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Illinois Smoking Ban Affects Casinos

January 28th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

The new Illinois smoking ban that went into effect on January 1, 2007 is affecting the state’s nine casinos. But, there are conflicting reports on the value of business lost through the smoking ban.

Illinois gaming operators estimate that 60% to 70% of all gamblers smoke, and that the state’s share of revenues at the casinos will drop at least $144 million annually. Local governments also stand to lose more than $20 million in taxes due to the smoking ban. The state collected more than $830 million in gambling revenue in 2006, according to the Illinois Gaming Board.

“[The smoking ban is] counterproductive to what the state is trying to do to raise revenue,” said Tom Swoik, Executive Director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association. The group predicts a 20% loss of revenue due to the ban.

Public health advocates dispute that prediction. They suggest that 80% of gamblers are non-smokers, a figure that is mirrored in the general public. They also point out that similar smoking bans resulted in 10% loss of revenue in Delaware and Windsor, Ontario.

Revenue will very likely decrease more at Illinois casinos on the Mississippi River that border other states. The East St. Louis, Illinois casino, for example, is just a two-minute drive from a similar casino in St. Louis, Missouri, where smoking is permitted. Casinos in nearby Rock Island have also suffered declining revenues, with locations in Iowa that permit smoking just 20 minutes away.

Other Illinois casinos are seeing fewer effects from the smoking ban. Gamblers at the Joliet, Aurora and Elgin casinos would have to travel at least 1.5 hours in heavy traffic on congested highways to reach a casino in another state that permits smoking.

Still, officials in those areas are taking no chances. The City of Aurora’s 2008 budget reduced the projected revenue from the casino by 10%.

Some gamblers are eager to play the slots without having to endure a haze of tobacco smoke. George Calliope, of Wheaton, says he makes the drive to the Alton Riverboat Casino at least twice per month. Calliope, who quit smoking 51 years ago, says he welcomes the chance to breath clean air while gambling.

“Casinos are among the last workplaces in America to go smoke free,” says Annie Tegen, spokesperson for Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. She points out that there is no reason why casino employees should be subjected to constant second-hand smoke while employees in offices, bars, restaurants and most public places are free from those hazards.

Currently more than half of the U.S. states have some type of smoking ban in effect statewide. Two states, Idaho and Georgia, ban smoking in restaurants but permit it in other workplaces. Only one state, New Hampshire, bans smoking in all restaurants and bars but permits it in other workplaces.

According to Americans for Non-smokers Rights (ANR) at www.no-smoke.org, twenty-five states currently have no comprehensive smoking ban covering restaurants, bars and workplaces, on the state level. Many of these states do have smoking bans, but they exclude a key area. These states are: Alaska, Texas, Oregon, West Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Illinois currently belongs in that group, although a tough new smoking ban goes into effect on January 1, 2008.

By far the most common exceptions to this smoking ban are bars and casinos. Many states also permit smoking in designated sections of restaurants. A number of states outlaw smoking in all workplaces, and within 15 to 25 feet of the entrance to any workplace or public building.