Balancing a household budget can be challenging and a small business budget can be exasperating.
But how about juggling a $53 billion state budget? That’s what Ohio legislators are working with.
Could bowling centers provide some economic relief for the state? The Bowling Centers Association of Ohio, which represents the interests of 300 bowling centers across the state, thinks so.
“As Ohio lawmakers grapple with the huge budget deficit, the bowling centers are proposing a limited expansion of gaming in their centers,” political consultant Connie Nolder said. “BCAO supports a maximum of 10 video lottery terminals per center, located in a secured area, only accessible to those customers 21 years or older.”
The terminals, Nolder said, would be managed by the Ohio Lottery Commission and could bring in more than $130 million per year to help Ohio schools.
The potential expansion of the state’s gambling industry to permit the use of video lottery terminals (VLTs), commonly referred to as slot machines, is no longer limited to racetrack owners and casino investors. The BCAO hired Nolder to help the organization undertake a grass-roots effort to enable bowling centers to have slot machines if expanded gaming comes to the state.
West Virginia bowling centers currently can have up to five machines per center.
“If there was a possibility of expanding gambling in Ohio, the proprietors wanted to be a part of it,” Nolder said.
While most of Ohio’s neighboring states have legalized casino gambling, such initiatives have been met with repeated failure in the state. Nolder and the bowling proprietors, however, are optimistic.
“In January, with the House going Democratic, the door was cracked a little bit in regard to the gambling issue,” she said. “Governors Voinovich and Taft were adamantly opposed to expanded gaming, but with the new administration, people were actually willing to look at the issue.”
Proprietors hope to open that door a bit more — and at the same time bring more customers through their doors.
“We’ll see more foot traffic if this happens, I have no doubt about that,” Poelking Lanes South proprietor Joe Poelking said. “We’ve all been trying to find different ways to bring people into the business, like Keno, and this is another product we would have to bring them in. And if we don’t promote ourselves first, nobody will.”
BCAO president Linus Hartings agrees.
“It would definitely be a positive for every center,” Hartings said. “It could offset the decreased league play and attract more nonbowler traffic.”
Time is not on the bowling proprietors’ side, however. The state legislature must pass a balanced budget, or file for an extension, by June 30. There is not a gambling proposal in either the House or Senate versions of the budget.
Even if expanded gambling is not a component of the upcoming budget bill, proprietors plan to continue working on this initiative.
“This issue isn’t going away,” Nolder said. “The BCAO hasn’t had much of a presence in the statehouse until now, but in the past three months, we have met with more than 50 legislators, so we need to continue to educate legislators about our interest.
“We have made huge strides, so we need to do whatever we can to keep us in the game.”
