The parent company of Baton Rouge’s largest and most profitable casino is closely watching the Smoke-free East Baton Rouge campaign.
Pinnacle Entertainment, which owns and operates L’Auberge Hotel & Casino, says the casino will be at a competitive disadvantage to its regional competitors in Lake Charles and Mississippi if the Metro Council passes the ordinance and bans smoking in bars and casinos.
Troy Stremming, executive vice president of governmental relations and public affairs for Pinnacle Entertainment, says the Baton Rouge casino could lose business to casinos in Lake Charles and Biloxi, Mississippi, that are not under similar bans.
And if L’Auberge collects less revenue, Stremming notes, the city receives less sales tax proceeds for its coffers. L’Auberge generally pulls in more winnings than its two Baton Rouge competitors—Hollywood Casino and The Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel and Casino—combined, according to monthly winnings reports.
“It does concern us a lot,” Stremming says of the smoke-free proposal, adding he has not seen the full ordinance, only the summary.
Joel Loots, vice president of marketing for Hollywood Casino, declined to comment this morning, saying it is a bit premature to talk on the matter since he had not seen the proposed ordinance change.
Attempts to reach a representative from The Belle was unsuccessful by this morning’s deadline.
After about two months of building up support from health care leaders, AARP-Louisiana and area musicians, the Smoke-free EBR campaign is moving forward. It has found six Metro Council members—Chauna Banks-Daniel, Joel Boé, Lamont Cole, Donna Collins-Lewis, Erika Green and Tara Wicker—who are sponsoring the change in a city-parish ordinance to ban smoking from all bars and casinos.
The ordinance will be introduced at Wednesday’s meeting, and will come back for a public hearing and vote on April 13.
Polling data provided by Smoke-free EBR suggests support exists for the ban across all racial and demographic groups in the parish, with about 70% of parish residents supporting the ban.
In 2007, the Louisiana Legislature banned smoking in restaurants and public facilities, but left out bars and gaming facilities. The city-parish ordinance change would close that gap, making all of East Baton Rouge smoke-free.
L’Auberge currently allows smoking on the gaming floor, but not in the restaurants or even the poker room.
Stremming says team members from L’Auberge have spoken with council members and expressed their concern about what the ban might do to business. In Black Hawk, Colorado, at Pinnacle’s Ameristar Casino Resort Spa, revenues dropped 20% in the first year after a smoking ban was passed, and never recovered, Stemming says, adding revenue after the 20% drop became the new normal operating level for the casino.
Harrah’s in New Orleans has blamed a smoking ban passed by the New Orleans City Council for a steep drop in revenues.
Other items on Wednesday’s Metro Council agenda include authorizing the city-parish Assessor’s Office and Sheriff’s Office to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement to ferret out Homestead Exemption fraud; announcing the city-parish Council on Aging will ask the council on May 11 to call a special tax election on Nov. 8 for a 2.25-mill property tax.
The council meets Wednesday at 4 p.m. on the ninth floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda.
—Ryan Broussard
