Scarcely had Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli projected 12% gaming growth in Ohio over December 2019 than the numbers came in and it was 16%. The $197 million gross showed play heating up from November, too. Slot revenue was up 17.5% on 18.5% more coin-in and table win grew 8.5% on 6.5% heavier wagering. One extra weekend day obviously helped, but still … Belterra Park was up 5% to $8 million, Scioto Downs leapt 21% to $19 million and Miami Valley Gaming hopped 19% to $19 million. MGM Northfield Park clung to the top spot, just barely, with $23 million (+3.5%). It was closely contested by Hollywood Columbus ($22 million, +12.5%) and Jack Cleveland (pictured, ditto). Also bunched at the summit were Hard Rock Cincinnati ($21 million, +18%) and Hollywood Toledo ($20 million, +12.5%). Jack Thistledown catapulted 37% to $17 million, Hollywood Dayton leapt 34% to $13.5 million and Hollywood Mahoning Valley was good for $13 million, an 18% gain.
Missouri‘s $163 million gross in December was an 11.5% improvement on 2019, despite a 19% plunge in visitation. Those who spent, spent big. Chief beneficiary was Ameristar St. Charles, propelling 24% forward to $27 million. Even Hollywood St. Louis saw a 4% bump to $20.5 million, while River City grew 10% to $22 million and Lumiere Place sagged 1.5% to $12.5 million. In Kansas City, the market leader was Ameristar Kansas City, up 7% to $17 million, although the overachiever was rebranded Bally’s Kansas City, rocketing 88.5% to $10 million. Argosy Riverside was flat at $14.5 million while Harrah’s North Kansas City booked $15 million, also flat. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see from whom Bally’s is drawing. Outstate, the lead performer was Isle of Capri Boonville, up 18% to $7.5 million, with Century Cape Girardeau gaining 17.5% to $6 million.
November in Illinois was very good for sports betting, with $780 million in handle, of which books held a best-ever $79 million. This was despite crummy play by the Chicago Bears and only three games’ worth of it. But if football handle was ‘only’ $257 million, a hot streak by the Chicago Bulls yielded $226 million in basketball handle. Surprisingly, tennis ($40 million) was way in front of hockey ($25 million). DraftKings led in handle ($289 million) but was second in revenue with $22 million. Conversely, FanDuel lagged a bit in volume ($216 million) but won more, $30 million. The other contenders were BetRivers ($128 million/$13.5 million), Barstool Sports ($62 million/$5.5 million) and PointsBet ($57.5 million, $6 million). Caesars Sportsbook and three other books yielded negligible revenue.
Heartiest congratulations to everybody who confounded the sports books (and us) by taking the Jacksonville Jaguars to win yesterday. (Who knew?) The Jags’ expulsion of the Indianapolis Colts from the playoffs opened the door for the Las Vegas Raiders, who squeezed through with a narrow, last-minute win over the penalty-prone Los Angeles Chargers. The Raiders’ 10-7 record isn’t as good as it looks but it’s phat enough to get them a date with the Cincinnati Bengals next Saturday. We don’t expect the Silver & Black to prevail—but who thought they’d be the #5 playoff seed either? There’s been a lot of ugliness for Raider Nation to endure this season but winning provides a mighty big rug under which to sweep it. Oh, and belated coal and switches to NBC‘s Sunday Night Football, which took all the excitement of the Chargers/Raiders with endless commercial breaks (they didn’t even deign to show PAT kicks) and superfluous, multi-angle, slow-motion replays on every down; CBS gets it done with one. Life’s too short for Sunday Night Football.
Incidentally, isn’t it ironic that the NFL apparently drew no umbrage from the scenario, outlined in last Friday’s Wall Street Journal, whereby the Chargers and Raiders might collude to tie the game, thereby ensuring that both teams made the playoffs? Talk about potential match-fixing! And to think of all those decades in which the league claimed that sports betting was a threat to the “integrity of the game.” Balderdash. NFL, put thine own house in order.
John “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, one of our favorite characters, has struck again. He’s laid down $1.2 million that the Alabama Crimson Tide beats the favored Georgia Bulldogs tonight for the national college championship. If the Tide rolls, McIngvale is $1.5 million richer. Caesars Sportsbook took the action but the big news is that if Alabama wins, everybody who bought a mattress from McIngvale during lifetime of the bet gets their money back. That’s “george” with a capital G. It’s also good business, goosing mattress sales at McIngvale’s stories. Before the Super Bowl, ESPN reports, “He offered customers who spent $3,000 or more on a new mattress their money back if Tampa Bay covered.” (It did.) Well done, Mack.
The National Board of Review jinx continues to vex Licorice Pizza, which got thoroughly blanked at last night’s blink-and-you-missed-them Golden Globes. Bookies are looking good for favoring Power of the Dog director Jane Campion, whose film also took home Best Drama, while bookmaker-approved West Side Story snagged major three Globes. Will Smith continues to roll toward an all-but-inevitable (and overdue) Oscar and Nicole Kidman came out of left field to snare Best Actress in a Drama for the can’t-miss gambit of playing a real-life figure and doing it well in Being the Ricardos. We’re still a month from the start of serious Oscar campaigning, but so far the oddsmakers are looking fairly prescient and the NBR way off-base.
Jottings: Sports betting got off to a torrid, indeed unprecedented start in New York State, where almost 6 million wagers were placed in the first 12 hours. And that’s with only four of an eventual nine providers ‘live.’ Promos were exceptionally “george”—so long as you weren’t already registered in another state … Last week we commented on the talent-drain in hospitality caused by rock-bottom wages. Solution? Robots. Seriously. Vdara already has them and we’ll wager you’ll see more soon. Said one scared guest, “It gave me a little bit of a heart attack. I think I’d rather have Covid than deal with that thing.” How much would it cost to staff up with droids in lieu of real people? … Expect a slowing of the rapid expansion of sports betting that we saw last year, according to Global Market Advisors‘ Brendan Bussmann. He had plenty of stinging words for tax-greedy politicians even for some companies that screwed the pooch, as in Las Vegas Sands‘ maladroit attempt to bring casino gambling to Texas (now off the table until 2023) … Relatively new Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman Brian Weeden is taking a go-slow approach toward reviving First Light casino. The tribe is already $600 million in hock to Genting Group and is looking at scaling down its once-vast plans. “Casinos are just low-hanging fruit,” Weeden told The Associated Press … Station Casinos has found new uses for Fiesta Henderson and Texas Station, repurposing them as Covid-19 testing sites. Good for the Fertitta Brothers!
I think Ballys KC is still in their original riverboat too? Wonder if they are going hard on promotion spend since they re-branded. Regardless, impressive numbers!
In regards to NY Sports Betting..the commercials are non-stop and kind of annoying. I guess they are working though!