Beware the 700-level effect, SugarHouse
Three more SugarHouse patrons robbed cannot be good for the casino business.
Beware the 700-level effect, SugarHouse
Can a casino be plagued by what used to be known at Veterans Stadium as the 700-level
effect?
That’s where the rowdy behavior of fans in the cheap seats at the Vet drove away families and other patrons, who got weary of listening to expletive-laced harangues or witnessing beer-fueled fistfights. Pretty soon, only the rowdies were showing up – surrounded by hundreds of empty seats.
That lesson should be on the minds of SugarHouse Casino operators, as they cope with the public relations fall-out from the latest mugging of patrons at the riverfront gaming hall.
Early Friday, three women didn’t even make it into the casino before they were accosted by two armed and masked men. The muggers struck one woman in the head with a pistol, and grabbed two purses before fleeing in a stolen car, police said. The injured woman wound up at Episcopal Hospital emergency room with a head wound – hardly the evening of ‘pure fun’ that the SugarHouse slogan promises.
This wasn’t a case where patrons were jumped for their winnings, as happened a month ago after a man won $1,500 and was pistol whipped when he returned to his South Jersey home by would-be robbers. In that sense, the Friday robbery was even more troubling.
Maybe valet parking will become the arrival method of choice for safety conscious patrons. Or maybe they’ll just stay away?
There’s no longer any question that the arrival of casino gambling in Philadelphia is viewed by thugs as providing fertile ground for their criminal activities. As if that was ever in doubt in a big city, right?
That’s the legacy of casino gambling that won’t ever be fully acknowledged by Gov. Rendell or the state lawmakers who ushered in this supposed windfall for the state. When they write their political biographies, casinos no doubt will be hailed solely for the rivers of tax revenues they’re producing for the moment – not the social pathologies they helped fuel.
As for SugarHouse, it cannot be good for business if the casino develops a reputation as a place where patrons are fleeced even before they belly up to a slot machine.
Hmmm....would you rather go to Sugar House and be mugged or Parx and encounter children left in cars while the adults are inside gambling??— phillyccgwm- Wow, awful anology- 700 level was full for birds games last several years at vet(no empty seats like article claims). Plus, both of these incidents happened outside of Sugarhouse- more akin to tailgating..... Fertile ground for thugs??? sounds like a grand total of $340 was stolen since the casino has opened. I would venture to guess more has been lifted within a mile radius of the Inquirer building in the same time period. Sloppy media creation— eweezie
Comment removed.- I have to admire the restraint of the thieves. I go back Sugarhouse at least twice a day. And a large majority of the people going in there are elderly, in wheelchairs, and/or morbidly obese. That was nice of them to go after 3 women in the 20's and 30's. I'm glad to see they did not go after easy targets.— AreaMan
- right on shocktroop
— eglftbl1 - I love casinos. I go to Harrah's Chester occasionally. But, more often I go to A.C. I went to Sugarhouse on opening day, but I doubt that I will ever go again because I don't feel I'd be safe. Management needs to provide better security because the lack of it is a deterrent to going there. One thing they should do is pay SEPTA to make a stop coming and going that is right in front of the casino. If they aren't making the money they feel they could make, security could be the reason.— cwill18387
- The muggers were just looking for their kids, who they left in the car when they went in to gamble— JSaq
- Shocktroop is right...Eagles fans are far worse than scumbag criminals— JSaq
- SugarHouse, though located in the biggest City (by far) in the state, is pulling in the least amount of slot revenue (by far) of any casino in the state. So far, it's performing terribly. While the media widely reported on the first week's revenue, there has been no coverage (except for a blog post on the CityPaper website) on the weekly revenues since then. Indeed, SugarHouse is currently pulling in less than half of what the state publicly projected and ... that's without a second casino in town.— NotADoneDeal
- Comment removed.
SanFran: Please do not call people animals. There surely are criminals out there, and we may look with disgust on what they do, but that does not make them animals. Do not lose your own humanity just because you are upset -- perhaps justifiably -- about crime.- This is a terrible analogy. But eweezie, you must be young and naive. There certainly were empty seats in the 700 level. I know because I remember the black-outs on local TV which was a direct result of the non-sold-out stadium. You youngn's don't remember those days like 10 years ago. Go get your shine-box, son.
— Steveo31 
I sat in the 700 level - yet i don't seem to ever remember us pistol whipping any women or robbing people of their money. Nice analogy you jerks - that's why the newspaper business is going away - irresponsible journalism. See ya - I have Santas to boo . . .— Justicek- Good little tidbit that speaks volumes about the association of crime and casinos in the US. Just wait a few years... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051001912.html— michaelthegreat
- Dave...are you serious? Theseviolent criminals pistol whip and mug people are you're concerned about the "humanity" of the people calling them animals? Then you go on to say SanFran is upset - "perhaps jestifiably" about violent crime? Dude, what is wrong with you?— rbpeeple
