Economy may shift odds to OK slots

By STACEY SINGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
© 2008 Palm Beach Post
Sunday, March 09, 2008

A monorail ride would link a gambling and entertainment hub to Palm Beach International Airport under a venture floated by top county officials and the Rooney family, owners of the Palm Beach Kennel Club.

But it will happen only if the Florida Legislature expands gambling at the dog track.

The politically connected Rooney family, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Yonkers Raceway casino and harness track in New York, has missed several opportunities to expand its Palm Beach County gambling franchise. But in a year when property tax cuts and a poor economy have emaciated the state treasury, the dice may be loaded in gambling's favor.

Proposals to allow video slot machines at some or all state pari-mutuel wagering parks are rolling through the legislature, which is entering its second week in session.

To encourage lawmakers this year, the Palm Beach Kennel Club donated $307,000 to the state Republican and Democratic parties, political action committees and state candidates. It also has hired plugged-in lobbyists such as Brian Ballard, who was a top adviser to Gov. Charlie Crist during his election bid.

Meanwhile, a glitzy makeover of the Rooneys' dog track has been advancing beneath the radar. The family hired the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council to assess the possibilities for its 60-acre property at Congress Avenue and Belvedere Road, across the street from PBIA.

A series of closed-door meetings with county staff and Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons generated enthusiasm for the idea, though it hasn't surfaced to the overall commission yet.

County Administrator Bob Weisman said he had not been briefed on the proposal. County Commissioner Mary McCarty, who is lobbyist Ballard's sister, said she is in the dark, too.

And County Airports Director Bruce Pelly said of the project: "That's so far out in the future we haven't even proposed it, let alone put a dollar figure on it."

Slots rake in cash

Early drawings show a 9,700-space airport parking and rental-car complex alongside a sprawling entertainment complex. A "people mover" or monorail would run from the parking garage to the airport past cafes, a jai alai fronton, a luxury hotel and a gambling center where thousands of video lottery machines would beckon. Also included are 610 condominiums and plenty of retail and office space.

Public money - from airport fees and property taxes for community redevelopment - could be used to subsidize portions of the project. Koons gushed about the plan as a way to turn federal aviation money into a jackpot for the downtrodden Westgate neighborhood, which abuts the airport.

"It just makes sense when you've got an airport about to spend $300 million on their long-range plan," Koons said. "On a long-term basis, we need a hotel, we need a rental car facility, we need a parking facility."

Pelly, immersed in the 20-year master planning process, said the concept could offer both convenience for passengers and efficiency for the airport.

But for the plan to happen, the Rooneys said, the Florida Legislature must play. The dog track needs a new law to add video slots or other types of gambling, said Patrick Rooney Jr., the kennel club's president.

Slots players would represent an important new market for the track, which reports a gross of about $100 million a year in local and off-track betting.

The track's poker room grosses $8 million a year.

To the south, the three Broward County tracks offering slots have netted $163 million in eight months since their fiscal year began in July. The state's take was $81.4 million.

"You can do OK with slots," Rooney said dryly.

The Rooneys have the connections to make it happen. For decades, they have been key players in county tourism and entertainment. Besides the kennel club, they own Rooney's Public House, saloons in Jupiter and West Palm Beach, including one in the terminal of Palm Beach International Airport.

At their Yonkers Raceway harness track, outside of New York City, they've learned the value of slots. In 2006, the Empire City casino opened at the track with more than 5,000 slot machines. Last year, it was netting nearly $40 million a month.

Slots draw an entirely different clientele than tracks do, Rooney said. Wagering on dogs and horses requires concentration, knowledge of the racing program, familiarity with trainers and breeders - a certain level of sophistication. Video slots appeal to a younger, and less-educated, clientele, Rooney said.

"While we still have a core group of fans who like to handicap, it does seem that a fair amount of younger people who have grown up in the technological age favor more of the instant gratification of a machine," he said. "If you feel intimidated, a slot's not going to talk back to you."

The slot machines are critical to the kennel club makeover. If they fail to win the legislature's support, the Rooneys say they have less ambitious plans for their property: perhaps a flea market, a strip mall, overflow parking or something else.

"We're kind of at the mercy of the Legislature," Rooney said. "Something is going to be done with that property at some point."

The Rooneys have supported both state and local politicians to underscore their message. Their Palm Beach Kennel Club gave $220,000 to the Republican Party of Florida in 2007. The Democratic Party got $31,000.

They have shown pull with the governor, who appointed Patrick Rooney Jr. to the South Florida Water Management District governing board last year, replacing Kevin McCarty, husband of Commissioner McCarty.

Rooney's brother, Tom, who worked for Crist as an assistant attorney general, is a Republican candidate running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens.

Social issues considered

A number of bills to expand slots gambling are wending their way through the House and Senate. Unlike the laws that allowed slots in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, the bills do not require voter approval.

Last year, a similar video slots proposal flew through the Senate but died in the House, where Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, likened gambling to a tax on the poor and complained that it drains other businesses such as movie theaters.

But this year's budget crisis could change the picture, said Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres.

"Rubio hates gambling, but he also hates deficits," Aronberg said. "It's just such a natural. This would allow the Palm Beach Kennel Club to have the same thing as the Broward pari-mutuels."

Slots are disproportionately favored by the poor, and Koons vowed to start work on social service programs immediately if the legislature gives the tracks the right to add slots.

"There are a lot of poor people in Westgate," Koons noted. "One of the things I personally will be looking at are what are the repercussions on the social fabric. We haven't gone there yet."

Still, Koons said, the prospect of a monorail-linked entertainment complex combined with car rental and hotel is tempting.

"When you add the airport property and the Rooney property, you could do a lot of stuff," Koons said.