, compared with 2,221 in the third quarter of 2008.
Company officials said the launch of free play offers at Mountaineer has been going well since they were made available in April, though they noted there are adjustments to be made to balance how much free play is adequate for the market.