Gamers urged to o unite in D.C.

Gary Thompson

Thursday, Dec. 5, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The battle lines are forming as the National Gambling Impact Study Commission takes shape, a panel member revealed today.

Responding to a challenge from an anti-gaming member of the commission, MGM Grand Inc. Chairman Terry Lanni urged casino companies to present a united front in defining the gaming industry's role as part of American entertainment.

Lanni, also a commission appointee, noted that James Dobson had urged that Lanni be removed from the panel "because he has a partisan position and couldn't be objective" in studying gaming's impact.

Dobson, a Coloradoan who heads Focus on the Family, "said he wasn't appointed by Trent Lott but by God," Lanni said.

"I thought that God had more important things to do than worry about who serves on this commission," Lanni said.

Noting that some form of gambling is now legal in 48 states, Lanni said gaming operators "can continue to be highly competitive as individuals, but must be cooperative in defining the industry.

"We are so far behind other industries in our representation in Washington," he said. He urged casino companies and others who benefit from the industry, such as bankers, state lottery officials and casino suppliers, to support the efforts of the American Gaming Association, the industry's lobbying arm.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. President Phil Satre endorsed Lanni's suggestion, saying, "We have become a mainstream, nationwide entertainment option ... that can show concrete evidence that we are delivering on our economic promises to communities."

In 1991, Satre said, gaming consisted of 14 public companies with a market capitalization of $8.4 billion, half of that represented by Hilton Hotels Corp.

"We were a politically inexperienced, fragmented and isolated industry that was overlooked by Wall Street. That has changed dramatically.

"Today, the industry includes 45 public companies with a market capitalization of $30 billion. We are no longer the Rodney Dangerfield of Wall Street."

Lanni said gamers must present an "accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of this industry, supported by true, fair and reasonable statistical analysis.

"There are pathological gamblers and we've been less than forthright in dealing with that problem," he said. Citing the experience of Prohibition, he said, "You don't solve a problem by making common criminals out of ordinary people."

He urged gaming to take its lead from the beer industry, which has an advertising campaign stressing moderation, rather than the tobacco industry, which has denied clear-cut evidence of problems.

Lanni and Satre were keynote speakers as the second day of the American Gaming Summit got under way at Caesars Palace. More than 1,000 of the industry's top executives are meeting to discuss the future of gaming.

Lanni said the federal gaming study presents gamers with the opportunity to "show that we are understanding about our strengths, candid about our weaknesses and truly a legitimate form of entertainment."

* EXPANSION: Big entertainment players likely to join industry. Page 11D