NH Concert Venues Think Casino will Dominate Market

Tim Bechert says he is challenged daily by the influence of both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Bechert, who serves as regional general manager for Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, gave the example of trying to book an act like Elton John at his venue.

"(Elton John's) guarantee would be $750,000 per show whether he sells one ticket or whether he sells $10,000 tickets. We'll probably lose that show because Mohegan Sun has the ability to offer $1.2 million for that one night," Bechert testified Thursday at a joint House casino subcommittee session on community impact.

The Thursday afternoon session began with Rep. Patrick Long (D-Manchester) presenting an amendment to Senate Bill 152 — which calls for up to 150 table games and no more than 5,000 video lottery/slot machines at one casino location in the state — to limit the size of live entertainment performance venues on a casino property to 1,500 seats or less.

Long explained that 1,500 seats appeared to be the number that would not draw main attractions from Bechert's arena. Other performance venues gave testimony Thursday, each voicing similar fears, including the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in Hampton and Capitol Center for the Performing Arts in Concord.

"Historically I have seen other arenas or have history of other arenas that have lost their main stay, their main entertainment through other casinos that have opened up," said Long.

Andrew Herrick, Director of Marketing at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, said he doesn't see the Verizon Wireless Arena as competition, but still does worry about how a casino would operate in the New Hampshire market.

"What the gambling casino does is, as Tim (Bechert) mentioned, it provides the entertainment as a loss leader. They pay between 20 and 200 percent over fair market value, and we just can't compete on that level."

The Casino Ballroom hosts between 70 and 80 concerts between April 1 and Nov. 15. Herrick said that about 130,000 people go through the door each year.

Capitol Center is a non-profit, 1,300-seat venue that operates as a presenting house, out there competing with venues like the Verizon Wireless Arena.

"We operate on the thinnest of margins," said Capitol Center Executive Director Nicki Clarke.

Clarke said her venue has a $2.3 million budget each year, $1.75 of which comes in through state revenue and $625,000 through contributed income.

She said the facility was in the green by about $45,000 in 2011-2012, $33,000 of which came from three big names – Bill Cosby, Lewis Black and Willie Nelson.

She argued that an amendment to keep a casino venue at less than 1,500 will still hurt her business.

"I really worry that all the sudden having this casino is just going to shift people's spending and we will really be having a much, much harder time to try to just continue to make it," said Clarke.

Senate Bill 152 is currently weaving through work sessions in the halls of the Legislative Office Building. A joint House Committee of Finance and Ways and Means has been formed to tackle the bill. Three subcommittees have stemmed from the 45-member larger committee.