The Boy on Top
Where I live (Portland, Oregon, USA), they are trying to attract Major League Baseball to our city (which is total rubbish anyway, as a soccer (football) franchise would have much more support). Well, to get a big-time ball club the BigWigs say we need a new stadium. So, out of all the creative financing options to build one of these 400 Bajillion dollar behemoths, the Tribe (aka, our local native americans) stepped in and said they would help finance such a venture...oh but yes, there's a catch. They wanted a casino built into the facility to generate more revenue--and our local politicians were actually backing it! Can you imagine a casino within yards of the front door at the new Highbury, or Anfield, or Old Trafford (even though Utd. have their hand in profiting from just about everything these days)??? Needless to say, local outcry was loud enough for the policy-makers to take a closer look at other options. Sheesh.
The tax take from gaming duty, I should think: it's 40% on gross (stakes less payouts) after the first £2m odd. The National Lottery (12% tax) is a nice little earner, so I daresay Mr Brown's eye lit up.
Not convinced about the extra social costs in purely financial terms. If you're gambling seriously, you're not drunk.
Sorry it took me so long to comment BoT, I was busy playing roulette online.
Off to Vegas with you then. Oh... sorry, I meant Wembly... TB
Commenting by HaloScan
