Category: Casino News

Say what you like about Michigan, it’s giving New Jersey and Pennsylvania a literal run for their money in Internet gambling. Win/day is just over $3 million, close behind the Keystone State’s $3.15 million and challenging the Garden State’s $3.65 million. Sports betting handle last month was $359.5 million, which (before promotional outlays) translates into $32 million in revenue, a figure dwarfed by $95 million in i-gaming win. Market leader in handle was FanDuel/MotorCity Casino with 30% ($107 million), followed by BetMGM‘s 26% ($92.5 million), DraftKings‘ 21% ($76.5 million) and—losing a bit of ground—Barstool Sports‘ 11% ($39.5 million). Others showing up on the radar were PointsBet/Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians ($14 million), William Hill/Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians ($11 million), FoxBet/Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians ($7 million), BetRivers/Little River Band of the Ottawa Indians ($5 million), Twin Spires/Hannahville Indian Community ($3 million) and WynnBet/Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians ($2 million).

As for win, it broke in BetMGM’s favor ($9 million), with FanDuel posting $8 million, DraftKings $6 million and Barstool $5 million. Of the also-rans only PointsBet and William Hill cracked the $1 million mark. Said one analyst, “The top three have separated themselves from the pack, but BetMGM has differentiated itself in generating heavy action while preserving its win with less in promotions.”

Continue reading Michigan sports betting, i-gaming surge; AGA chases renegade slots

Casino revenues were $270.5 million last month in Pennsylvania, down 22% from March 2019, another exception to the wave of recovery sweeping the country. Slots accounted for $199 million, tables for $71.5 million. Casinos were held to 50% of capacity, moving to 75% this month. King of the terrestrial casinos was Parx, far and away the leader with $53 million, only 6% down. Philadelphia Live may have done ‘only’ $20 million but solidified its hold on second place in the greater Philly market. Rivers Philadelphia was just under $20 million but down 28%, Harrah’s Philadelphia grossed $16.5 million, a 34% tumble and Valley Forge Casino Resort notched $10.5 million, a 19% slippage. In other major markets, Wind Creek Bethlehem won $34 million, a 33% falloff, Rivers Pittsburgh did $27.5 million, down 23% and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs dipped 14% to $18.5 million. Mount Airy defended its market share best, off 4.5% to $15.5 million.

Elsewhere, Presque Isle Downs fell 21.5% to $10 million, The Meadows racino tumbled 37% to $15 million, Hollywood Penn National slipped 17% to $20 million, and Live Pittsburgh grossed $8 million (no comparison available). Oh, and little Lady Luck Nemacolin slid 26.5% to $2 million.

Continue reading Pennsylvania booms and busts, Massachusetts lags

All-important Baby Boomer customers are ‘trickling‘ back to Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. That’s the latest positive augury for Sin City. Better still, the destination-wedding biz is “bursting,” per Forbes, and what place is more synonymous with a getaway nuptial than Vegas? Almost 50% of couples surveyed who were planning to tie the knot in 2020 are now looking at either renewing their vows this year or at least holding the receptions they couldn’t last year. Throw in family and college reunions, and all the arrows are trending upward. At the risk of stating the obvious, “Wedding parties can drive a lot of business to hotels and resorts, including booking ballroom or outdoor event space, having food and beverage offered throughout the celebration, which often takes place over a couple of days, and of course the room reservations for the wedding party and guests.”

4Q20 hotel business was at only at 56.5% of pre-Coronavirus levels but, two rounds of stimulus later, those numbers are certain to be burgeoning. Even business travel is looking better, expected to rise 21% this year. Of course, conferences and trade shows require a considerable outlay, and the shift to virtual meetings will not entirely recede. Business travelers aren’t expecting a return to normal until 2022 or ’23, maybe never. We’ve seen this in Las Vegas, where Las Vegas Strip hotel rates are rebounding dramatically on weekends (along with occupancy levels) but continue to languish midweek. Still, if you’re in a REIT, as much of the gaming industry now is, it’s a good time for you. Writes economist Calvin Schnure, “Lodging/resort REITs have fully recovered their losses from the early months of the pandemic, and the improvements in the fundamentals for leisure and business travel are encouraging for future gains as the economy—and the wedding business—gets back to normal.”

Continue reading Vegas hears wedding bells; Sahara upscales; Mega-Jottings

That’s how JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff described the online sports-betting bill enacted by the New York State Lege. The latter essentially caved to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), giving control of OSB to the state lottery. Instead of the one-operator solution proposed by Cuomo there will be … wait for it … two. Big whoop. Those two casinos will be enabled to host four ‘skins’ on their Internet platforms. So, as we predicted, somebody (maybe a lot of somebodys) are going to be left out in the cold. The ‘Net platform providers will each pay Albany $25 million for a 10-year concession plus an annual levy of $5 million to the host casino “to alleviate the constitutional requirement that sports wagers are placed at casinos.” No tax rate has been announced but both Greff and Credit Suisse‘s Ben Chaiken anticipate it will be steep, probably in the 50% range, another Cuomo object of desire.

The cure may be worse than the disease. Greff, for one, finds himself with more questions than answers. For instance, what’s the difference between a platform provider and an OSB operator (Cuomo tipped his hand here by taking a meeting with DraftKings)? The bill calls for a minimum of four skins but what’s the maximum? Who gets to choose the skins, the state or the private sector? Will Native American tribes be eligible to compete? Will they sue the state and how might this delay the launch? Greff foresees the Empire State going live by the start of NFL season, as the bid process will begin July 1 with a truncated, 30-day RFP period. Regulators, says Chaiken, have five months to decide, which kind of shoots that NFL-kickoff target in the keister. The New York Gaming Commission gets to play King Solomon, depending on how much Cuomo tries to interfere.

Continue reading “In a word, messy”