Christie names panel to maximize gaming dollars

TRENTON - Saying that some of New Jersey's biggest assets have turned into liabilities, Gov. Christie yesterday created a commission that will look for ways to make the most of the Meadowlands and the state's casinos and horse tracks.

The panel is charged with recommending solutions to long-standing problems that have created a cannibalistic fight over policy and entertainment dollars within the state.

Atlantic City casinos have battled horse racing establishments for gambling money. Competing arenas in North Jersey have struggled for concerts and sports supremacy. And in the Meadowlands, which has a new rail line for a sparkling professional football stadium set to open this year, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has a $38 million deficit and the Xanadu development has become a gaudy symbol of mismanagement.

"All of these things were at one time enormous assets to the state of New Jersey, that contributed to the bottom line both from a tax perspective and an economic growth perspective," Christie said. "We need to return those to the positive side of the ledger."

New Jersey's horse racing and casino industries have been battered in recent years by growing competition, particularly in Pennsylvania. Atlantic City casinos had revenue drop 13 percent in 2009 compared with the previous year. Racing at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park is expected to lose $22 million this year, according to a Christie administration transition report.

But the battle over how and whether to help each is emblematic of the state's often fragmented politics. Racing advocates, who draw support from the regions around the Meadowlands and in northern Shore counties, have long sought video slot machines as a way to boost tracks' bottom lines. Atlantic City's backers have fought back, saying expanded gambling would further cut into their revenues.

Similarly, in North Jersey, Bergen County lawmakers have supported plans at the Meadowlands, while those in Essex have backed the Prudential Center in Newark.

The neighboring counties have struggled over the NBA Nets, longtime Meadowlands tenants who are planning a move to Brooklyn but are being wooed by Newark.

George Zoffinger, the former president of the Sports and Exposition Authority, summed up the problems by saying, "The political decisions made by moronic politicians are coming home to roost."

Christie said he expects his seven-person panel to deal with the interrelated issues in a "holistic" way.

In Atlantic City, the governor said the state has to "make sure we do everything we can to enhance Atlantic City rather than diminish it."

Christie, however, has turned a critical eye toward the city's government and the Convention and Visitors' Authority.

He recently said city officials, cited in a comptroller's report for wasteful spending, are destroying business opportunities, and singled out the authority, which he said spent $5.2 million on salaries and benefits last year and $3.7 million on promotion.

By comparison, he said, Las Vegas spends $100 million a year on marketing.

In a statement issued by a spokeswoman, Jeff Vasser, the authority's president, said much of the payroll Christie criticized went to staff working on "everyday marketing," including booking events and filling hotel rooms.

"We support any efforts that will help Atlantic City thrive," Vasser said.

At the other end of the state, Christie said, the Meadowlands is being badly underused.

The Giants and Jets are set to open a new football stadium there this year, but there are questions about the future of the Izod Center, which the Nets will leave.

Nearby, development of Xanadu, the more-than-two-million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex, has sputtered. It has been hit by repeated delays and expected tenants' backing away. Critics have bashed everything from its business plan to its garish exterior.

The project, Christie said, "is lying fallow right now, as we speak, on some of the most valuable real estate in the state of New Jersey."

Christie's panel will examine Xanadu's future.

Christie said his seven-person team will provide ongoing advice until it dissolves on June 30.

Democratic lawmakers praised the idea.

"We need to ensure all facets of our gaming and entertainment economy are working in sync. We cannot throw money at ineffective operations or promote one region of the state at the expense of another," said Sen. Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic), chairman of the committee that oversees gambling and a former Atlantic City mayor. "This is an opportunity to put into practice what works, cut out what doesn't, and ensure efficient and effective promotion and management of all our entertainment and gaming assets."

Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex), who has called hearings on the sports authority, added, "The state has a lot to gain from ensuring that sports and entertainment, instead of being a money pit, are resurrected as the economic engine that they used to be."

Barbara DeMarco, a lobbyist for the Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding Association, said she was optimistic about the commission, adding that the stakes are high.

"This is a make-or-break time," she said.

The advisory commission will be chaired by Jon Hanson, a former Sports and Exposition Authority chairman. Other members are Robert Mulchahy, former Rutgers athletic director and a onetime Sports and Exposition Authority president; Finn Wentworth, a former YankeeNets president who helped form the Yankee Entertainment Sports (YES) Network; former Major League Baseball pitcher Al Leiter; Wes Lang, managing director of WML Partners, a development and investment company; Debra DiLorenzo, Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey president; and Robert Holmes, a Rutgers-Newark law professor.