Casino revenue from the Boardwalk fell 6% last month, reaching $272 million, 2% below where it was before Covid-19 struck. Casinos took a double-digit hit at the tables, down 10%, and it was downright dreadful for the Caesars Entertainment threesome, whose slot win fell 14% and table win dropped 23%. Such are the consequences of being overexposed in a fickle market. Harrah’s Resort got slammed extra-hard, plunging 24% to $19 million. Caesars Atlantic City did only slightly better, tumbling 19.5% to $20 million, while Tropicana Atlantic City slipped but 4% to $23 million.
Borgata dipped 3% but reigned supreme with $76 million, whilst Ocean Casino Resort remained stuck in third with an otherwise enviable $36.5 million (-3%). Those customers must have fled to Hard Rock Atlantic City, up 3% to $54.5 million. As for the grind joints, player fickleness took its toll on Bally’s Atlantic City, plummeting 22.5% to $13 million. Resorts Atlantic City gained ground, up 2% to $15.5 million and Golden Nugget was flat at $14 million.
iGaming was boffo, leaping 26% to $195.5 million. DraftKings/Golden Nugget outshone BetMGM, $50 million to $45.5 million, while FanDuel hung with $39 million, as did Caesars Palace Online with $17.5 million. BetRivers finished in the money ($6.5 million), as did Hollywood Casino ($3 million), while BallyBet—quarterly boasting notwithstanding—was invisible. Sports betting revenue, added by tight, 12% hold, vaulted 31% to $80 million, although handle only rose 11%. Here, FanDuel’s $32 million was tops, followed by DraftKings ($26 million), then BetMGM ($6 million), Caesars Sportsbook ($3.5 million), Fanatics ($2.5 million) and ESPN Bet ($2.5 million). BetRivers fell just below our cutoff point.
The misfortunes of Bally’s Atlantic City come despite a raft of improvements—and a mass defection from the marketing department can’t be helping. Bally’s has added live music, including a pianist outside Park Place Prime and a wandering saxophone player inside it. But the steakhouse is now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, causing one to wonder how it will hang on in the winter. (Weekends only?) The resident summer show, Disco Inferno, is apparently proving to be a tough sell: $30 gets you two tickets instead of the advertised one. Our correspondent calls Disco Inferno “decent.” Jerry Longo’s Meatballs & Martinis is also reportedly slow: “The last time we were there, a couple sat down, looked at the menu and left. How’s $30 for spaghetti with one meatball? Too high a price point for what you get.” As for gambling inventory, a raft of new slots in the high-limit room has not grown the number of players, we’re told.
Other additions at Bally’s include a new rewards center, next to the gambling floor. A buffet was supposed to be added to the player’s club lounge but an employee told our correspondent that “it failed the city inspection.” “I suggested the bribe wasn’t big enough. The employee agreed.” Ah, New Jersey! Elsewhere in the Bally’s Corp. empire, Bally’s Dover in beautiful Delaware held a four-day music festival this month. Number of music festivals in Atlantic City: 0.
On a sad note, developer Bart Blatstein has lost his son and right-hand man, Ryan Blatstein, aged only 39. “As you know, Bart Blatstein is a champion for the city of Atlantic City,” Mayor Marty Small (D) said. “And Ryan was there with him every step of the way.” Let’s hope this tragedy doesn’t dim the elder Blatstein’s belief in the Boardwalk.
As for Atlantic City proper, it’s having a home lottery. Yes, the city is virtually giving away houses to get people to live there: “Open to any city resident who has never purchased a house and who has good enough credit and a job, the lottery will give 10 qualified people the right to purchase a new $400,000 home for as little as $125,000.” Judging from what we hear about the unfilled potholes in A.C., either Trenton or Washington, D.C. must be footing the bill for this caper.
While we were vacationing in Pennsylvania, we took in a Philadelphia Phillies game (they lost, even though we brought our very own Philly Phanatic) and afterwards visited Philadelphia Live. The slot floor is every bit as good—if not as vast—as what you’d see in Las Vegas and it was fairly busy for a Monday night. The strategic location near three sports stadiums is clearly paying dividends for the leading downtown-Philadelphia casino. What’s not so charming is a recent promotion that offered Phillies pint glasses … if you can rack up 750 tier credits. The Friday promo would have required a $750 buy-in just for four beer glasses. Better you should take your chances on eBay.
Jottings: Embattled Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden is doubling down on ESPN Bet. He told Wall Street analysts that he is counting on football season and an improved fantasy-sports app to turn the tide. The good news was that ESPN Bet would generate negative ROI of between merely $460 million and $510 million. “Our biggest losses in digital are behind us,” proclaimed Snowden. Meanwhile, Penn revenue plummeted 13.5% for 2Q24. No, nothing wrong there … The spendthrift Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority has flung millions upon millions of dollars at social-media influencers (read: anybody with a YouTube account). Talented and tireless gadfly Ira David Sternberg has a few ideas on how the money could be better spent … Forget about consenting to have your patron data shared with law enforcement, at least in Singapore. To combat money laundering, Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands are now forking your information over straight to City Hall … It’s Tarnished Dome Redux. Notre Dame University has a gambling scandal in its men’s swimming program, which is going to be hit with a suspension as a consequence. According to Global Gaming Business, “the team essentially created its own sportsbook to wager on their performance,” including that of future Olympian Chris Giuliano …
Such is the difficulty of finding a generally acceptable site for multiple new casinos in New York City that “the entire much-ballyhooed bidding war may collapse on itself.” That would mean upgrades for existing Resorts World New York City and MGM Empire City, but no third license, as promised. Terms like “political suicide” are being bandied about regarding casino advocacy. One project that might beat the jinx is Caesars Entertainment‘s Times Square proposal. 17 union have aligned in favor of the repurposing of the Winter Garden theater for gambling … BetMGM has found a way to jimmy open the Brazil iGaming market. It will partner with media giant Grupo Global (70 million daily users) to spread the MGM brand throughout the country …
When Harrah’s New Orleans becomes Caesars New Orleans (’bout time) it will boast a Nobu restaurant as part of its amenity array. A New Orleans food writer visited the new bistro and found its cuisine promising if not fully aligned with its new locale … Circa Sports has debuted in Kentucky, adding a book in Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs to its list of affiliated properties. It’s a temporary sports book, with a permanent iteration due in a year … Ameristar St. Charles is expanding, as part of a wider capex initiative at Boyd Gaming. The casino will add another 40,000 square feet of convention space, as well as a new eatery, a rebranded steakhouse, a revamped sports bar and a refresh of the property’s 397 hotel rooms … Resorts World Las Vegas turns out to be, as everyone suspected, “Casino A” in the Mathew Bowyer plea bargain. The Nevada Gaming Control Board lowered the boom on Resorts World last week, essentially accusing it of running an outlaw operation and turning a blind eye to criminal customers. Pleading its innocence, Resorts World claimed it was “actively communicating with the GCB to resolve these issues.” That’s corporate-speak for ‘Let’s make a deal.’ More next week.