Category: Casino News

Setting foot inside Aztec Inn Casino is not for the faint of heart. But its owners think they’re sitting on a gold mine. It and a gaggle of properties that includes Golden Skull Tattoo and Diversity Tattoo is on the market in plots of $30 million each or $60 million for the whole Aztec enchilada. Because the area is somewhat, uh, challenged, it qualifies for tax incentives and there’s no height restriction on development—you’d be next door to the friggin’ Stratosphere, after all! Now, those prices seem a mite aggressive, given the off-Strip location and general dilapidation of the area. But with two acres of CityCenter fetching $80 million, why be timid about one’s asking price? It’s a seller’s market. As for buyers, so far they’re overseas interests who, seeing the chances of gaining a foothold on the Strip proper as being somewhere betwixt slim and none, are creating their own opportunities.

The fix was in at City Hall in Oakland, where the Athletics—despite extracting desired concessions from the city—used the negotiations as a pretext to pull up stakes and move to Las Vegas. Considering that A’s brass was kicking the tires on Clark County ballpark sites the day before the vote was taken is an index of how sincere the team was about staying in California. So it looks like Clark County will be strong-armed into helping subsidize a billion-dollar ballpark, even as it has already made three emergency-fund draws to keep Allegiant Stadium up to date on its bond obligations.

Continue reading Real estate frenzy on the Strip; Barrack busted; Masks redux

Casinos in Atlantic City are having trouble catching a wave from the Great Reopening. Last month’s brick-and-mortar revenues were $214.5 million, 9% down from 2019. Slot win ($154 million) was 8% lower on 11% less coin-in and luck wasn’t with the house at the tables: 16% less revenue ($58.5 million) on only 1% less wagering. Borgata ($56.6 million) was luckier in that respect than most, with its table win flat despite 11% less betting, while slots plunged 20% on 23% less coin-in for an overall -13%. The Caesars Entertainment threesome slid 15%, on 17% lower slot win (18% less handle) and an 8% dip at the tables, where players bet 7% less than two years ago. Caesars Atlantic City fell 14% to $20 million last month, Harrah’s Resort slipped 13% to $21 million and Tropicana Atlantic City tumbled 18% to $21 million.

The only-revenue positive casinos were Ocean Resort, gaining 14% to $23 million (outdoing any Caesars property), and Hard Rock Atlantic City, surging 17% to $35 million. It will take more than new, pink windows to turn around Bally’s Atlantic City, plummeting 30% to $11 million. Also falling on hard times was the Golden Nugget, down 23% to $12 million, which left Resorts Atlantic City, down 11% to $14 million.

Continue reading Atlantic City plays catch-up; Pennsylvania, Michigan flex online muscles

Casino winnings in Indiana came up just a few increments short of $200 million last month, a 13% gain on 2019. Hard Rock Gary came out of the blocks fast, grossing $26 million, although Horseshoe Hammond climbed 7% to retain supremacy at $34.5 million. Consigned to third place in the northern tier, Ameristar East Chicago won $21.5 million, still a 20% surge from 2019. Blue Chip, on the other hand, suffered. It was down 15% to $11 million. It’s Horseshoe’s ballgame to lose.

Farther south, it was more of a mixed bag. Two big gainers were Indiana Grand, up 15% to $24.5 million, and Harrah’s Hoosier Downs, galloping +16% to $18 million. Caesars Southern Indiana also put in a strong showing, up 11.5% to $19.5 million. Hollywood Lawrenceburg ceded 2% to $13 million, while Belterra Resort slipped 9% to $8 million. Tropicana Evansville edged 3% higher to $12 million, Rising Star eked out $4 million, a 6.5% downturn, and French Lick Resort tumbled 17% to $7 million.

Continue reading Indiana, Missouri stay strong; Mixed feelings about buffets

Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli took a gander at the terms of MGM Resorts International‘s purchase/re-sale of Aria and Vdara, and liked what he saw. He reaffirmed his “buy” rating on MGM shares, with a price target of $54. He applauded the deal for three reasons: simplification of MGM’s corporate structure by removing joint-venture partner Infinity World; cash and lots of it; the transaction “allows MGM to better manage its Strip assets, as opposed to receiving fifty cent dollars at a key core asset, as it had been.” Santarelli believes MGM will use at least some of the proceeds to pay the remaining $1.7 billion in CityCenter debt. Considering that it cost MGM $4 billion to build Aria alone, we think the transaction is, at best, a wash, not to mention the death knell for “New Urbanism” on the Las Vegas Strip. Still, when one considers the collapse of the condo market, the slow, slow ramp-up of Crystals and the Harmon Hotel fiasco, MGM is getting out relatively unscathed.

Continue reading CityCenter sale applauded; DraftKings sued twice over

Gaming’s recovery continues unabated in the Free State. Maryland gambling revenues for June were $161.5 million, a 13% gain on 2019. $64 million of that went to MGM National Harbor, up 12% and hoarding 39.5% market share. Maryland Live chugged along with $58.5 million, a 19% gain—and 36% market share—and Hollywood Perryville booked $8 million for a 21% leap. Vaulting 29%, Ocean Downs won $9 million, while Rocky Gap Casino was up 12.5% to $6. Did Gary Loveman build Horseshoe Baltimore on an Indian burial ground? Alone among Maryland casinos it was revenue-negative. It grossed $17 million for a 9% decline. West Virginia casinos finally caught up with the 2019 pace, being only 1% down from that halcyon year. Slot winnings were flat, tables down 6%. At Hollywood Charles Town Races, revenues actually outpaced 2019 by 5%, with a 6% slot gain overcoming an 1% dip at the tables.

It’s highly uncommon in our experience for a Wall Street analyst to put a “sell” rating on a stock but that’s just what Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli did to Penn National Gaming yesterday. Penn has been the darling of The Street ever since it eviscerated the company during the Great Shutdown, which did wonders for its margins. The stock is trading at $72/share and Santarelli put a $31 price target on it. Why? Primarily because he believes Penn’s Internet gambling operations and Barstool Sports are “considerably overvalued” relative to its performance so far. (Shades of DraftKings.) He’s also skeptical of forecasts that call for year after year of revenue growth when he sees an upcoming contraction, especially compared to lean-and-mean 2021. Not even the additions of Hollywood Perryville and two slot parlors in Pennsylvania alleviate his gloom. Penn has tantalized Wall Street with preannouncements of $1.5 billion in 2Q21 revenue, a bit of bare ankle that may have been intended to distract from the issuance of $400 million in new debt.

Continue reading Maryland keeps booming; Penn panned