Now that the smartest man in the room has left the building permanently, we continue to wait for Wall Street‘s reaction to Sheldon Adelson‘s demise. Hearing none, we move on to varying degrees of decline in regional gaming, once thought impervious to the Covid-19 pandemic. It wasn’t so bad in Missouri, where revenues slipped 8.5%. Boyd Gaming properties held serve, flat year/year but Penn National Gaming took a 24% tumble, while Caesars Entertainment edged 3.5% down. The statewide gross was $134 million, with slots ($116 million) down 7.5% and table games ($18 million) off 13%. Statewide champ was Ameristar St. Charles, up 8.5% to $24 million. Neighboring Hollywood St. Louis plunged 25% to $15 million. Caesars did well at Lumiere Place, up 8% to $14 million. River City (Penn) crashed 29% to $14 million.
Over in Kansas City, only Bally Corp. was revenue-positive at Isle of Capri Kansas City, leaping 18% to $6.5 million. Ameristar Kansas City fell 10% to $14 million and Harrah’s North Kansas City was off 11.5% to $13 million. Penn was slightly more fortunate than in St. Louis, taking in $12.5 million at Argosy Riverside a -14.5% drop. Caesars slipped 8% at Isle of Capri Boonsville, to $6 million, and Century Casinos was 2% down in Caruthersville ($3.5 million) but 14.5% up in Cape Girardeau ($6 million). Independent St. Jo Frontier had an unfortunate month, falling 20.5% to $3 million but Mark Twain Casino jumped 19% to $3 million. Such are the vagaries of small-market gaming.
New CDC guidelines on the Covid vaccine distribution are an exponential improvement, the only path forward for all the casinos and the entire hospitality industry is vaccination, this open/closed circular exercise does zero to get to the root of the problem. Roll up your sleeves, the vaccines are safe, free, and they represent a “normal” future.