Smoking Ban Blamed For Casino Revenue Decrease

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 4, 2008 6:27PM

As casino revenues fall across the nation, they're falling even faller in Illinois and casino execs are blaming the state's smoking ban for the drop instead of the tanking economy. Many gambling states are reporting revenue drops of five to seven percent, but Illinois' casino revenue is down a whopping 20.3 percent, which translates to $150-160 million. Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, has been claiming all along revenues would be down with the smoking ban in effect:

There's a high correlation between smokers and gambling. Although the number of people coming to the casinos is about the same, the time they spend inside is down. They're outside smoking. And in this business, if you're not putting money in the machine or on the table—time is money.

Swoik pointed to Indiana, where revenues are down only three-quarters of a percent, saying, "They have basically the same economy, the same weather...The only difference is the smoking ban." Deleware suffered a similar drop-off when they enacted their ban a few years ago but has risen back to previous levels. Cities like Elgin and Aurora have seen far less revenue this year and the execs have said they plan on pushing for legislation that would allow smoking in just casinos.

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