According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on May 20th, shareholders of Bally's Corporation voted against a proposal to ban smoking in its 15 casinos. Additionally, investors in Boyd Gaming have recently made a similar decision.
In April of this year, the Michigan-based healthcare system Trinity Health held 440 shares of stock in the Barley Corporation on the New York Stock Exchange, which proposed that Barley consider opening a smoke-free area in its casino. Trinity Health's investment in Barley accounts for 0.001% of the company's portfolio, and as of April, the company has issued a total of 40.5 million shares.
According to reports, shareholders of Bally have voted against the proposal to ban smoking in the company's nine casinos. The specific voting results will be disclosed in the upcoming regulatory filings.
The management of Bally Company did not comment on the voting results, but they had previously advised shareholders to vote against the proposal because they believed it was "unreasonable and excessive".
Prior to the results in Bali, shareholders of Boyd Gaming had already rejected a similar smoking ban proposal made by Trinity Health. Boyd Gaming stated that investors holding 63.6 million shares voted against the proposal, while 18.5 million shares voted in favor.
Caesars Entertainment will vote on this proposal at its annual shareholder meeting on June 11, which was also proposed by Tenet Healthcare.
Although the proposal by Trident Health was rejected in the ballots in Barry and Boyd, it is not a complete failure. This is because in the Boyd vote, there was over 5% support for implementing a smoking ban, so the issue can be raised again at the 2025 Boyd shareholders meeting. If similar results are seen in the Barry or Caesar votes, Trident Health will bring up the issue again next year.
Cynthia Hallett, CEO of the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation (ANRF), has participated in shareholder voting and stated, "We have built a very strong foundation from which to work. Most proposals did not even make it to a vote, let alone receive double-digit support. This issue has now reached a level where it can be discussed at the board level, and the company cannot avoid this important topic that affects the health of employees and guests.
The American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation (ANRF) believes that although gambling and smoking have been intertwined for decades, banning smoking in casinos is inevitable. ANRF points out that smoking on commercial flights, once very common, was legislated against in federal regulations in February 1990. ANRF also emphasized the widespread indoor smoking in restaurants and bars in the past. Today, nearly 80% of restaurants in the United States are smoke-free, and the trend toward smoke-free hotels and eliminating smoking rooms continues to rise.
The ANRF suggests that with the continued decline in smoking rates and an increasing number of gambling patrons seeking smoke-free environments, today's smoke-free casinos can compete with those that allow smoking.
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