Back on Jan. 25, we wrote that Bally’s Corp. CEO Lee Fenton was “possibly laying the groundwork for his own exit,” when he said, The pandemic boosted our business and we continued to hire at full pelt. I now can see that we may have over-hired in some areas and I take full responsibility for that.” This coincided with the sacking of 15% of Bally’s staff, followed today by Fenton falling on his sword. Although he’s technically CEO until March 31, Fenton wasn’t even allowed a voice in the official press release, his role being usurped by CEO-to-be Robeson Reeves. The latter comes from the company’s interactive side, which is where the problems are concentrated. Brick-and-mortar prexy George Papanier‘s job is safe.

When we were penning the editor’s note for the February issue of Casino Life, we predicted that overkill in sports betting marketing was ripe to bring a backlash. But it happened sooner than we ever expected. Now we don’t know if Rep. Paul Tonko (D) is a liberal but he’s certainly a do-gooder, having just introduced a bill in Congress that would ban all electronic forms of advertising for sports wagering. No TV commercials, no radio ads, not even Internet billboards. Anything governed by the Federal Communications Commission would be off-limits. Even if you’re sick and tired of Kevin Hart barking about “free bets” and want to hurl a brick through your 75-inch screen, this qualifies as an extreme legislative overreaction, destroying the village in order to save it—which seems to be the idea.

Station Casinos posted impressive 4Q22 numbers—if not as impressive to Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli as Boyd Gaming‘s. Still, net revenues were up 2% and cash flow improved 3.5% (Boyd did 7% and 13%, respectively.) Santarelli liked Station’s improved margins “as non-gaming revenue growth offset the modest casino revenue contraction in the period.” (Higher ADRs and food prices didn’t hurt.) He continued, “While the results could be perceived as being below recent expectations, we see limited signs of headwinds in the Las Vegas locals market, continued promotional disciplines across the market, and we believe the [Station] development pipeline remains a compelling attribute to the story.” He ratcheted his price target upward from $51/share to $53, applauding the company for having “the strongest organic growth pipeline in gaming.”