Online sports betting and Internet gambling have come to Michigan and they’re a smash hit. In the first 10 days of sports betting, handle was $115 million, with revenues of $13 million. FanDuel led market share with 32% of handle, well ahead of DraftKings‘ 24.5%, followed closely by Penn National Gaming‘s 24%, then BetMGM‘s 20%, per Credit Suisse analyst Ben Chaiken. He described the i-gaming haul—$29.5 million—as “well above expectations,” led by MGM Resorts International with 38% of market share, trailed by FanDuel’s 23% and DraftKings’ 24%. Whereas Chaiken had anticipated a monthly gross of $28 million, he’s upped that to $90 million, quite a dramatic change to say the least. To put that in perspective, it would be at least $10 million higher than Pennsylvania, which has 3 million more inhabitants. Talk about the proverbial “pent-up demand”! The downside was that sports books spent so much to acquire players that they ended up losing $5 million.
“The circumstances for Michigan’s online launch could not have been better ahead of two of the biggest sports betting holidays of the year,” reported PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker. “Ultimately, it’s a small sample size, and the results of which are less important than sportsbooks launching and engaging sports bettors and setting the groundwork to flourish for years. By that metric, Michigan’s launch was a success.” It not only obliterates Tennessee‘s online-only debut but, with 10 OSB books, was the largest-scale launch in U.S. history. Gross receipts for tribal operators were mostly small potatoes, except for DraftKings/Bay Mills Indian Community‘s $3.5 million. Other big winners were BetMGM ($5 million) and Barstool Sportsbook/Greektown Casino ($3 million). Although FanDuel led in handle, luck was with the punters, leaving the casino with well under a million dollars won.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is $4 million richer in tax revenue after the Internet debut, the biggest-ever in U.S. history. Only New Jersey has ever posted a higher per-day tally. BetMGM was dominant, making $11 million, followed by DraftKings with $7 million and FanDuel with $6.5 million. FoxBet grossed $2 million, BetRivers $1.5 million and WynnBet scraped up $700K. (Barstool didn’t launch i-gaming until Feb. 1.) “Online sportsbooks draw more attention, but online casinos are typically a far more consistent revenue generator for state governments,” noted analyst Matt Schoch. Words for state governments to live by.
Lifted restrictions came too late to save Massachusetts casinos, which swooned 28% last month, for a gross of 57.5%. Bay State gambling houses can now operate around the clock, albeit at 25% of capacity. In terms of win/slot/day, Plainridge Park is still the champ at $247, admittedly down from last year’s $298 but slowing the decline from 2019’s $347 win/slot/day. (We’re going to have to start making 2021 vs. 2019 comparisons soon if we want an apples-to-apples perspective.) By comparison, Encore Boston Harbor makes $200 win/slot/day and MGM Springfield $160. The latter barely raked in anything at the tables: just under $2 million. Its $14.5 million gross was a 29.5% declivity. MGM has apparently fallen as far as it’s going to go. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff predicts it will be only 1% off 1Q20. So there’s that.
Encore was the big dog, with a $33 million gross, including $19.5 million at the slots. Nonetheless, it was way off last year’s pace, -31%. Plainridge Park’s $10 million take was a 12% slippage and Greff expects it to outperform the first quarter of last year. So there’s that too.
Up yours, Cuomo. That’s the message of the Shinnecock Indian Nation to New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in announcing Shinnecock Casino Hamptons, on the eastern tip of Long Island. It will be a Class II facility, obviating the need to negotiate a compact. Noting that it had the approval of the National Indian Gaming Commission, the tribe stated, “Our ancestral lands were taken from us many years ago and New York State has refused to meet with us regarding stolen land claims that were filed over many decades. We have tried to resolve these issues over the last decade by proposing to find more suitable locations on Long Island, but were rebuffed. We have waited long enough and have decided to proceed here on our Territory.” Construction on the casino will begin this summer. “We are starting with the casino, but we are also looking at multiple options for additional land acquisitions off Territory, potentially including developing waterfront properties and hotels, which the Eastern end of Long Island is lacking,” said developer Jack Morris. While this will be the first Shinnecock casino the tribe is promising that it won’t be the last.
Remember Canadian real-estate megalith Triple Five Corp.? Well, it’s quietly scuttling out of Las Vegas, tail betwixt legs. Triple Five bought 30-odd acres on the Las Vegas Strip, on the corner of Convention Center Drive and planned … well, what was never quite clear. Times have changed, real estate values on the Strip have plunged and Triple Five’s fortunes have evidently gone into a tailspin. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the acreage has been snapped up by TPG Real Estate Finance Trust for peanuts, otherwise known as a deed in lieu of foreclosure. TPG? Yes, it’s the return of Texas Pacific Group, which helped bankrupt Caesars Entertainment. TPG has evidently learned its lesson and its scarfing up distressed assets, rather than buying overvalued properties at the top of the market. It’s not the moment to be developing a new megaresort or mega-mall on the Strip, at least not until land prices appreciate, but TPG can afford to bide its time.
Jottings: It’s not too late to catch Covid-19. Starting next month, Hakkasan Group intends on reopening Wet Republic and Liquid Pool Lounge, along with nightclub Omnia at Caesars Palace. It’s all contingent on Coronavirus cases continuing to drop steeply and whether the venues in question can be reinvented as lounges. Good luck … Just what Las Vegas needs: a Las Vegas Raiders-themed restaurant at M Resort. We’re not sure how far this Raiders motif is going to be taken but we hope that it doesn’t extend to fans of opposing teams being beaten unconscious in the Black Hole … We’re not sure Vegas really needs a third Criss Angel show but the Mindfreak star is teaming with Cirque du Soleil refugee Franco Dragone on an extravaganza inspired by Ecstasy. Really. No venue has been announced for the “pre-nightclub experience.” Any takers?