Chicago tips its hand; Wynn loses; Thunder Down Under

Would somebody clue in Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) that Neil Bluhm‘s Rush Street Gaming is no longer the majority owner of Rivers Casino Des Plaines? That honor goes to Churchill Downs. But Lightfoot is using Des Plaines as a stick with which to beat Bluhm’s (admittedly underwhelming) Chicago casino proposal, Rivers 78. Although the Chicago Sun-Times argues that Bluhm “combines real estate development skills with knowledge of gambling, and his political and business contacts here are peerless,” Lightfoot has not-so-subtly let it be known that her preference is for Bally’s Corp., whose riverfront proposal is shown above.

Bluhm is penalized by his presence, however vestigial, in the suburbs and Hard Rock International is doubly dinged by A) Hard Rock Northern Indiana in Gary and B) the “complex” air-rights negotiations inherent in its proposal. That leaves Bally’s Tribune, as it is presently called, which has conveniently predicted the highest revenue numbers, music to Lightfoot’s ears. “Bally’s is the only bidder that does not already have a property in the Chicagoland market and, therefore, is more likely to operate with independence in maximizing revenues for the Chicago casino,” her minions said. It’s also the project whose temporary casino could go up the soonest (Bluhm’s would be last) and has sweetened the pot with the pledge of $25 million, maybe more, in upfront money. It also enjoys the support of Walter Burnett, its local alderman.

Lightfoot still has to run the gauntlet of environmental activists, who find a riverfront casino no more appealing than a lakefront one. Reports WTTW-TV: “After decades of advocacy, cleanups and habitat restoration, the Chicago River is becoming healthier and healthier. Fish are returning, otters have made an appearance and heron are a common sight.” Wildlife advocates fear either a Bluhm or Bally’s casino would imperil this new status quo. “The whole river shouldn’t look like the Riverwalk,” complained Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie. “We need to look at a new type of casino, the whole of it has to be rethought. These are some of the largest riverfront parcels, and we want to do it right. And ‘right’ means sustainable. Let’s innovate for nature in Chicago.”

The Tribune project is viewed as highly conducive to bird collisions. Indeed it’s already a high-density area for bird strikes. While skyscraper developers are incentivized by the city to build with collision-averse types of glass panel, compliance is entirely voluntary. It’s a serious and gruesome problem in Chi-town, something that new hotel towers are likely to exacerbate. Heck, even disqualified McCormick Place is a magnet for kamikaze avians.

Bluhm’s people argue that their casino will, unlike Rivers Des Plaines, draw mainly from tourists and Indiana dwellers. It’s rivaling Bally’s in one respect, offering $27 million upfront. Hard Rock, despite having the most impressive track record of success in the casino business, is viewed as the also-ran “because of its many unknowns,” according to a USBets analysis. The biggest of these imponderables is the multi-billion-dollar state subsidy needed to build the transit hub on which the megaresort is predicated. No front money has been offered. Traffic-access details have been deemed insufficient by the city. Construction costs are vague. And the business plan is the most heavily dependent on local gamblers, contrary to Lightfoot’s expressed wish.

“But,” notes the study, “the potential Hard Rock offers as a global brand that can create an international-level entertainment district with a casino anchor is clearly something the city finds alluring, with or without the transportation hub. Additionally, coming to the negotiating table with 50% minority ownership at the partnership level goes well above and beyond the standards the city has set for the finalists.”

Finally, while everybody is talking about what Bally’s has promised to do, nobody is talking about what it has done … which isn’t very much. A $100 million in capex here, $150 million in renovations there doesn’t add up to the capability to build a tourist-drawing megaresort. Nor can company Chairman Soo Kim seem to stay on-mission. He’s also kicking the tires on a casino in Flushing, New York, and is taking title to the Tropicana Las Vegas with a view toward knocking it down and replacing it with something mega-costly. Finally–for the moment–Kim went haring off to Japan last week, where he talked out of both sides of his mouth. He says he wants a Nipponese megaresort, while demurring that he was part of a $3.9 billion project mooted for Fukuoka. Fukuoka that! Focus, Soo, focus!

Steve Wynn may still have to face the music for his sexual misadventures in Nevada. The Silver State’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Judge Adriana Escobar lacked the authority to enjoin the Nevada Gaming Control Board from permanently banning Wynn as “unsuitable to be associated with a gaming enterprise or the gaming industry as a whole.” Escobar held that Wynn’s stock liquidation and resignation from his eponymous company put him outside the NGCB’s remit. Not so, said the high court. What happens next to Wynn, currently holed up in Florida, remains to be seen.

New NGCB Chairman Brin Gibson would only say that he was “pleased with the ruling. We are reviewing the decision with legal counsel to determine next steps.” So El Steve isn’t fully out of the woods … yet. We hope the Control Board sticks to its guns in order to uphold the precedent that, as described by Howard Stutz, of having the ability “to discipline former gaming license holders for unsuitable activity uncovered after they leave the industry.” Wynn Resorts, which is poorer $55 million thanks to Steve’s inability to keep it zipped, would no doubt like to see the Nevada Gaming Commission drop the ultimate sanction on its namesake.

Does Australia need casinos at all? Following unsuitability investigations against Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment, one New South Wales cabinet member ripped the industry a new one. Transport Minister Rob Stokes questioned the impending collision of the findings upon Crown and Star’s Sydney casinos, saying “those impacts will generate a cascading series of consequences that should cause us to pose an existential question about the future of casinos,” characterizing the Australian gaming industry as “veritable cesspits of dishonesty, tax evasion, junkets [and] money laundering.” Normally we’d chalk this up as moralistic posturing but, the way things have been unraveling Down Under, we’re inclined to agree with the colorful description. As they struggle to be found suitable, Star and Crown will have to answer Stokes’ contention that “Revelations of tax evasion also completely undermine the argument that casino operations are justified on the basis of the revenue they provide to support wider social and community benefits.”

Macao has fallen and can’t get up. The casino enclave recorded $459 million in revenue last month, the worst such number since September 2020, when Covid-19 was sweeping the world. The disease hampered March’s numbers, with outbreaks in the provinces of Zhuhai and Shenzhen. For the year to date, Macanese gambling revenue is down 25% from 2021, with last month’s 56% decline delivering a killing blow.

Jottings: Everybody from ABBA to Kanye West is jockeying for Grammy Awards, held this weekend at MGM Grand. The relocation of the awards to the Green Monster was a big ‘attaboy’ for MGM’s “Convene with Confidence” health protocols, still the pacesetter on the Strip … Former Oakland Athletics minor-league pitcher Wayne Nix is at the heart of a California sports-betting ring that the feds busted up this week. “Unnamed professional athletes” are said to be among Nix’s clientele. This bears watching … The Oak View Group sports arena near the Silverton will be designed to NBA specifications, as the league covets the Vegas market. The UFC is also another potential tenant … The Artisan hotel will be Sin City’s new pot-spot. Marijuana dispensary Planet 13 paid $12 million for Artisan, planning to make it “cannabis-friendly,” unlike the Strip … Cashless gambling has come to the Vegas Valley—at Henderson‘s Emerald Island Casino. The pioneering casino has partnered with Marker Trax to deploy the technology which enables you to siphon gaming funds straight from your bank account … Are Kewadin Casinos getting desperate for players? The Michigan tribal chain has lowered the playing age from 19 to 18. If you can get killed for your country at 18, you damn well ought to be able to gamble … Also in Michigan, the World Series of Poker‘s Web site has gone live. 2009 bracelet winner Joe Cada, a Wolverine State native, will be the WSOP brand ambassador … Kiwis are spending more on gambling than ever before. New Zealand‘s Department of Internal Affairs recorded a 17% leap in gambling spend from 2020, thanks largely to slot routes and sports betting.