Port Canaveral floats idea for dockside gambling
By Jason Garcia
Sentinel Staff Writer
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
Thursday, February 19, 2009
PORT CANAVERAL — Port Canaveral, where gambling ships have been squeezed by a deep recession and increased competition from inland casinos, thinks it has a way to breathe new life into the business: let the slot machines spin while the ships are docked.
The Canaveral Port Authority voted Wednesday to ask state lawmakers to allow nearly around-the-clock gaming on gambling ships at the Brevard County seaport. Currently, gaming ships must go three miles out to sea, outside U.S. territorial waters, before customers can start gambling.
Under the plan — being lobbied for by Canaveral's two existing cruise-to-nowhere operators, SunCruz Casino and Las Vegas Casino Lines — as many as three ships would be allowed to run gaming operations from 7a.m. until 2a.m. every day at the port.
Boosters said the move could increase gaming traffic by 30 percent at a port where casino-ship traffic has fallen 41percent since 2006. Dockside gambling, they said, also would add 150 jobs to the 600 already tied to the gaming vessels.
"I'm not here to legislate ideas about whether gambling is morally right," said Commissioner Ralph Kennedy, one of the concept's chief boosters on the port authority. "I don't think that's our issue. Our issue is creating jobs."
But the plan faces long odds. It will almost certainly generate intense opposition in the state Capitol from evangelical groups, competing pari-mutuels and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which runs its own casinos.
The Republican-ruled Florida Legislature also has long opposed gambling initiatives, though gambling backers are hoping that resistance will soften amid the state's deep budget woes.
Top GOP lawmakers, for instance, are now considering blessing Republican Gov. Charlie Crist's compact with the Seminole Tribe that grants the right to operate Las Vegas-style slots and card games such as blackjack on tribal land.
What's more, Port Canaveral could face opposition from its signature cruise tenant: Disney Cruise Line, whose parent company has historically fought efforts to expand gambling in Florida.
Unlike rival cruise operators Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Disney did not include casinos when it built its two cruise ships.
Disney, which recently signed a 15-year contract extension to continue sailing from Canaveral, was never briefed by the port on the gambling plan.
A company spokeswoman said Disney is just starting to examine the proposal.
"This is an issue we're just learning about, and we're looking into it further," Rena Langley said.
Jason Garcia can be reached at jrgarcia@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5414.
Port backs dock gaming
Commission to seek legislative OK for idea to regain falling revenue
By Patrick Peterson
Copyright © 2009 FLORIDA TODAY
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Port commission staff will begin the process of seeking legislative approval for dockside gaming after the Canaveral Port Authority on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution supporting dockside gaming for its two casino boat tenants that now must travel to international waters before gaming can begin.
No state lawmaker has stepped forward to champion a bill to allow dockside gaming, and it's unclear how or if such a bill could allow dockside gaming at Port Canaveral without opening up many other ports.
Nevertheless, Port Commissioner Ralph Kennedy's subcommittee, made up of port and casino interests, believes dockside gaming is the answer to falling attendance on casino cruises, the outright failure of which could cause lost revenue for the port and the evaporation of some 600 casino jobs.
"I think we have to preserve avenues to keep those revenues," Kennedy said at Wednesday's meeting, noting that the port's casino ships have faced increasing competition from three Seminole casinos and illegal arcades featuring slot machines.
"If we're going to have casino gaming in the state of Florida, make it open and equitable for all," Kennedy said. "The next move is to let our local legislators know how we feel about protecting jobs and revenue at Port Canaveral."
Commissioner Malcolm "Mac" McLouth said, "We have our consultants and our lobbyists and they're here today. They've got their marching orders."
State Rep. Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach, met with the subcommittee earlier this month and warned them that any effort to give Brevard County dockside gambling likely would be opposed by pari-mutual betting parlors in South Florida and by Indian casino interests, which are promising the state millions in tax revenue.
In an interview last week, Poppell said investors with deeper pockets will move in on the turf once held by Port Canaveral's casino industry if dockside is allowed.
"They'll be opening up Pandora's Box, in a way, and they'll get some stuff they will not like once they get it open. In the overall gaming business, they're small potatoes in comparison to the big boys that are land-based and the Indians that are land-based," he said. "It's going to raise their ire."
Port Authority Chief Executive Stan Payne, who had opposed dockside gaming until recently reversing his stance, said the port already has the security and has the infrastructure to support dockside gaming.
"From the staff standpoint I believe we should support it," he said. "We do have legislative consultants in place. They are ready willing and able to move forward with this."
Payne suggested the dockside gambling be limited.
"If the legislature decides it would like to limit dockside gambling, then I think this would be the perfect place to limit it to. Because if there is no limitation, you will have boats of every size and every shape in every inlet, every river and ever stream all over the place."
Contact Peterson at 242-3673 or ppeterson@floridatoday.com.