Cordish officials estimate their casino could bring in $30 million in annual tax revenue for the county and nearly $450 million for the state, which is counting on about $600 million in annual slots-related tax revenue to partly fix a structural deficit within three years.
Penn National is also the sole bidder for the Cecil County slots license, one of five locations statewide approved by voters last year in a constitutional amendment to expand legalized gambling in Maryland. Under state law, a company may have an ownership interest in only one slots casino, but Penn National officials say they believe they can work around that restriction.
"Recognizing the limitations in the statute, we would need to explore potential partnership arrangements ... for Penn to manage an operation as opposed to own it," Schippers said. He emphasized that the company is "committed" to its casino proposal in Cecil.
John Franzone, chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission, said the horse racing industry's "preference is to have slots at Laurel," though it would welcome the track subsidies that would come regardless of where casinos are located.
"Nobody builds developments better than David Cordish," Franzone said, "and I think he'll do a fabulous job at Arundel Mills. But our preference would be for him to do the same thing at Laurel."
Cordish has expressed an interest in buying Laurel and Magna's other assets, such as the Preakness Stakes, but said he wants the casino at Arundel Mills.
Joseph DeFrancis, a former owner of Laurel Park, said he expected other gambling companies to jockey for an attempt to propose slots at Laurel if Cordish's bid is deemed not viable. DeFrancis said the Arundel Mills bid is "vulnerable" because of "deficiencies" with the site, such as insufficient parking and limited road access. "I would expect that there would be more and more people popping up, starting to make inquiries about Laurel," he said.
DeFrancis stands to gain if slots come to Laurel, because of a profit-sharing deal he negotiated when selling the track to Magna.
Cordish officials bristle at such criticism and note that theirs is the only viable bid on the table.
"Arundel Mills is the only option for Anne Arundel County," partner Joseph Weinberg said. "Comments from those who did not originally apply ... should obviously be discounted as sour grapes."
