Casinos in Atlantic City grossed $207 million last month, an 8% declivity from 2019, as players tightened their purse strings. Overall, slot revenues were down 1% on a commensurately lower amount of coin-in. The house played unluckily at the tables, falling 22% on 16% less wagering. For Borgata ($48 million) the numbers were a catastrophic 47% plunge at the tables on 30% less betting and looser hold, compounded by 6% less slot win on 6% less coin-in for a total 18% decline. The Caesars Entertainment threesome tumbled 26%, driven by terrible table win (-47% on 33% less betting) and poor slot performance (-17% on 13% less coin-in). Individually, Caesars Atlantic City plummeted 42.5% to $16 million, Harrah’s Resort slipped 12% to $22.5 million and Tropicana Atlantic City slid 21% to $19 million.
Only two casinos were revenue-positive. Hard Rock Atlantic City skyrocketed 59% to $37 million and Ocean Resort soared 46% to $28.5 million. New-look Bally’s Atlantic City was still down 17% to $11 million, Resorts Atlantic City declined 12.5% to $12 million and Golden Nugget grossed $12 million, a 30% falloff.
Sports betting revenue was a record $115 million on handle of $1.3 billion. (Even Betway made money.) JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff estimates that FanDuel ran away with the market and $56.5 million. DraftKings trailed with $21.5 million, then came Caesars Sportsbook, a distant third with $8 million. It tied with PointsBet ($8 million) and was incrementally ahead of BetMGM. Barstool Sports rounded out the major players with $7.5 million. Basketball betting ($400 million) ran football wagering ($401 million) an extremely close second. “Football gets a lot of attention, but basketball is quietly a monster for New Jersey sportsbooks,” PlayUSA analyst David Danzis wrote.
Internet gambling brought in $117 million on above-average win per day. BetMGM came out first with $34 million, followed by DraftKings ($18 million), Caesars ($14.5 million) and Golden Nugget Online ($10.5 million). Not a good month for the Roman Empire.
Louisiana continues to be in a post-Ida funk, down 9% last month compared to 2019. Casinos grossed $186 million. Subtract two closed riverboats and factor in one less weekend, and the result was probably to be expected. The one market that prospered was Baton Rouge, propelled by L’Auberge Baton Rouge (pictured), which vaulted 41% to $17.5 million. The rising tide also lifted Hollywood Baton Rouge, up 7.5% to $5 million but there’s no saving Belle of Baton Rouge, sinking 37% to $1 million. Top honors in top-grossing Lake Charles went to L’Auberge du Lac, its $29.5 million (+15%) easily besting Golden Nugget ($24.5 million, -6.5%) and Delta Downs ($13 million, -12.5%). Rural Evangeline Downs slipped 9% to $6 million.
Charging ahead 28% to $16.5 million, Margaritaville is the established casino to beat in Shreveport/Bossier City. At $13.5 million, dethroned champ Horseshoe Bossier City was down 17%, while newly rebranded Bally’s Shreveport ($8.5 million, -2%) finished third. Just for the record, Boomtown Bossier won $4 million (-3%), Sam’s Town grossed $3 million (-50.5%) but Louisiana Downs climbed 20% to $3.5 million. Last but hardly least, New Orleans saw near-parity between Harrah’s New Orleans ($13 million) and Boomtown New Orleans ($12.5 million), shocking numbers—and the headline to a banner month for Penn National Gaming. Harrah’s collapsed 51% while Boomtown leapt 35%. Treasure Chest was up 3% to $9 million, Fair Grounds racino down 6.5% to $3.5 million and Amelia Belle gained 6.5% to $3 million.
Senatorial wannabe Adam Laxalt turns out to have been on the payroll of Sheldon Adelson‘s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling and “said he would sign onto a letter circulating among other state attorneys general in support of federal legislation to outright ban online gaming.” That should make interesting conversational fodder when Laxalt comes rattling his tin cup among companies like MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts and, yes, new-look Las Vegas Sands, all invested in … online gaming. His other clients included a poker room in Jacksonville, of all things.
The Palms officially changes hands today, bringing the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to Las Vegas. A hiring fair is promised (1,000 jobs!), with an eye toward a 2Q22 reopening. “We would like to extend a sincere ‘thank you’ to Red Rock Resorts and their leadership team,” stated San Manuel CEO Laurens Vosloo. “We deeply appreciate the support and ongoing partnership they provided as we worked through transition of ownership.” The news comes right on the heels of the grand reopening of the tribe’s flagship resort, Yaamava’. Prospective Palms employees can take heart from the news that San Manuel has received high accolades from the Great Places to Work Institute. Now the burning question becomes whether the tribe plans to operate Palms 2.0 as a union property or not. (We’ll downplay that Las Vegas Raiders sponsorship for the moment.)
Further clarity into Michigan i-gaming receipts came via today’s mail, with BetMGM dominating: $40 million and a 37% share. DraftKings and FanDuel tied with $17 million each. Other contenders were BetRivers ($7 million), Golden Nugget ($6 million) and Barstool Sports ($4.5 million). Factor in the also-rans and the total haul came to $107.5 million. Barstool, incidentally, wins the award for being the thriftiest with promotional dollars when it comes to sports betting, laying out only 1% of its handle—3.5X lower than the competition. That’s smart thinking.
Jottings: Kings Mountain Casino‘s ramshackle temporary facility must be doing bang-up business. It has doubled its slot inventory to 954 and added four electronic-table-game “pods” seating 46. The permanent casino is still in the design phase … Speaking of ETGs, they’re catching on at Pittsburgh Live. Also on the docket is a poker room and a FanDuel-branded fan cave … Need to know quickly whether someone can handle a new job or not? Try virtual reality. That’s what MGM Resorts International is doing. The module will include “difficult guest interactions.” Good idea! … Covid-19 concerns will keep Philippines casinos at 50% of capacity (if you’ve been vaccinated) through the remainder of the year. This is despite new cases being at their lowest point since mid-May 2020 … Iowa punters bet over $9.5 million a day on sports, sparking $287 million in handle last month and $20 million in revenue. That blew past October’s five-weekend number, with Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings in the lead.
I am shocked that the tiny Boomtown is on the heals of the gigantic Harrahs New Orleans? Have they begun converting it to Caesars? Maybe construction disruption?