Echo Entertainment and Crown Casinos are at it again. Not even a week after their competition over the expansion of the Sydney gambling market has ended, the two casino operators have found yet another point of contention. This time, they are competing over the potential expansion of Brisbane’s gambling market, and local politicians are requesting that they lay off.
When the casino operators were competing for exclusivity in Sydney, both Echo Entertainment and Crown Casinos engaged in a media battle over the issue. Even though the general public was not able to weigh in on the decision, the two companies fought their battle in the public eye. Now, the same situation is occurring all over again in Brisbane.
The Queensland government is in the process of deciding whether or not Brisbane should host another gambling venue in addition to the Treasury Casino & Hotel. The capital’s existing casino is operated by Echo Entertainment and, if Crown Casinos receives a license to operate in Brisbane, the operator will lose its exclusivity yet again.
So, it seems that the stakes are high, but Queensland politicians want the two companies to refrain from attacking one another in the media. Crown Casinos has already called Echo Entertainment’s operations ‘disgraceful’ – and Queensland politicians will have no more of that. They want to discuss the issue in peace, without any disruption from the gambling operators.
"The casino operators have no need to be taking shots at each other in the public, in the media as we have seen," says Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney. Mr Seeney and other Queensland politicians are in the process of discussing whether or not it is a good idea to expand Brisbane’s gambling market to include a second casino.
A decision on the issue will be made by September 2013 and, in the meantime, the politicians are discouraging any competition between Crown Casinos and Echo Entertainment.
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