If the fiscal impact of Formula One was debatable (its deleterious quality-of-life impact was inarguable), the Super Bowl‘s was not. Casino takings in February on the Las Vegas Strip leapt 12.5% to $801 million, while locals casinos were up 4% to $242 million. Compared to 2019 it was even more of a surge: +35% on the Strip and +30% off it. Table games held 14.5% and baccarat 17.5%. Even without baccarat, table game winnings were up 8% on 29% larger wagering. Baccarat win skyrocketed 82% (to $181 million) on 50% more play. Slot coin-in was up 4% but luck was with gamblers, as win dipped 2%, to $381 million.
Football also did what the Las Vegas Grand Prix could not. It moved the needle on visitation, which rocketed 9.5% from the year before and 6% from 2019. 156,190 rooms went empty as occupancy ran at 84% (90% on weekends). Conventioneers also flocked to Sin City, some 764,800 in number, a 15% jump. Room rates skyrocketed 43%, though the average ADR went unreported. Auto traffic was up 3% at the borders … but down 1% at the California border. Maybe the bleach skeletons of previous tourists stuck in traffic along I-15 are scaring off commuters.
Downtown saw a 3% positive benefit, up to $76 million, while North Las Vegas slid 4.5% to $23.5 million. Laughlin suffered most, off 8% to $42 million. The Boulder Strip was flat at $75.5 million, while miscellaneous Clark County was up 7% to $142.5 million. Reno leapt 10% (many wannabe Super Bowl tourists opted for it instead) to $60 million, while Sparks inched up 3% to $14 million. Lake Tahoe jumped 13% to $21 million, Mesquite was up a point to $16 million and Wendover hopped 4.5% to $23.5 million.
One blip in the numbers suggests that Durango Resort is indeed gobbling up business from the competition. Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas noted that win/slot/day at surrounding casinos is 7% lower while comparable numbers for tables have plunged 22%. This points to cannibalization, even though Boyd Gaming execs had told Jonas “that they aren’t directly seeing this.” Stay tuned for further developments.
Did you know that you can be dead and still hold a gaming license in Nevada? Just ask the corpse of Shirazalli Jafferali Lalji. Decedent left this vale of tears on March 28, 2020 but remained a casino licensee for almost four years to the day. We would normally add “much to the embarrassment of the Nevada Gaming Control Board” but under the aegis of Gov. Joe Lombardo (R), the NGCB has become the punchline to a joke. They had to pry that license from Lalji’s cold, dead fingers … but only after the Culinary Union brought it to their attention. Lalji, although dead, is not letting that technicality get him down: He continues to be listed as an “active” officer of his corporation.
The Culinary is waging a proxy war with Lalji’s heirs, on behalf of a labor action up in British Columbia. In furtherance of this, it is asking consumers not to patronize Rampart Casino, the erstwhile Resort at Summerlin. The Culinary’s beef is not with Marriott International, which owns the adjoining resort but rather with the Lalji family’s Richmond Investments, which is engaged in the Canadian brouhaha. The Culinary’s shameful disclosure about the NGCB will, in the end, be more entertaining that probative. And it didn’t stop NGCB member George Assad from declaring Lalji “vindicated.” (OK, we made that last bit up, although it sounds true, doesn’t it?) Let’s hope the Nevada Gaming Commission tells its junior partner to get its house in order. It’s past time.
Jottings: Surprise, surprise, surprise. New York City casino licenses won’t be awarded before the end of 2025, if the Empire State’s Gaming Commission gets its way. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) was criticized for not baking more gambling revenues into her upcoming budgets but now looks smart for not doing so. The commission blamed the time needed for environmental-impact statements and land-review processes for the delay, wanting to get as many applicants on board as possible … In a reward for bad behavior, Crown Resorts will be allowed to maintain its casino license in Melbourne. It will have to pay $294 million but that may be a small price for being ‘too big to fail.’ Fears of adverse economic impact appear to have played no small role in the executive clemency received by Crown … Bally’s Corp. keeps careening toward disaster, as Moody’s lowered its credit rating to “Negative.” How lovely. That puts Soo Kim‘s company “five notches into non-investment grade territory.” In essence, Moody’s said that Bally’s is biting off more than it can chew in New York City and Las Vegas, although the agency thought it could still secure financing for Bally’s Chicago … Fugly, overbudgeted Grand Lisboa Palace in Macao just debuted its Palazzo Versace Hotel. Corporate strongwoman Pansy Ho officially opened the 271-suite hotel … This just in: Former Culinary Union boss D. Taylor, now prexy of Unite-Here, will be stepping down. An effective labor leader, Taylor will be succeeded by Gwen Mills.