Category: Casino News

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Silence of the ponies; New boss for Virgin, new Mirage hope

Kentucky Derby fallout continues to reverberate around Churchill Downs, leading to a 2Q23 earnings miss. A mass die-off of horses during the Run for the Roses caused the flagship track to be closed and races shifted to Ellis Park. Cash flow for the company slipped to $364 million, 4% under Wall Street‘s consensus forecast. Net revenues ($769 million) were comparably down. All that being said, live and “historical” racing were the least off-pace, down 3%, versus online TwinSpires‘ 13% and casino gambling’s 4% declivity.

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Michigan hops, Bally’s flops and Stitt’s in hot water

Detroit casinos continue to be outperformed by their Internet rivals. Last month saw $151 million in online gambling revenue against $102 million from terrestrial, private-sector casinos. Sports betting chipped in $18 million. Revenue for the three Motown casinos was up 4% from last year, led by MGM Grand Detroit‘s $47 million—but 3% down. By contrast, Hollywood Detroit is coming on hard, vaulting 37% to $22.5 million. That left $34.5 million for a comfy second place by MotorCity.

Also first online was BetMGM with $49 million, trailed by DraftKings ($34 million), FanDuel ($29 million), BetRivers ($9 million), Caesars Entertainment ($6.5 million), WynnBet ($5 million) and Barstool Sports ($3.5 million). Sports wagering handle of $228 million boiled down to $10 million for FanDuel. Nobody was even close, with BetMGM making $3 million, DraftKings $2 million and no one else cracking our $1 million Mendoza Line.

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Walk of Shame; F-blue aflame; More Stitt stupidity

Shame on the District of Columbia. Its embattled leadership has yanked away $200,000 in funding for treatment of disordered gambling. You’d think that would be a priority item for a city whose government is partly funded by sports betting … but you’d think wrong. Problem gamblers hoping to get help close to home have received a ‘Drop dead’ message from City Hall. “The Department of Behavioral Health is committed to providing a range of services in the public behavioral health care system to meet the needs of all residents,” a spokesman proclaimed airily. It’s that those services are no longer germane to problem-gambling treatment.

You’ll have to fall back on Gamblers Anonymous or the National Council for Problem Gambling‘s helpline. “Treatment and support services for problem gambling disorder currently are available through a network of DBH-certified community-based providers,” said the mouthpiece, deftly passing the buck. What he neglects to mention is that if you don’t have private insurance you’re pretty much SOL.

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Louisiana still sinking; Insult from the Lege; Japan follies

Horseshoe Lake Charles continues to prop up Louisiana casino revenues, which were down 2% last month compared to -6.5% if Horseshoe is subtracted. The statewide gross was $196 million. Visitation overall was up 3% but gamblers clutched their purse strings, spending 4.5% less on average. Lake Charles was led by the Golden Nugget, down 2% but winning $29 million. Close behind was L’Auberge du Lac with $27 million, feeling the Horseshoe hurt with an 8.5% decline. Horseshoe brought in $9 million while Delta Downs was good for $14 million, beating the odds with a 2% climb.

In New Orleans, the evolving Harrah’s New Orleans dipped 5.5% but still crushed the competition with $20 million. Boomtown New Orleans made $10 million, off 7%, while Treasure Chest dropped 12% to $7 million and Fair Grounds racino stumbled 13.5% to $3.5 million. Outlying Amelia Belle (pictured) was down 8% to $2.5 million whilst Evangeline Downs was off 2% to $6 million.

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Casinos boffo everywhere: Unite-Here dumbassery

Beating Wall Street expectations comfortably, Las Vegas Sands reported cash flow of $973 million yesterday. Wall Street had expected $939 million from the second quarter while a more optimistic Joseph Greff of J.P. Morgan had projected $964 million. Macao-derived revenues continue to climb, hitting $530 million for 2Q23 (Greff had anticipated $548 million). Mass-market play continues to be Sands’s savior, with premium mass at 93% of pre-pandemic levels while bread-and-butter gamblers have achieved 77% of their prior volume. June was particularly strong for Macao, with a boffo $200 million in EBITDA achieved in the final month of the quarter. However, the Street expects far more from the third and fourth quarters: $617 million and $701 million respectively. Interestingly, while Chinese provinces are still below 2019 visitation numbers, Hong Kong players are all the way back and then some—102% of where they were before a little ditty called Covid-19.

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Atlantic City, Massachusetts up, Illinois down; Crime fails to pay

Atlantic City rebounded nicely in June, up 5.5% to $241.5 million. Table game winnings were flat, despite 3.5% larger wagering than last year (so the players made out well) and slot win jumped 7% on a commensurately higher amount of coin-in. That extra weekend day this year sure didn’t hurt. Borgata approached its 20th anniversary (100 in dog years) stronger than ever, leaping 11.5% to $60.5 million. Ocean Casino Resort made a game stab at second place, vaulting 17.5% to $35 million, but even in a down month (-3%), Hard Rock Atlantic City staved it off with $43 million.

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F-blue, Rio approved; Indiana down again; Biden smoked

Fontainebleau owner Jeffrey Soffer and top exec Brett Mufson are certain to be approved after their audition for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. And why not? Aside from an ancient tax issue involving the Town Square mall, there’s nothing untoward about Soffer’s application. (Trivia question: Upon what casino’s gravesite was Town Square built?) The only beef we have is the NGCB’s habit of waiting until the last possible minute to approve such applications. If something truly noisome turned up it would be too late to address it properly. The Control Board essentially takes itself hostage to the unstoppable momentum generated by large casino projects. As for the total budget for 16-year construction folie de grandeur that is F-blue, nobody’s talking. We have to defer to Citizen Kane‘s stentorian newsreel description of Charles Foster Kane‘s Xanadu: “Cost? NO MAN CAN SAY!” However, we strongly suspect that F-blue will outstrip Resorts World Las Vegas as the costliest megaresort in Las Vegas history, were the tab to be honestly accounted.

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Missouri buoyant; Caesars sees no evil; Saudis denied

Gambling revenues lifted Missouri‘s riverboats 2% last month, reaching $155 million. Actual visitor spend was flat but 2% more people visited casinos, which is a more-than-acceptable tradeoff. Despite a 1% dip, Ameristar St. Charles (above) was the state leader, grossing $24 million. Hollywood St. Louis picked up business lost by Ameristar and then some, leaping 12.5% to $20.5 million. It sister property, River City, was flat at $20 million, while Horseshoe St. Louis vaulted 16% to $13 million. In Kansas City, there was a major setback at Argosy Riverside, down 10% to $13.5 million. Bally’s Kansas City continues to capture market share, jumping 16% to $11 million, the only casino in town to improve on last year’s numbers. Ameristar Kansas City slipped 1.5% to $16.5 million and Harrah’s North Kansas City slid 5.5% to $13.5 million. Outstate, Century Casinos was flat in Caruthersville ($3.5 million) and 2% down in Cape Girardeau ($6 million), while Isle of Capri Boonville climbed 5% to $7 million.

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Bellagio bargain?; Shame on Maine; Trump seen slumming

Yup, it’s true. Blackstone Group is shopping the real estate assets of Bellagio as it draws down its Las Vegas Strip exposure. At least one Wall Street analyst thinks this would send a signal to the REIT industry that Strip real estate is “undervalued.” MGM Resorts International still holds 5% of the $4.3 billion megaresort and there’s no word whether that sliver is in play, though apparently not. At any rate, CB Richard Ellis analyst John DeCree decreed that a “Bellagio sale could be positive for valuation signal. Given the iconic nature of Bellagio, we suspect any real estate investor with the financial means would likely be at the table, even for a minority stake in the asset.” He added that “a partial sale could appeal to a broader set of interested buyers, considering the potential price tag,” which he did not specify. DeCree strongly implied that Blackstone would get its 2019 purchase price back, which hardly seems like a strong incentive to sell.

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Rio makeover due; DraftKings stiffs you; Las Vegas deemed #1

Having been spared being the next home of the miserable Oakland Athletics, now The Rio faces the question of whether there’s life after Caesars Entertainment. To that end, owner Dreamscape Cos. is going to try to go it alone as a casino operator. We wish them luck because they’re going to need it. Operating a casino in Las Vegas is not for the faint of experience. It puts a bucketful of problems in the lap of President Eric Birnbaum. Dreamscape says its aim is “to preserve the property’s bones and honor its legacy.” So far so good. Making a go of an off-Strip resort won’t be easy, as the newish owners of Palms Casino Resort and the many chefs over at Virgin Las Vegas could tell you. (Hell, Mohegan Sun is quite candid in admitting that Virgin is struggling as a casino.)

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