Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2014 18 FEATURE B locked by the US government, at least for now, frompenetrating the lucrative South Florida gambling market by sea, Genting Group has forged an alliance with a local racetrack to bring 2,000 slot machines to a luxury mixed-use resort the company is developing on Miami’s Biscayne Bay. Resorts World Miami, a division of the Malaysian conglomerate, has devised a four-way partnership centered on the racino license held by Gulfstream Park, a nationally known thoroughbred track in nearby Hallandale Beach. The plan calls for Gulfstream to move the license to a five-acre site on the bay that used to be the headquarters of the Miami Herald Miami Vise Battling the feds, negotiating with regulators, lobbying lawmakers, Genting is determined as ever to plant its flag in South Florida newspaper. Genting bought the property two years ago for $236 million as part of a protracted and ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the Legislature over to the idea of full- scale commercial casinos in Florida. Genting still believes in the site and still plans to develop it with a five-star hotel, luxury condominiums, waterfront restaurants and other attractions. It’s a considerable climb-down from the $3.1 billion gambling destination the company originally had in mind, but as lobbyist Brian Ballard described it to the Herald, it’s a way into the market—a “less lucrative option,”he acknowledged, but as he put it,“Genting, over the past couple of years, has decided to look at this with a fresh set of eyes.” Which is where the slots license comes in. It’s smaller but more saleable to politicians and the public than a full-blown casino. The pitch is that a portion of the revenues will go to boost purses at Gulfstream, a portion will go to a non-profit company to benefit the other partners, and horse breeders, owners, trainers and Gulfstream all get a piece too. “I think it’s game-changing,” said Lonny Powell, CEO of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association. “This is the first partnership where the revenue stream and investment would actually go back into the horses.” But it wouldn’t be the Sunshine State if there weren’t obstacles. The regulators who oversee the state’s pari-mutuel industry dispute Gulfstream’s claim that the license is transferable. So Genting may need clarification on that from the Legislature. Or it will have to persuade the regulators to reconsider their position. Or it can go to court. But a victory there is likely to spark a barrage of lawsuits from competitors. As a lobbyist for the racino at Calder Race Course said, “If they issue a permit that allows this to happen, it will draw a legal challenge. I guarantee it. This is an expansion of gambling.” Genting is already enmeshed in a court battle over Florida with the US Customs and Border Protection Agency, which has banned the employment of foreign labor on the gambling “cruises to nowhere” the company launched last year from the Port of Miami. It’s the second run-in the company has had with the federal government over the 1,500-passenger high-speed ferry it bought last spring to open up its remodeled and rebranded ResortsWorld Bimini to the South