Adele fiasco at Caesars; Trouble for Sands in Florida

Resorts World Las Vegas, we’ll see your Celine Dion health-scare postponement and raise you an Adele cancellation at Caesars Palace. The British megastar’s team has, like so much of the human race, contracted Covid-19 and is not physically capable of grinding out a Vegas residency at this point. We wish them a speedy recovery—and a contract extension. There are skeptics about the matter, asserting that the show simply wasn’t ready and that there would have been empty seats galore (we blame the greedy secondary market). Indeed, nixing 13 weekends of shows on account of Covid-19 seems an extreme reaction. Did Caesars Entertainment rush this show to market to one-up Resorts World? It kinda looks that way. Tickets sellers seem to have sensed this, judging from a precipitate, last-minute drop in prices.

Caesars covered its ass by saying, “Creating a show of this magnitude is incredibly complex,” begging the question of why more lead time wasn’t built in to handle aforesaid complexity. When only 60 backup singers could be mustered for a 100-voice chorus, that should have been a red alert. Management appears to have so bedazzled by the potential box office ($1.5 million/show, conservatively) that it tried to pull off an über-spectacle on the quick. The fallback strategy is an April-June restart but even the Las Vegas Review-Journal thinks that’s iffy. (And when you’ve lost the R-J …) Ultimately we blame Caesars. It blew through all the warning signals and now has a botched, downsized show on its hands in what was supposed to be its showbiz coup to end them all. We suggest the offtime be used to develop a realistic idea of how big the show really can be and how long it will take to make that happen. (And get everyone healthy.) Once burned, the ticket-buying public may be twice shy—but can you blame them?

Can Las Vegas handle its newfound respectability? Case in point, Major League Soccer, which may finally be headed to Sin City. Despite rumors that it would be used to revive Sam Boyd Stadium, it appears that the preferred course of action is to play in a purpose-built arena at Las Vegas Boulevard and Warm Springs Road (near a prominent outlet mall). Since soccer is truly global in its appeal, it makes more sense for an international destination like Las Vegas than does, we regret to say, major league baseball. Would-be Las Vegas Villains co-owners Wes Edens and Naseef Sawiris have cut a deal with MLS to enter into exclusive negotiations in re Vegas. The duo “will now work together [with MLS], focusing on market analysis and planning for a practice facility, corporate offices and stadium in Las Vegas.”

As Winston Churchill would say, this is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning. Edens and Sawiris have excellent track records as sports magnates, and the league seems pretty serious about putting a team in Clark County, probably within the next two years. If a facility isn’t ready by that point (quite likely), MLS has a history of packing them in at Allegiant Stadium. Regardless of what happens with the Oakland Athletics (and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is doing everything short of loading a moving van for them), MLS belongs in town and let’s hope the Edens/Sawiris partnership bears fruit … again.

Snapping an unlucky streak, Louisiana gambling revenue nudged up 2% last month, a huge improvement over November. Pelican State casinos grossed $215 million, whilst sports betting realized $4.5 million in revenue on $39.5 million handle. After a dreadful November, Harrah’s New Orleans normalized somewhat to $22 million (-16%), while Boomtown New Orleans boomed 36.5% to $13 million. Treasure Chest did $9 million, up 2%, and Fair Grounds racino slipped 4% to $4 million. In Baton Rouge, Caesars continues to disgrace the market at Belle of Baton Rouge, plunging 35% to $1 million. L’Auberge Baton Rouge soared 46% to $18 million and Hollywood Baton Rouge jumped 21% to $5 million.

Margaritaville ruled Shreveport/Bossier City, vaulting 46.5% to $20 million, followed most closely by Horseshoe Bossier City‘s $15 million, down 12%. Rebranding was good for a 15% boost at Bally’s Shreveport, which tallied $10 million. Boomtown Bossier was up 9% to $4.5 million but Sam’s Town collapsed 45.5% to $3.5 million, while Louisiana Downs gained 7.5% to $4 million.

Recent history has shown that if you’re screeching about ‘election fraud,’ chances are that you’re actually the one committing it. Following acrimonious clashes with the Seminole Tribe over competing ballot drives in Florida, hyper-aggressive Las Vegas Sands may have kicked the ball onto the fairway. Florida elections supervisors say Sands-submitted petitions are filled with forged signatures and those of dead people. (It’s been remarked of scrutinizing a Florida election that it’s like turning on the kitchen light at 4 a.m. and watching the palmetto bugs scurry for cover.) “In one case, Marion County Supervisor of Elections Wesley Wilcox found both his and his wife’s signatures forged on petition forms.”

Sands is paying its signature-gathers by the John Hancock, something even Sands-friendly Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) would find beyond the pale. Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Sands mouthpiece Jim McKee (no relation) huffed, “The idea that our committee would purposely submit fraudulent petitions is ridiculous.” State law, it’s true, forbids Sands from reviewing the petitions it submits, but its win-at-any-cost approach has clearly left it with egg on its face. It’s unclear whether criminal prosecution will ensue but it’s early innings still. However, according to one whistle-blower, the DeSantis administration is sweeping the matter under the nearest rug. Of Sands’ full-court press, he said, “I’ve never seen anything quite like this, in the money that’s been spent, in my whole 25 years.”

The Seminoles, for their part, are hiring spies to surveil Sands’ signature-gatherers. The bottom line appears to be that Sands let its greed get the best of it. Not only is it pushing an amendment that would upgrade Florida card rooms to full-scale casinos, it’s also pursuing three new megaresorts in the Sunshine State. And when Sands senses there’s money to be made—as in Texas—overkill is its default mode. At any rate, Sands has only 566K of the 891,589 (valid) signatures it needs, which may render the whole imbroglio moot.

Speaking of playing a losing hand in Florida, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is doubling down on her botched approval of the Seminoles’ compact with DeSantis. She’s appealing the matter to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. No grounds for the appeal have been stated yet but, given Haaland’s shambolic presentation in federal court earlier, the Interior Department probably still doesn’t have its act together. Haaland is thought to stand a stronger chance in appeals court, which isn’t saying much.

Jottings: Sahara owner Alex Meruelo is making headlines with his forward-thinking pursuit of Latino customers. Meruelo owns three Spanish-language broadcast outlets in Southern California and is using them to tailor-make a new clientele for the Sahara, with the entertainment program being shaped accordingly … In a case that is finally coming to trial in Macao, defendant Las Vegas Sands is making the blockbuster allegation that former COO William Weidner’s signature on a critical document was forged. They’ve been litigating for 15 years and are just learning this now? … The clock is running on the Diamond Jacks license in Shreveport. It doesn’t look like Peninsula Pacific can reopen by Feb. 9, but Louisiana regulators will probably punt the matter to Feb. 25 at the earliest … Handle from the first weekend of online sports betting in New York State is estimated at $150 million, with only four of nine operators in action. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is already booking $249 million in tax revenue from OSB. Feeling her oats, Hochul is also pushing for accelerated approval of three downstate casinos. Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D) achieved orgasm at the news … Parx Casino‘s Shippensburg satellite facility is expected to be green-lit. More importantly, it will be smoke-free, for which we applaud Parx … Genuine Las Vegas innovator Gary Platt was honored—and it’s about damned time—with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Las Vegas Magazine. If you’re sitting on a comfy slot stool or table game chair, you have the persistent Platt to thank for it. You wouldn’t think making casino gambling physically enjoyable was a radical idea but if it weren’t for Platt we might still be standing up at slot machines.