Category: Casino News

While New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Las Vegas Sands continue to dither about how they might, maybe, possibly have something brewing in Flushing, other players—much lower-profile ones—have been making a move. A consortium of the Chickasaw Indians, Saratoga Casino Holdings, Thor Equities and Legends are pitching a “comprehensive casino, hotel, and entertainment proposal” for Coney Island. Which we think would be a logical spot for gaming and would drive more entertainment dollars to the Rockaway area, especially in cold-weather months. Now, this foursome doesn’t have the name-brand cachet of Caesars Entertainment or Wynn Resorts, both of whom have dibbed Manhattan, but the former is at war with the Theatre District and the latter is evincing cold feet about the whole thing.

We’ll shortly see if newly reelected Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was sincere about being willing to “take a look” at casino gambling in the Lone Star State or if he was stringing Dr. Miriam Adelson along for her money. (We kinda think it was the latter.) Legislation freshly filed by state Sen. Carol Alvarado would authorize a constitutional amendment to permit sports betting and casinos. Sounds good to us … except that it would permit greyhound racing, a pestilence that has been eradicated in most of the United States.

Gaming revenue in Indiana cooled somewhat last month, as casinos banked $207.5 million, a 3% drop from last year, albeit still 16% higher than 2019. (No elaborate 2019 comparisons will be drawn because that year saw two Majestic Star boats in operations and no Hard Rock, so it’s apples and oranges.) No fiscal worries for Hard Rock Northern Indiana, way out in front with $36 million, a 12% leap. Closest competitor Horseshoe Hammond ceded 8% to finish with a still-robust $29 million, while Ameristar East Chicago tumbled 23.5% to $16 million. Blue Chip rounded out the northern tier with $11 million, a 12% drop. Horseshoe Indianapolis had an excellent month, up 2.5% to $28 million, while Harrah’s Hoosier Downs slipped 7% to $20 million.

Wall Street analysts were across-the-board upbeat on Wynn Resorts‘ 3Q22 performance, as high-end casinos in Las Vegas continue to flourish. Although he categorized himself as “neutral,” given the evolving situation in Macao, analyst Joseph Greff of J.P. Morgan encapsulated third-quarter sentiment with “Upside in Las Vegas and smaller than forecasted losses in Macau.” Sounds pretty good to us. More specifically, Wynn beat expectations, largely on the strength of Sin City, backstopped by Boston. Interestingly, as Greff said, in Macao the company’s casinos—absent the junket middlemen—picked up a solid amount of direct VIP play during Golden Week, better even than in 2019. (Its retail component recovered to three-fourths of pre-Covid business.)

Greff was dismissive of the significance of Tilman Fertitta‘s big buy-in of WYNN shares, writing, “we think this relates more to an industry person seeing value in the stock rather than eventually angling for a transaction or M&A.” Wynn CEO Craig Billings agreed, telling investors, “What I can say is kudos to him, because he’s done quite well since it appears he has started acquiring during the second quarter when the stock was excessively cheap. It’s actually right around when we were buying back stock as well. It’s a great recognition of the value of our equity.”