Cordish Companies is one of many operators lining up for a chance to join New Hampshire’s growing charitable casino industry. Cordish, which owns the Live! chain of retail casinos and associated PlayLive! online gambling brand, has proposed a three-story entertainment facility in Salem, as reported by Boston.com. Unfortunately for New Hampshire’s nascent online casino legalization effort, Cordish has also become one of the staunchest adversaries of iGaming in the commercial gambling sector.
Cordish’s proposal for Live! Salem is a three-story entertainment complex. The casino would take up most of the 60,000-foot ground floor, with some non-gaming entertainment options and an event center on the level above. Both floors would also have various dining options, while the building’s top level would be for office space, off-limits to patrons.
The company told the Salem Planning Board that it expects its contributions over the first ten years to average $3 million in state tax and $12 million to state charities annually. For comparison, the 12 casinos currently operating in the state are on track to make about $42 million in charitable contributions in 2024, so Cordish expects a fairly big footprint in the market.
New Hampshire’s charitable casino industry is still young and growing rapidly. Charitable gaming first became legal in 2006, but it has taken off since 2021 when slots-like historical horse racing (HHR) machines were added to the mix. Total casino revenue was $115 million in 2023, $81 million of that from HHR. As of July, the annual growth rate stands at around 37%.
Proposed Rule Changes Make NH Market More Appealing
Given the fast pace of growth for New Hampshire’s casinos, it’s no wonder that bigger national operators like Cordish are eyeing the market.
Now, state lawmakers are eyeing changes that could lead to even more explosive performance. Spectrum Gaming, a consultancy that has contributed to gaming legalization efforts and regulatory rule-making around the country, has put forward a set of recommendations.
Perhaps the most impactful (and controversial) suggestion is to drop the HHR machines for true casino-style slots. Although they look similar, HHR machines play more slowly. They also impose additional costs on operators because they rely on horse racing data from third parties.
Casinos might also enjoy higher betting limits, round-the-clock operations, and the right to provide players with complimentary alcoholic beverages. All of these things would be expected to increase revenue significantly.
Cordish Believes Online Gambling Hurts Retail Revenue
New Hampshire has legal online sports betting, though DraftKings is the only licensed operator in the market. Legislators attempted this year and last to expand those laws to include online casino gaming.
So far, those efforts haven’t borne fruit. Support in the Senate comes thanks to Sen. Tim Lang, but the House Ways and Means Committee has been a brick wall. Lang gutted his 2023 bill by removing slots and leaving table games only. Even so, the Committee deemed online casinos “inexpedient to legislate.”
The death of the New Hampshire iGaming effort came down to the usual “cannibalization” argument. At the time, Lang told Bonus:
The downfall of the bill was simply the erroneous idea pushed by the gaming operators that there is no further room in the market for more gaming monies, and a $1 spent iGaming would take away a $1 spent in the brick-and-mortar locations.
Heading the Committee that killed the bill is Rep. Laurie Sanborn. Her husband, former state Senator Andy Sandborn, owned and operated the Concord Casino at the time the 2023 legislative effort died. He has since lost his casino license due to a corruption scandal and is being forced to sell the property.
Unfortunately, adding Cordish to the mix won’t help matters any. CEO David Cordish and Rob Norton, President of the company’s Gaming Group, have both been outspoken advocates of the cannibalization hypothesis. PlayLive! has only achieved a 2.5% share of the Pennsylvania iGaming market, and Norton said that Live! Maryland saw a 65% decrease in sports betting and its first annual decline in table game activity when mobile betting went live in the state.
Some other brick-and-mortar operators, like Caesars and MGM, are in the opposite camp. They’ve found synergies between their online and retail brands. However, none have shown any interest in the New Hampshire market yet. It may prove hard for Lang and his allies to convince their fellow lawmakers that cannibalization isn’t real if the state’s only operator with a foot in both worlds says it is.
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