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Poll: Massachusetts Residents Want Casinos, but Not Necessarily in Their Own Backyards

Posted October 28, 2009

A majority of residents support establishing casinos in Massachusetts, but a majority of adults also do not want to have a casino in their community, according to the latest survey from the Western New England College Polling Institute.

The telephone survey of 522 adults, conducted October 18-22, found that 56 percent support allowing the state to license casinos in Massachusetts, with 34 percent opposed and nine percent saying they did not know or declining to provide an answer. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

Click here for complete poll results.

Support was highest among adults ages 30 to 49, those with a high school education or less, individuals with annual household incomes of less than $35,000, and residents of Western Massachusetts.

Not surprisingly, enthusiasm also was greatest among individuals who had visited a casino in a nearby state at least once in the past 12 months. Eighty-two percent said they support establishing casinos in Massachusetts.

But where to locate casinos may be more problematic for the state. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed said they oppose having a casino in their community, while 38 percent support having a casino in their town, and five percent said they did not know or would not provide an answer.

Opposition to a casino in their town was highest among college graduates, individuals with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more, adults who had not visited a casino in a nearby state at least once in the past 12 months, and residents of Boston and surrounding suburbs. In each of those categories, about two-thirds of those surveyed dislike the idea of having a casino in their community.

“A majority of residents want casinos in Massachusetts, but people do not necessarily want them down the street from where they live,” said Tim Vercellotti, associate professor of political science and co-director of the Western New England College Polling Institute.

Comparing responses to the two questions – whether to support casinos and where to locate them – shows how the state’s population breaks out on the issue. Thirty-six percent of residents support both establishing casinos and having one in their community. Another 34 percent oppose allowing casinos in the state and also oppose locating one in their town. Eighteen percent endorse having casinos in Massachusetts, but do not want one in their community. Another five percent said they do not know or declined to give an answer regarding casinos in the state, but they also said they do not want to have a casino near where they live.

The politics of the issue make for an interesting potential alliance among partisans. Among registered voters, 58 percent of unenrolled voters support having casinos in the state, compared to 53 percent of registered Democrats and 49 percent of registered Republicans. The partisan split also emerges when it comes to where to locate casinos. Sixty-three percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans oppose having a casino in their community, compared to 55 percent of unenrolled voters.

“Democratic and Republican voters in Massachusetts may have finally found an issue on which they agree – concerns about casino gambling,” Vercellotti said.

Support for establishing casinos in the state varied by age, education, income and region:

• Fifty-eight percent of those ages 30 to 49 said they support casinos, compared to 46 percent of adults ages 65 and older. Older residents were not necessarily more likely to oppose the issue, however. Senior citizens were less likely to express an opinion, with 15 percent saying they did not know or declining to offer an answer.

• Seventy-two percent of residents with a high school education or less support establishing casinos in Massachusetts compared to 46 percent of college graduates.

• Support was slightly higher among those with an annual household income of less than $35,000 compared to those with incomes of $100,000 or more – 61 percent to 56 percent. But opposition was significantly different, with 29 percent opposed in the lowest income category and 41 percent offering a negative view among those in the highest income category.

• Residents of the four counties in Western Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire) were more likely to back casinos than residents in any other part of the state, with 66 percent in favor. Residents of Boston and surrounding suburbs were least likely to endorse the idea, with 52 percent in favor.

Views on locating casinos in one’s community also varied by education, income and region:

• Sixty-six percent of college graduates oppose having a casino in their town, compared to 48 percent of adults with a high school education or less.

• Sixty-seven percent of adults with an annual household income of $100,000 or more oppose locating a casino in their community, while a majority – 53 percent – of those with incomes of under $35,000 support placing a casino in their town.

• Sixty-four percent of residents of Boston and surrounding suburbs oppose having a casino in their area, compared to 47 percent of adults who live in Central Massachusetts.

If casinos open in Massachusetts, however, they would not lack for business. But residents were more likely to say they would go to a casino for entertainment than to gamble.

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed said they would be very likely or somewhat likely to go to a casino to see a show or concert. Only 37 percent said they would be very likely or somewhat likely to go to a casino to gamble.

Those who had visited a casino in a nearby state at least once in the past 12 months were most likely to say they would gamble in Massachusetts, with 72 percent saying they would be very likely or somewhat likely to gamble. Visitors to casinos in nearby states also were the most likely to say they would go to a casino in Massachusetts to see a show or concert, with 89 percent saying they would be very likely or somewhat likely to do so.

Established in 2005, the Western New England College Polling Institute conducts research on issues of importance to Massachusetts residents and communities. The Institute provides the College’s faculty and students with valuable opportunities to participate in public opinion research.