A new tactic has emerged in the fight to ban smoking in casinos: shareholder votes.
Shareholders in Boyd Games, Bally Entertainment and caesar entertainment A vote will be held on proposals from various casino companies to force them to study the costs associated with allowing indoor smoking and whether going smoke-free would save money.
The proposals are sponsored by Trinity Health, a nonprofit health care network, and the National Non-Smokers’ Rights Foundation. Headquartered in Livonia, Miss., Trinity Health leverages its shareholder status Fight for various health initiatives This is despite the fact that it owns only a fraction of these companies. For example, public records show Trinity owns just 440 Bally shares, or about 0.001% of the company.
Boyd, Barrie and Kaiser worked hard to keep the proposals from appearing in proxy materials distributed to shareholders. The SEC rejected the casino’s request and communicated the proposal and the rationale behind it to all shareholders.
Boyd will face Vote on smoke-free assessment at Thursday’s annual general meeting. Bally’s will hold its annual meeting on May 16 and Caesars will hold its own meeting in June.
The three companies collectively operate 75 U.S. casinos that allow indoor smoking where state laws allow. About 14 states allow indoor smoking at commercial casinos.
States such as Nevada and New Jersey ban indoor smoking more broadly but make exceptions for casinos. Legislation banning indoor smoking in casinos is in various stages of action in several states across the country, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Anti-smoking advocates point to research by C3 Gaming that concluded smoke-free casinos can generate more revenue and perform better than competitors that allow smoking.
Sponsors of the proposal argue that shareholders should know that casinos pay higher health insurance premiums for employees, higher maintenance costs and stay away from patrons who hate smoke.
In his attorney’s letter, Boyd said states that have banned indoor smoking have seen negative impacts. The company believes these decisions are best left to hotels to follow local trends and says if shareholders succeed in imposing a ban – which Boyd claims is the real aim of the mandatory review – it will lose customers to continuing to allow smoking in the hands of competitors.
Caesars board member Jan Jones Blackhurst told the SBC North America Online Gaming Conference Summit on Wednesday that she believes the decision on whether to ban smoking in casinos should be made by the government. She noted that experience shows that smoke-free casinos can take a financial hit.
“Typically, if you look across the country, when casinos ban smoking, revenue drops by 20 to 25 percent, and that also creates a huge layoff factor and people start losing their jobs,” she said.
Reaction from unions has been mixed. While some worry about the possibility of job losses, the United Auto Workers union, which represents more than 10,000 table game dealers nationwide, has stepped up its crackdown on smoking inside casinos, citing employees’ exposure to secondhand smoke.
this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Secondhand smoke is safe no matter how many times you are exposed to it, and the only way to adequately protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke is through a 100% smoke-free indoor air environment.”
The U.S. Surgeon General said many common practices in casinos, such as separating smoking from non-smoking areas, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings, are not effective in preventing secondhand smoke.
Casino operator Parx, which operates casinos in Pennsylvania, has decided to remain smoke-free at its Bensalem casino in North Philadelphia during the coronavirus pandemic. It competes with four other local casinos that allow indoor smoking but said its market share has not been affected.
“Financially, we know we’ve lost some customers, but we also know we’ve gained some customers,” Parx spokesman Marc Oppenheimer told CNBC. “We don’t think we’re seeing a significant impact either way.
Instead, the company said it focused on guest satisfaction scores and surveys that showed improved employee morale.
In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts Opened the first casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip to ban smoking indoors and even on the pool deck. “At Park MGM, we’re not afraid to be different, and as you may have noticed, we’re focused on the new and fresh,” the hotel declares on its website. “Now that includes the air you breathe.”
For now, Park MGM is the exception, but smoke-free advocates hope it will soon become the rule.
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