 Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! Related Links
|
Gaming News
Nevada Gaming Panel to Consider Antimonopoly Rules1 May 2002NEVADA – As reported by the Las Vegas Review Journal: “Nevada Gaming Control Board member Scott Scherer has drafted an amendment updating the state's casino antimonopoly rules, which are set to be considered Thursday at the panel's monthly Las Vegas meeting. ”Nevada gaming law has included antimonopoly provisions for more than three decades, but regulators have never used the rules to block a casino purchase or merger. ”However, a number of casino deals over the past few years have generated new interest in the rules, which regulators call `multiple licensing criteria.’ ”…A major change being proposed by Scherer would establish market-share thresholds. ”…`I wanted to capture a balance between giving greater guidance to the industry and giving (regulators) the ability to protect vendors, consumers and employees from an unfair (concentration of power),’ Scherer said. ”The regulation was created in 1969 after the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to intervene to block Howard Hughes' planned purchase of the Stardust on antitrust grounds. At the time, Hughes already owned the Desert Inn, Sands, Castaways, Silver Slipper and Frontier casinos on the Strip. ”…The new interest in the anti-monopoly rules has been spurred by consolidation among the major casino companies. Consolidation has had a big impact on the Las Vegas casino industry over the past few decades, and industry experts predict the consolidation trend will continue. ”Three casino companies own more than 75 percent of the Strip's hotel rooms, and one of those operators, MGM Mirage, controls about 60 percent of the city's high-roller market. ”Current rules require regulators to consider the impact of consolidation on a nationwide, statewide and geographical location basis, but they don't define what constitutes too much control of a market…” |