We have terrible news … as in Terrible’s is coming back to Primm, to try and revive the corpse of the erstwhile casino town. As you know, Primm and its $400 million price tag was the undoing of Herbst Gaming during the Great Recession. The Herbst boys grossly overpaid for three down-at-heels casinos and never recovered. Herbst got kicked out in 2010 and now is being positioned as the unlikely savior of the tumbleweed magnet. You might say Primm went from having no chance a couple of weeks ago to having a ghost of a chance now.
On the plus side, Terrible’s does know the market, albeit from a long time ago now. And the Herbsts have had 16 years in which to ponder their mistakes. Besides, their business plan (centering on a reopening of Primm Valley Resort) is a hell of a lot better than that of gambling novice LV Petroleum, which was bent on resurrecting dusty, dilapidated, disreputable Whiskey Pete’s as its flagship. Try not to laugh too hard about that. Even so, Howard Stutz‘s coverage for the Nevada Independent doesn’t raise one’s hopes too high.
Already, Terrible’s has Nevada regulators bending over backwards (or maybe just bending over) to expedite a license. After all, the Nevada Gaming Control Board labors under the notion that it works for the casino industry as its obedient servent. Witness Chairman Mike Dreitzer’s “We will do everything we can to help ensure continuity of gaming operations at Primm.” Due diligence need not apply.
Primm South Real Estate Co. CEO Cory Clemetson has been the lead drayhorse on the ‘save Primm’ bandwagon. His solicitude for the town and its few remaining inhabitants is most commendable. But he’s got to be blowing some pretty thick smoke when he says he turned down “highly qualified operators” in order to go with the Herbsts. The industry is not exactly beating down the doors to get into Primm nowadays. Also, with Las Vegas to the northeast and Hard Rock Tejon in Bakersfield to the west, there’s scant role for ‘convenience gambling’ on the border anymore.
Stutz concludes chillingly by paraphrasing Clemetson as saying “plans may include property renovations, upgraded traveler amenities, enhanced food and beverage offerings, infrastructure improvements and other investments.” Using what for money? That’s an Rx that would cost at least tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds. Do the Herbsts suddenly have the dough? And how long are they prepared to bleed investment while waiting for the market to come back … if it ever does? There hasn’t been discernible infrastructural improvement (quite the opposite) in Primm in at least 15 years. The Herbsts look many days and dollars short.
Don’t tell them that. Proclaimed Tim Herbst, “We believe Primm’s best days are still ahead.” One doesn’t know whether to laugh at that sentiment … or cry.
Late last week, the pizza-enriched Illitch Family made headlines by moving to control Atlantic City‘s Ocean Casino Resort outright, along with Scarlet Pearl Casino on the “Redneck Riviera” in Mississippi. That extends their empire well past Detroit, where they were the only operators to gain market share last month. Motor City was up 5% to $35.5 million, keeping the market level. MGM Grand Detroit was flat at $53 million and Hollywood Greektown slipped 2.5% to $25 million. We’ll keep you posted on the imminent growth of this doughy casino empire.
Over in the Bay State, another three-casino market, gambling grosses were flat at $106 million. As you might expect, Encore Boston Harbor was tops at $63 million. MGM Springfield, which has been having some better days lately, was up 2.5% to $26 million and Plainridge Park was flat at $17 million. Sports betting saw books win 12.5% less on handle ($632 million) that was down 3.5%. Books held at a mildly tight 11.5%. DraftKings continued to clobber the competition with $35 million to FanDuel‘s $20.5 million. BetMGM was well back at $4.5 million, still doing much better than Caesars Sportsbook ($1.5 million) and theScore Bet (ditto). ‘Nuff said.