Category: Casino News

Let’s start with some good news. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff laid out a series of benchmarks for a Las Vegas comeback across the second half of 2021 (one year earlier than anticipated). “We think these data points are indicative of the strong and relatively quick inflection of demand on the LV Strip, with particular importance for group/convention business into the fall,” he wrote. While this rising tide should lift all boats, Greff picked MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment to be particular beneficiaries, with Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming getting a lift off the back end.

For starters, airlines are coming back in a big way. Airlift capacity into Las Vegas is expected to be at 93% of 2019 levels by June and 97% by July, compared to a national average of 85% and 89% for those same months. And in September, when convention season starts in earnest, airlift is expected to be above 2019 levels. As for room rates, 3Q21 prices still lag 2018 by 8% but 6% higher on weekends. Caesars’ occupancy has already risen to 84% in March from on 72% in February and can be expected to keep moving the needle, with weekends sold out “for the foreseeable future.” As payrolls grow in other industries, discretionary income increases and unemployment continues to drop, the benefits trickle down to Boyd and Station.

Continue reading Caesars, MGM lead Vegas recovery; Florida compact dicey

All Sheldon Adelson‘s horses and all Sheldon Adelson’s men couldn’t put Texas megaresorts together. Or, as they said in Brooklyn (in a non-gaming context), wait ’til next year. Two separate bills to authorize everything from full-service casinos to poker rooms died in committee without even getting so much as a vote. The late Adelson put all his eggs in the Texas GOP basket and the party failed to show much gratitude, as the dismal performance of gaming legislation evinces. At least the lower house’s version of the bill got a hearing. No such luck in the state Senate. Even had the Lege gotten its act together, the casino push was an uphill slog, facing an increasingly likely veto from Gov. Greg Abbott (R), never mind the need to obtain a two-thirds supermajority at the 2022 ballot box, had Abbott reversed field. Polling showed majority approval but fell well short of 66%.

Despite the Lege’s truly dismal performance, Las Vegas Sands‘ man in Austin, Andy Abboud, remained optimistic, blowing sunshine up solons’ asses. “We have said from the beginning that we’re committed to Texas for the long haul. We have made great strides this session and have enjoyed meeting with lawmakers about our vision for destination resorts and answering all the questions they have.” Given the short shrift he got from lawmakers, we’re not so sure about Abboud making any “great strides,” and the deployment of literally scores of lobbyists, led by Karen Rove, yielded so little progress that it has to be chalked up as a giant flop. Losers other than Sands included Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta and several Native American tribes who would have qualified for Class III casinos. It’s difficult to scavenge much upside from this result and Abboud might want to think about making some friends on the Democratic side of the aisle. The Texas GOP is so casino-averse that Abboud was ultimately spitting into the wind.

Continue reading Casinos collapse in Texas, advance elsewhere

Massachusetts almost reached 2019 levels, coming up 4% shy with an April gross of $84.5 million. The commonwealth’s three casinos did this despite having to operate at 40% of capacity (all capacity limits will be lifted May 29). Plainridge Park brought up the rear, down 11% with a gross of $12.5 million. MGM Springfield was flat, which is good news considering how it has struggled, posting $22 million win despite an unlucky month at the tables (-32.5%). Encore Boston Harbor (which wasn’t operational in early 2019) rang up $50 million, $29 million from slots and $21 million at the tables. Except for Wynn, JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff still has gloomy forecasts for Plainridge and MGM Springfield this quarter, down 14% and 12% respectively. Encore is predicted to be boffo, +35%.

Slot addict and social influencer Brian Christopher has announced that he’s going to start boycotting casinos that permit smoking … 18 months from now. Or as Americans for Nonsmokers Rights put it “he will prioritize smokefree casinos.” (Does that make it a non-smokers’ non-story?) Christopher visits an average of 40 casinos a year, so he’s going to have to be pretty selective and more or less boycott Las Vegas. He’ll be in a particular quandary when it comes to the Plaza Hotel, which features a Christopher-branded slot lounge filled with his favorite games. Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel told us, “We have nothing to add. It’s not something we are considering right now; however in his area it will go smoke-free on June 1.” So Christopher has already wielded some influence in Glitter Gulch after all.

Continue reading Massachusetts strong; Casino boycott announced

Said JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff “not to worry, money losing buffets are not coming back” to Station Casinos. We can take this as gospel, since he got it from CEO Frank Fertitta III, Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta and CFO Stephen Cootey. He added, “Lower promotional activity is here to stay, per management, and is going back to the basics.” So it’s kind of a bum deal for locals. During the Covid-19 closedown, management tinkered with marketing strategies and will eliminate those thought to have little or no traction with customers. “It feels this pivot away from promos is permanent and is focusing more on social/digital marketing and more player development touches for higher end /spend customers and far less on print, ads, billboards, and free play.”

The other headline item was concrete news on Durango Station. Responding to what Greff described as “investor skepticism” about the project (well-earned, we might add), management busted out details of the $400 million-$500 million casino, which should break ground in early 2022 and be finished by late 2023. The project will be funded entirely from cash flow—i.e., no new debt—including the proceeds of the Palms sale. Reasons to like Durango Station’s prospects include a high Asian-American demographic in the area and the absence of significant competition within a five-mile radius. Furthermore, Greff said that the player base within a three-mile radius will be higher than that for billion-dollar-plus Red Rock Resort, giving him confidence of a 15%-20% return on investment. Way more bang for the buck! Station owns 73 acres at the site but intends to sell 23 of them off to a residential developer. (One of the mistakes that dogged Aliante Station was building it where the population wasn’t.)

Continue reading Station: No more buffets, less free play; Covid? What Covid?

First-quarter results for Wynn Resorts were worse than expected in Macao but better than anticipated in both Las Vegas and Boston, while the company posted a revenue chasm around Wynn Interactive. To shore up the latter, Wynn is merging it with Austerlitz Acquisition Corp., which taps a new source of funding for the venture, among other virtues. They will form a publicly traded company under the Wynn Interactive banner, ticker symbol WBET. Currently in 15 states, WynnBet is confident of reaching 77% of the American public in the near term. Wynn Resorts will have 58% ownership and 72% voting rights in the new entity. In an ironic twist, Greff lowered his 2021 cash flow projections for the parent company due to relative weakness in Macao (when was the last time you heard that?), despite newly elevated ones for Las Vegas and Boston. Yes, American operations are carrying Chinese ones for the time being.

By 2022, Greff expects Las Vegas Strip cash flow (i.e., return on investment) to be 27% higher than banner-year 2019 while Macao limps along at 77% of 2019 levels. Blame it on casino-shy VIP players. The silver lining for Wynn is that Wynn Palace is finally pulling something close to its weight, drawing 1Q21 cash flow of $27.5 million to Wynncore Macau‘s $16.5 million. In order to get pre-Covid revenues without pre-Covid-sized visitation, Wynn is recalibrating its marketing toward premium-mass customers. Mass-market wagering remained 55% below 1Q19 and VIPs played 80% less.

Continue reading Wynn gaining steam; Miami Beach casino juice job dismissed