September was a breakout month for Atlantic City casinos, which surged 11% over 2019 to $248.5 million. Slot win was 14% higher on 13% more coin-in and table games garnered 4% more on 4% greater wagering, so luck was with the house. Traditional market leader Borgata didn’t fare quite as well, up 5% to $60 million on 3% less table win (despite very high hold and due to 20% less wagering). Borgata slots made up the difference, winning 11% more on 7% higher coin-in. The Caesars Entertainment threesome was 4% richer, with table win +6% (on 7% greater wagering) and slots up 6% despite only 4% more coin-in. Harrah’s Resort was out in front with $27.5 million (+4%), followed by Tropicana Atlantic City‘s $24.5 million (-4.5%), then Caesars Atlantic City‘s $22 million, +14%.
Bally’s Corp. stanched the bleeding at its eponymous casino, down only 3% to $14 million and slipping past Golden Nugget ($13 million), which had a very bad month by market standards, falling 20%. At the other end of the spectrum was Ocean Casino Resort in its last Terry Glebocki-led month, zooming 41% to $29 million and third place. Second of course was Hard Rock Atlantic City, grossing $41 million in a 39% surge. Resorts Atlantic City had a symmetrical month, rising 17% to $17 million. Getting back to Ocean for a moment, the Illitch Family is already making its style and presence known—and it’s not good. Reports our Atlantic City bureau: “Ocean Casino was disturbing: The free giveaway was 2-8 p.m. of a Wolfgang Puck four-slice toaster. At 3:30 there were none left, a look at how ‘Detroit’ treats its customers. Two separate persons from New York demanded their hosts get them a toaster. The manager on duty let them stand there. Ocean offered a Ninja slicer instead.”
But for many the big story out of New Jersey was sports betting, as handle inched over the billion-dollar mark for the first time. That meant $82.5 million in revenue for the books, up 83% from 2020. Win was dominated by FanDuel‘s $36 million, with also-rans in the form of BetMGM ($13.5 million), DraftKings ($13 million), Caesars Sportsbook ($6.5 million), PointsBet ($5 million) and Barstool Sports (more barstool than bite at $4 million). PlayUSA analyst Eric Ramsey thinks we ain’t seen nothing yet: “The NBA and college basketball seasons could really send wagering into another stratosphere in the coming months.”
Internet gambling was even more remunerative, bringing in $122.5 million, the most ever, which JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff says got “a lift from a busier sports calendar.” Gov. Phil Murphy (D) will be happy, as state and local governments collected $21.5 million in taxes. BetMGM was out front with $38 million, then DraftKings ($18.5 million), Caesars ($14 million) and Golden Nugget Online ($10 million). Interesting that MGM is Garden Staters’ go-to choice for casino play online but they’re still a wee bit skeptical of it as a sports betting purveyor.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ Hail Mary pass to a federal court landed neatly in the arms of sympathetic Judge Allen Winsor, who dismissed lawsuits by Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room, clearing the way for sports betting in the Sunshine State. The Achilles’ heel of the litigation appears to have been its focus on the theoretical business harm that would be done to parimutuels by giving the Seminole Tribe a monopoly on OSB. They should have targeted the compact’s unprecedented expansion of “tribal lands” throughout cyberspace and the silly-putty reasoning with which the Interior Department approved said compact. Since Magic City and Bonita Springs could not show demonstrable harm, Winsor sided with DeSantis, writing, “At the end of the day, the pari-mutuels are not harmed by the secretary’s ability to monitor the tribe’s casinos or submit audit reports to the state.”
Winsor added, “There is no indication that an injunction against the governor would ‘significantly increase the likelihood’ that the pari-mutuels would obtain relief, ‘whether directly or indirectly.’” Although two other lawsuits are still on the federal docket, they’ll need to be better-framed than this one was. Not only did it fail to address flawed Interior Department logic, the blatant unconstitutionality with which the Florida Lege expanded gambling (quite dramatically) was a question that went begging. Score a big one for DeSantis and the Seminoles, and let the games begin.
In a case that could have ramifications for tribes as far away as Maine, SCOTUS has agreed to take up the matter of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo versus Texas, which wants to deny the Native American band a casino. The Ysleta del Sur is one of a number of tribes to which the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act does not apply as it signed away its right to gaming in a pre-IGRA tribal-recognition bill. The Tiguas were left on the outside looking in as Texas legalized parimutuel dog racing, horseracing and a lottery. Understandably, they have regrets about their 1987 renunciation. They’d like Class II gaming (electronic bingo and non-banked card games). Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is keeping mum and the Tiguas aren’t saying much either.
The federal Justice Department has been less reticent, taking the Tiguas’ side and arguing that courts have been consistently wrong for three decades in ruling against tribes excluded from IGRA. Said University of Texas at El Paso poli-sci professor Todd Curry, “Since [Justice Neil] Gorsuch, I think to have someone who is an honest expert in these areas has made the voting more predictable. As the federal government is supporting the Tiguas, and Gorsuch has yet to vote against Indigenous interests since joining the court, I think the real question will be how big is the majority.” He went on to predict that Slammin’ Sammy Alito would be the lone holdout.l The high court is expected to rule sometime next year.
Things must not be going so well for Resorts World Catskills. Seems that Genting Malaysia poured another $150 million into parent company Empire Resorts. Since Resorts World New York in Queens is boffo the finger of suspicion points upstate, to the over-budgeted and historically troubled Catskills megaresort. That brings the total of Empire Resorts subsidies to $524.5 million, with the latest infusion being chalked up to the effects of the Great Pandemic. Genting said it was seeing “strong records of gross gaming revenues close to and exceeding pre-pandemic levels for some months.” As Reuters tartly noted, “It did not give detailed figures.”
Jottings: YouTube star and social influencer Brian Christopher will boycott smoking-enabled casinos, starting in January 2023. This will cause an interesting situation at Las Vegas‘ Plaza Hotel, which has a (smoke-free) Christopher-branded slot parlor. “With 13% of the U.S. population smoking these days, it no longer makes sense to force 100% of patrons and staff to breathe in the harmful chemicals, and that includes myself and my staff,” the slot pundit said … In the latest casino SPAC deal, Okada Manila will be absorbed in order to allow it to listed on American stock exchanges. The casino hopes to realize $275 million from the special acquisition … Non-gaming Majestic Las Vegas looks to break ground in early 2022. Developer Lorenzo Doumani will be well-situated to capitalize on the expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center when Majestic opens in 2024 … MGM Resorts International‘s vaccine mandate appears to be a success. Only 90 salaried malcontents left or had to be sacked. “I’m happy to report that more than 98% of our salaried team members to whom this applied have answered the call and are in compliance with the policy. This is a remarkable outcome and a major milestone for us as we work to create the safest possible environment for our employees and guests,” CEO Bill Hornbuckle wrote. Now comes the hard part: the Culinary Union.
Quote of the Day: “Feel compliments as deeply as you feel insults.”—James Clear
If the Florida Compact is allowed to stand, it would set a precedent that a Governor can simply use semantics to usurp the law and the will of the voters… The Seminoles are making a mistake tethering themselves to a man who will lie right into your face about a deadly virus, and a deal that sets an artificial mile number that by “coincidence” might favor the ex-President. Florida will tire of dictatorial rule, this is a state that fudges Covid stats, as if dead people do not deserve to be counted to possibly save others…
So when does real craps begin in Florida?