Majority in Mass. support multiple casinos

DARTMOUTH – A survey of Commonwealth residents found that more than half would favor bringing two or more resort casinos to the state, according to a report today from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis (CFPA).
A poll of 1,256 residents found that 57 percent of Massachusetts residents would favor building at least two resort casinos. Another 31 percent reported they opposed such casinos and 11 percent said they were undecided.
The survey, “Playing the Odds I,” is the first of three reports from the CFPA’s New England Gaming Behavior Survey. The next two reports are to be released within the next two months.
It asked the question: “In your opinion, should the state legislature authorize two or more resort casinos in Massachusetts? Yes – No – Don’t Know.”
“Whether it is the belief that Massachusetts can no longer afford to export $1 billion a year in gaming revenues to Connecticut and Rhode Island; rising unemployment and mounting jobs losses; the threat of increased taxes and user fees during an economic downturn; or a combination of those factors, across the board, Bay Staters now believe that the state leaders should authorize two or more resort casinos in the Commonwealth,” CFPA Director Clyde W. Barrow said in a statement accompanying the study.
Support throughout the state was fairly even, ranging from 57 percent to 61 percent positive responses in the southeastern, central, northeastern, western and greater Boston samples. But 46 percent of the “Cape & Islands” sample replied that they were against the casinos – just 38 percent supported it.
Massachusetts residents without a high school diploma favored resort casinos with an 81 percent affirmative vote; those with a high school diploma favored it by 60 percent; those with an associate’s degree favored it by 65 percent; those with a bachelor’s degree favored it by 55 percent. But those with a master’s degree or doctorate probably would vote against the proposal, with 43 percent in favor and 46 percent voting against it.
Those surveyed said by an overwhelming margin – 79 percent to 13 percent – that a Massachusetts resort casino would “recapture” much of the $1 billion annually spent by Bay State residents in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
“The dam has broken among Massachusetts residents,” Barrow said. “Support for resort casinos is deep and wide and growing majorities of Massachusetts citizens believe the fiscal and economic benefits of resort casinos will far outweigh any real or imagined social costs.”
A CFPA study released in February found that 51 percent of Massachusetts residents favored building a waterfront casino in New Bedford. (READ MORE)
The study – funded entirely by UMass Dartmouth – was conducted between Dec. 20 and March 13.
For more information about the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis and its New England Gaming Research Project, including the latest data on gambling expenditures in southern New England, visit www.umassd.edu/cfpa/.