The offline and online casino industry has grown tremendously in recent years. Despite all the side effects, states are gradually legalising the industry. U.S. states, for example, have progressively been allowing sports betting and casino games since 1980. What does this have to do with it?
Casino in the economy
First and foremost, the industry is seen as a tool for economic growth. The idea of a super-casino in Manchester has been discussed since 2007 to revitalise the city. With this platform, it was supposed to:
- provide more jobs;
- practice the development of other leisure facilities, bars, restaurants, hotels;
- offer development opportunities for people with low skills.
These goals have been successfully realised in building Manchester 235. In addition, local casinos help the government generate more revenue for state and municipal budgets. Also, they participate in the growth of the local retail sector by opening related shops and leisure facilities.
Speaking of which, the city’s residents have gained another unobvious advantage. The casino project has brought Manchester City Council, business partners, and non-profit organisations into a productive and long-term relationship based on mutual trust.
Social risks were a source of conflict
Social risks were a significant source of concern. After all, despite the benefits to the economy, casinos and gambling can hurt ordinary residents. Believers in Manchester were against it: “We would never want a casino because we feel that it is wrong and in a sense, it was against our beliefs”.
Nevertheless, the conflict was mitigated by all those involved in the project, making an effort to minimise social risks. Furthermore, the believers agreed to help with the organisation of the social responsibility framework.
“We engaged in the process, if you like, as a critical voice, to challenge assertions over benefits and raise the profile of any sort of concerns over weaknesses”, as Rev. Stephen told.
List of Manchester’s offline casinos
We can now count at least 4 pretty large casinos in the region:
- Grosvenor Casino Network (2-3 establishments).
- Genting Club Manchester.
- Manchester 235 (the super-casino mentioned above).
Manchester 235 is built along the lines of the Las Vegas resorts and includes gambling halls, bars, restaurants, and shops. The gaming hall is considered to be the largest in Greater Northern Manchester. There, you will find 55 slot machines with a wide range of stakes, tables for blackjack, poker and other games. In addition, this complex is the only one in Northwest England to host an event as big as the World Series of Poker Europe.
Grosvenor Casino Soames is open 24 hours a day and offers a combination of gaming and Chinatown-style entertainment. Here you can try Chinese food and play slots, electronic roulette and blackjack.
Grosvenor Casino Didsbury offers several dozen slots and a poker room for 100 people. It also hosts concerts with live music and comedy sketches, bars and restaurants, conference rooms and much more.
The Genting Club Manchester is located in the tourist centre and is renowned for its regular events. For example, the Moon Festival Prize Draw takes place in September each year. In addition, there are slots, casino game tables, live streaming and much more.
Manchester casinos’ contribution to the economy
How do the casinos invest in the city and the country’s economy? Well, casinos in the UK are subject to:
- casino duty (from 15% to 50%) on casino games;
- poker and machine gaming duty (20%) on gaming machines;
- bingo in the UK is subject to bingo duty (at 10%) on main stage and interval bingo;
- machine gaming duty (between 5% and 20%) on gaming machines;
- UK digital revenues are subject to remote gaming duty at 21%.
The Rank group owns the Grosvenor network. In its annual report for 2020, the brand cited the following figures: £178.1m generated for tax authorities and local governments in irrecoverable VAT, gambling taxes, corporate tax, employer’s national insurance and local business rates.
Manchester 235 is declared property of Caesars Entertainment Group, and in their reports, they quote figures of the same order.
How to improve casino investment in the economy?
The booming online gambling industry begs the question – how can Manchester and the country take advantage of this? After all, many players are leaving for UK sites not on GamStop, wanting a better deal.
It seems that Manchester could go the way of the Canadian provinces and set up its online casino – either on its own or with the Grosvenor brand. The latter already has a relatively stable online network.
For example, in British Columbia, PlayNow.com is a government brand and is declared the only legal gambling website. It is owned by the local lottery operator British Columbia Lottery Organization (BCLC). In a report for 2020-2021 results, the operator has reported a revenue of CAD$965.6m (£556.5m). Despite the drop in demand due to the coronavirus, this is still a significant addition to the provincial budget.
Thus, if all the rules of responsible gaming are followed and the necessary infrastructure is in place, the gambling industry can generate substantial benefits.
