Author: David Mckee

Last month saw a slight decline in Atlantic City casino revenues, down 2% to $246.5 million. Before we break out the crying towels, note that this is 10% better than the casinos were doing at the same point in 2019. Meanwhile, Internet gambling (+21%) and sports betting (+13%) marched upward. Only two casinos, however, were revenue-positive. Ocean Casino Resort leapt a whopping 29% to $39.5 million and Hard Rock Atlantic City gained 7% to gross $47 million. Borgata retained its top spot with $54 million but plunged 13%, a worrisome number. Despite a much-vaunted spate of renovations, the Caesars Entertainment threesome is settling into second-class status, perhaps the consequence of trying to hang onto too much gambling inventory. The trio was all bunched closely together, led by Harrah’s Resort‘s $22 million (-4%), followed by Caesars Atlantic City (-4.5%) and Tropicana Atlantic City (-8%), both around $21.5 million.

Gone are the capering jesters of the 2023 Global Gaming Expo, dispersed for another year until they reconvene to shake their cap and bells. One of the benefits (aside from the obvious economic ones) of having 25,000 gaming professionals descend upon Las Vegas was that it gave Wall Street analysts a chance to chat up the big boys in person. One such was Deutsche Bank boffin Carlo Santarelli, who managed to meet with at least six major companies. We break down his reports as follows …

Having been around a quarter century, it’s about time Sunset Station got a facelift from Station Casinos. Not that we mean to imply the old gal has been neglected. Far from it. But she’s due for refreshing. And she’ll get it, too. Back when Sunset Station debuted, the place was protested by local do-gooders. They saw in Sunset’s imitation of the architecture of Antonio Gaudi intimations of satanism. Now, the Fertitta Brothers have made their fair share of Faustian bargains over the years but they’re good Catholic lads, benefactors of Bishop Gorman High School. Which is a fancy way of saying they got a bum rap.

Turmoil continues to plague the Urban One/Churchill Downs casino campaign in Richmond. Or should the billing be reversed? That’s at the core of a brilliantly researched op-ed piece by Joshua Stanfield, who casts a gimlet eye over the project’s financials. Seems that Urban One and CHDN are soft-pedaling the Black-ownership angle in the current election campaign … and with good reason: African-American equity in the new project has gone from a near-total amount in 2021 to 47% this time around. Buried in a footnote on the official paperwork for Richmond Grand Casino & Resort is the disclosure that Urban One has $50 million in borrowing capacity to put toward the $562.5 million casino. Churchill Downs has $1.2 billion. Who’s likelier to end up with a majority stake?

August was an unremarkable month, in terms of percentage changes in Las Vegas‘ gambling scene. The Las Vegas Strip was a point up from last year (to $667 million), locals casinos a point down ($247.5 million). That being said, it was the biggest August that Sin City has ever seen. Strip slots won 3% more despite 1.5% less coin-in, while non-baccarat table games dipped 1.5% on 5.5% less wagering. The difference maker was baccarat, where the house played lucky. Win leapt 24% on 6.5% larger betting. Locals slot revenue slipped 3.5% on 3% less coin-in, while tables jumped 15% on marginally (-1.5%) lower wagering. Compared to 2019, the Strip vaulted 28% while the locals numbers were a 40% moonshot. Visitation to Vegas was up 4% to 3.3 million, if still 7% below 2019 numbers. Occupancy levels in hotels averaged 80% (90% on weekends, 77% midweek) but convention trade (647,000 souls) was booming, up 64% from the previous autumn. Another major differentiator was air traffic, up 4% from 2019, if flat from last year.