Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Niagara Mayor Jim Diodati both said this week that a change to the Niagara Region casino landscape is needed if the region is to maximise its gaming potential.

Ford told reporters at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday in Toronto that the province is currently talking with casino operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment (MGE) and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) about how to provide “more opportunities” to improve Niagara as a tourism destination.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity with the 11 million tourists coming down to Niagara [annually],” Ford said. “I’ve been working with the region, along with Mayor Diodati, and just coming up with a different way. It’s not about gambling, it’s about the destination. It’s about bringing families there. It’s an incredible tourist attraction but we have to clean it up and make it more modern.”

Ford said his provincial government is in talks with Mohegan and the region.

“We just want to modernize it and clean it up and get more opportunities, more economic development, increase tourism,” added Ford on Wednesday.  “I think it’ll turn out really well, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Officials concerned about ‘monopoly’

There are two casinos in Niagara Falls, both owned by the Ontario government and operated by Mohegan. OLG receives a share of revenues from both Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino. Mohegan currently has an agreement to run the day-to-day operations of casinos in the Niagara area until 2040.

However, as reported by The Trillium, the Ford government wants to revamp that deal to encourage more casinos to set up shop in the city.

Diodati told the Niagara Falls Review in recent days that the current system deters major investments in updates and renovations. He argued that expanded casinos and new gaming centres would help to increase over-the-border tourism from the U.S.

“Gaming is no longer the biggest reason people visit Vegas,” he posited. “People go for entertainment and dining and all the other attractions — and the key is that you use gaming to leverage tourism, so you use gaming to leverage investment and economic development.

“Finally, after all these years of multiple resolutions, multiple discussions, we’ve finally got a government that’s willing to listen to what we’re asking for and to investigate it. The most important thing, above all, is competition.”

CGA says Niagara needs other investments first

Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns told Canadian Gaming Business that he has been monitoring the developments and believes that Niagara and the province should be prioritising other things for the region first.

“Mayor Diodati says he knows Niagara Falls could support five to seven casinos,” said Burns. “Really?”

Burns noted that lack of adequate infrastructure and transit links have “put a lid” on tourism growth because it’s hard to get to. “The question’s always how to get there.”

“Building casinos isn’t actually the first thing you should do,” he added. “Infrastructure to get people there would probably be a better investment. Niagara doesn’t really have a commercial airport, Hamilton’s a fair distance now from Niagara in many ways. They should be leading with roads. So it’s kind of curious why they’re leading with the casino stuff. There’s a convention centre that’s massively underutilized, there’s still lots of room for tourism growth that isn’t connected to gaming.

“The two casinos down there would love more business, not more competition.”