Gaming Spread May Hurt Casino Companies

Several major gaming companies could be hurt financially by the nationwide increase in gambling stemming from widespread victories in last November’s elections, Wall Street analysts suggest. Most likely to be hard hit in this group are Harrah's Entertainment Inc., Aztar Corp. and Boyd Gaming Corp., companies that have several gaming sites outside of Las Vegas, a recent report prepared by Fulcrum Global Partners found. Harrah's operates riverboats, casinos and a racetrack in the Midwest. Aztar operates a riverboat in Indiana. And Boyd operates a riverboat, a race track and a casino in its central district. The new pressure on gaming companies is coming as legislation to liberalize gaming rules or increase taxes move rapidly forward in more than a dozen states where they were major issues in last fall's gubernatorial races and initiative petition campaigns. The majority of pending legislative proposals call for the introduction of video lottery terminals at racetracks, particularly in Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. Larger proposals, to include casinos, are pending in Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts and Nebraska.