Is Dothan the new (gambling) Branson?

The official government Web site reads: “City of Branson – Where Values are the Difference.”
Branson Mayor Raeanne Presley says it’s not the city motto or anything, but if it was, “I would embrace it.”

Families with values. It put a small town in southwest Missouri on the map and after a “60 Minutes” story calling Branson a country music Mecca aired in the early 1990s, tourism exploded. Today this town of less than 8,000 people annually attracts about 8 million tourists and is referred to as a family-style Las Vegas.

And it has done so by remaining true to its origin.

“It’s important to have a destination where multi-generations can come,” said Presley, who owns and operates Presleys’ Country Jubilee Theater with her husband Steve. “It’s a place you bring your children and grandchildren to see a show, an attraction or go fishing. It’s a place where all the generations can enjoy. We don’t feel like we have to market to the spring breakers.”

It is also a place that every few years or so when the board of aldermen changes, the new administration passes a resolution reaffirming their opposition to the establishment of any casino gaming enterprise in the Tri-Lakes area. The board has passed five anti-gambling resolutions in the past 12 years. The last one was passed November 2007.

Missouri law allows casino-style gambling on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Land-based gambling would require a change of the Missouri Constitution.

“Rockaway Beach tried to get it a few years ago,” said Jerry Adams, Branson’s Public Information Director. “We are very anti-gambling.”

Amendment 1 on the Aug. 3, 2004 ballot, which would have allowed riverboat gambling in Rockaway Beach, 10 miles north of Branson, was defeated.

Presley said because the city attracts so many people with money to spend, there are developers who see gambling as a money-making opportunity.

“Branson attracts people who think gambling and casinos are the great, new attraction we need,” she said. “Here it is not a moral issue, but it is about the brand that Branson is. We believe gambling does not fit with the kind of tourism Branson is. We are family oriented and we have stayed true to that, but it is an ongoing battle.”

Presley said supporters of a Rockaway Beach gambling location spent millions of dollars on a marketing campaign for Amendment 1. “We spent $1.5 million,” she said.

“It was defeated by a combination of people who love Branson and believe in the brand we are, and those who feared competition,” she said, referring to gambling interests in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Alcohol, however, is available in Branson, but on a small scale. For an attraction or venue to sell liquor, it must obtain state and city liquor licenses.

“We have five theaters that currently serve liquor and one pending,” Adams said. The city is home to 52 theaters with combined seating of 60,317.

“We are in the Bible Belt. We still honor our veterans and we honor God,” he said. “We promote ourselves as a family-oriented entertainment destination. We feel like we have found a niche. If you want to see adult entertainment, there are plenty of places you can go — like Las Vegas. All our theaters have G-rated shows. There is not one show you can’t take anybody to.”

“The bulk of our entertainment is alcohol free,” Presley added. “There are plenty of restaurants you can go to and have a glass of wine, but if go see a show, most likely it will be with Coke and popcorn.”