Casino revenues are finally cooling off around the country, later than Wall Street expected. Ohio was down 5% last month, reaching $204.5 million—yet still 28% higher than pre-Covid April 2019. So the sky is definitely not falling. Two racinos defied the Buckeye State trend. MGM Northfield Park was up 3.5% to $26.5 million, easily the best in the state, and Miami Valley Gaming hopped 2% to $20.5 million. Hardest-hit was Scioto Downs, falling 12% to $20 million, along with Belterra Park, plunging 13% to $7.5 million. Metro casinos all ceded ground, with Hollywood Columbus off 5% to $23 million and Hollywood Toledo plunging 9.5% to $19 million. Jack Cleveland slipped 5% to $22 million and Hard Rock Cincinnati tumbled 8% but made $22.5 million.
The remaining racinos were led by Jack Thistledown, off 3% to $17 million. Hollywood Dayton ($13 million) was outgrossed by Hollywood Mahoning Valley ($14 million), as they slipped 7.5% and 4.5% respectively. Sports betting of $522 million boiled down to $62 million in revenue and already the action has coalesced around but six operators. FanDuel outpaced DraftKings, $28 million to $17 million. Bet365 posted a surprising $5 million, rivaled by BetMGM‘s $5 million. Caesars Sportsbook garnered $2 million, as did Barstool Sports.
Our man in Atlantic City has been busy, filing a report from the Tropicana Atlantic City, where Caesars Entertainment should be wrapping up renovations. “The carpet is attractive and new,” reports. “The rest of the place looks the same.” That’s too bad. He was underwhelmed by the dining/retail mall The Quarter (above), finding it small by Las Vegas standards. As for the Trop’s food court, it “also has a very small area of the casino and has the original carpet. The buffet was replaced by Hash House A Go Go. And nothing says ‘food court’ better than a Hooters. [However] the combination of restaurants inside the casino, inside The Quarter and the lower level ‘food court’ gives Tropicana the most food outlets of any casino in A.C., and one of them is open 24 hours a day.”
Over at the Golden Nugget, the price was right (comped) and the show reportedly excellent when Elvis Presley impersonator Dean Z took the stage. Anybody remember Trump’s Castle? It later became Trump Marina and then the Golden Nugget, when Trump Entertainment Resorts was in its protracted death throes. Reproduced above is a photo from a souvenir book displaying the Castle’s blinged-out decor. The conspicuous use of onyx and gold leaf are pretty much what you’d expect from The Donald, albeit employed in somewhat better taste than we’ve come to expect from the developer Spy Magazine immortally dubbed a “short-fingered vulgarian.”
Like King Canute commanding the ocean’s waves to recede, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission sent a ridiculous letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding that he crack down on illegal, offshore gambling sites. Clearly not being versed in the writings of Richard Schuetz or I. Nelson Rose, the MGC seems to naively think that Garland’s reach extends overseas. Their entreaty would be better aimed at Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and even then our allies (to say nothing of our enemies) would look askance at Uncle Sam meddling in their internal affairs and telling them how to run their economies.
“Illegal, offshore gambling operators are not held to these same standards by any regulatory authority, and often take advantage of the legalized landscape in jurisdictions such as Massachusetts to attract customers to their products,” Bay State regulators wailed, leaving the question of how Garland is to do their bidding begging. Do we endorse unregulated, online sites? Obviously not. But the MGC is having sufficient trouble overseeing the industry within Massachusetts and would be well-advised to butt out of international affairs until it has its own house in order—and maybe not even then.
Big Gaming took one step forward and two steps back last week, with regard to smoking. Noxious tobacco fumes are unwelcome at brand-new Gila River Santan Mountain Casino, which is debuting as a windowed, smokeless facility. As Americans for Nonsmokers Rights President Cynthia Hallett said, “This is a commonsense decision that protects employees and guests from the dangerous health effects of secondhand smoke. We encourage other casinos to follow their lead and make the same decision, because it’s good for health and good for business, too.”
The two steps back were traced in Shreveport, where craven city councilors bowed to industry pressure and reinstated smoky air in the city’s casinos. ANR is now joined by the NAACP in putting pressure on Mayor Tom Arceneaux to veto the misguided resolution. Wrote the NAACP, “With Shreveport’s gaming workforce comprising largely of women and Black Americans–as touted by the casinos themselves, it is of grave concern to the NAACP that so many of our constituents–yours and ours, will again have to make a difficult decision about their health and livelihood. We cannot allow the casinos to market themselves as being champions of social responsibility and then allow them to recklessly undermine the very protections that their employees need to stay healthy and reach health equity.” Let’s hope Arceneaux is listening to something other than the clatter of coins.
Belated congratulations to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who have made the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in their history. Las Vegas may be a good town for professional hockey but it’s only the 20th-best city for puck fans, according to WalletHub. Golden Knights ticket prices are relatively wallet-friendly, being the 23rd-highest in the NHL. But although the Knights lead the league in attendance, fan engagement is ranked only 19th. What gives? Jaded already, Sin City?