New Jersey officials fret about competition from other states

Lori Hinnant

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 9:55 a.m.

TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey's gaming and tourism industries face increased competition from neighboring states and need help from lawmakers, industry leaders said Thursday.

Casinos and the state lottery are both doing fine and are reporting increased revenues, officials told the Assembly Tourism and Gaming committee.

But Casino Control Commission Chairman James Hurley said Atlantic City needs more hotel rooms to compete with gambling operations in New York state and Delaware.

Lawmakers asked whether legalizing Internet gambling would be a good way to expand New Jersey's market, but Hurley said current technology cannot regulate online wagers.

"You do have revenue problems, you have regulatory problems, you have credit problems," Hurley said. "Someday the technology might exist."

The purchase of lottery tickets over the Internet is also unlikely in the near future for the same reasons, according to Carole Hedinger, deputy executive director of the state lottery.

Hedinger also ruled out the multistate Powerball for New Jersey, saying the current lottery package -- which includes the multistate Big Game as well as New Jersey lotteries -- was sufficient.

But some lawmakers thought online gaming was inevitable in some form, whether as live remote gaming or over the Internet.

"It will create a new marketplace," said Assemblyman Nicholas Asselta, R-Cumberland.

The state's horse racing industry is in worse shape than the lottery or casinos, according to the head of the Racing Commission, which regulates the industry. He said it faces increasing competition in Delaware, New York state and Pennsylvania and dwindling crowds at the tracks.

Frank Zanzuccki, the executive director of the state racing commission, acknowledged that horse racing has been in decline in New Jersey, but said off-track betting will improve matters.

Off-track betting has been signed into law, but the racing commission is still working out rules and regulations before it can go into effect.

Tourism officials, while acknowledging New Jersey's budget troubles, told lawmakers they need more money and more leadership at the state level.

Robert Patterson, executive director of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, wanted the state to look to the Midwest for new tourists.

"I keep talking about the interior of our country," Patterson said. "Those people don't have an ocean or a beach."