“Foreign agent.” That’s who Steve Wynn is, according to the Justice Department, which is prepared to sue the disgraced casino mogul if he doesn’t register as an aegis of Red China‘s government. Seems that Steve was carrying water for the ChiComms during Donald Trump‘s administration. Specifically, he was leaning on the White House to extradite a certain Guo Wengui, who sought asylum in our great country back in 2014. The Chinese say Guo is wanted for bribery and sexual assault. And of course we can always take the Beijing government at its word. (*Cough*Wuhan*Cough*) Ultimately, in another chapter of the Trump/Wynn love-hate relationship, The Donald didn’t cede to Wynn’s pressure … perhaps because Guo is card-carrying member of the Mar-a-Lago country club. He’s also in Steve Bannon‘s Rolodex, which obviously didn’t hurt his cause.

According to Bloomberg, “Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, passed in 1938, any person representing the interest of foreign entities in the U.S.—including governments—must disclose their relationship to the Justice Department. They also need to make public all of the activities they’ve done on their behalf and, if applicable, how much they were paid.” Hmmm … Steve Wynn do something untoward? Nah.

Colorado closed out its first full year of sports betting with an April decline, presaging a summer slump that is likely to prevail until football season. Handle was $244.5 million, which left $10.5 million in revenue after promotional credits ($6.5 million) were deducted. “In U.S. sports betting, there isn’t any real substitute for the popularity of the NFL or the NCAA Tournament,” understated Play USA analyst Ian St. Clair. “But even with a monthly decline in wagering, Colorado continues to fare well compared with similarly sized states.” The only real loser in Colorado’s first year of sports wagering is the state tax collector, who only brought in $6.5 million (on $2.3 billion handle and $147 million gross receipts), which some warned may bring a second look from the guvmint. NBA wagering ($84 million) led the Rocky Mountain State in April, distantly followed by baseball ($48 million) “a total likely dampened by the struggles of the Colorado Rockies.” The Colorado Avalanche scared up $10.5 million in hockey wagers and table tennis was almost as popular—$9 million in handle. Just imagine what that latter number will be when the summer Olympics finally roll around.

Let’s start with some good news. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff laid out a series of benchmarks for a Las Vegas comeback across the second half of 2021 (one year earlier than anticipated). “We think these data points are indicative of the strong and relatively quick inflection of demand on the LV Strip, with particular importance for group/convention business into the fall,” he wrote. While this rising tide should lift all boats, Greff picked MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment to be particular beneficiaries, with Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming getting a lift off the back end.

For starters, airlines are coming back in a big way. Airlift capacity into Las Vegas is expected to be at 93% of 2019 levels by June and 97% by July, compared to a national average of 85% and 89% for those same months. And in September, when convention season starts in earnest, airlift is expected to be above 2019 levels. As for room rates, 3Q21 prices still lag 2018 by 8% but 6% higher on weekends. Caesars’ occupancy has already risen to 84% in March from on 72% in February and can be expected to keep moving the needle, with weekends sold out “for the foreseeable future.” As payrolls grow in other industries, discretionary income increases and unemployment continues to drop, the benefits trickle down to Boyd and Station.