Desperation, thy name is Genting Group. In its panic to obtain a New York City casino license, the gaming giant has offered unilaterally to pay 67% of its slot winnings to New York State. That’s right, two thirds. This dramatically ups the ante for anybody else wanting a Big Apple casino, an expected annual levy of $1 billion with a capital “B.” Executives at Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, Bally’s Corp., MGM Resorts International, etc., etc., have to be scowling in the direction of Resorts World New York City right now and with good reason.
Not only will they now have to pony up at least $500 million in the form of an upfront fee, the expectation will now be that they match or one-up Genting’s insane tax offer. The company hopes to stave off high taxes on its table game winnings (as though Resorts World NYC will now be a high-roller haven), in addition to getting a leg up on the competition. It evidently also hopes to offset the higher taxes via expanded operating hours and a wider repertory of games. Empire State officials like it when gaming execs get desperate, so Genting may have just juiced itself into a casino license. however, this crazed arms race could easily result in mutually assured destruction of the bottom line. Whatever the projected ROI in Gotham is, it just got a lot smaller.
Casino revenues hopped 4% last month in Detroit, although they’re still 13% down from where they were in 2019. MGM Grand Detroit was the pace car, up 4% to $56.5 million. Comeback kid Hollywood Greektown had a mildly adverse March, down 1% to $27 million. MotorCity, meanwhile, leapt 7% to $38.5 million. That’s a pecking order that’s never changed and almost certainly never will.
Steady as she goes. In Missouri, gambling win was flat with last year, for a gross of $175.5 million. First-place Ameristar St. Charles exemplified the state, flat at $26.5 million. Nearby Hollywood St. Louis slipped 4% to $21.5 million. Sister property River City receded 3.5% to $23 million and Horseshoe St. Louis was down 3% to $14 million. Things were more volatile in Kansas City, where Bally’s Kansas City leapt 8.5% to $12.5 million. Argosy Riverside also made inroads, up 4% to $16.5 million. Ameristar Kansas City was not to be deterred, up 2% to $19 million, whilst Harrah’s North Kansas City lost market share, -6% to $15.5 million. In the boonies, Isle of Capri Boonville slid 7% to $8 million, while Century Casinos was up 5% in Cape Girardeau ($7 million) and 4% in Caruthersville ($4.5 million).
Staying with the Midwest, sports betting revenue in Illinois was up 22% in February, hitting $83.5 million, despite low hold. DraftKings inched past FanDuel, $32 million to $31.5 million. BetRivers held onto the third spot with $7 million while Bet ESPN made impressive inroads to have achieved $4.5 million. It was followed by BetMGM ($3.5 million) and Caesars Sportsbook ($2 million). Fanatics, meanwhile, tiptoed past BetMGM with $4 million. All others scraped up $300K between them.
Speaking of sneaking, online sports betting has already celebrated a year in Maryland while we weren’t looking. Last month’s takings were down 5%, in spite of a 41% surge in handle to $522 million, spurred in part by slightly increased ESPN Bet activity. Revenue was $44 million, luck being with the punters. Free play subtracted another $11 million from operators’ winnings. Luck was not with ESPN Bet for sure, as it made far less than a million when the dust settled. FanDuel was predominant with $26.5 million, followed (of course) by DraftKings with $11.5 million. Casino dominance isn’t translating into cyberspace for BetMGM, which notched just $3 million, while Caesars Sportsbook nabbed $1 million. BetRivers was amongst the also-rans, as was Fanatics, which came in just under our Mendoza Line ($1 million).
Jottings: Palace Station armed robber and all-around scumbag O.J. Simpson has died. It couldn’t have come a moment too soon or to a more deserving individual … Virgin Las Vegas is still without a collective-bargain agreement for its unionized employees. Ergo, the Culinary Union will be picketing it today. Negotiations, however, are said to be ongoing … Banning of prop bets may just be the leading edge of a backlash against sports betting. To some extent, operators have themselves to blame, thanks to their absurd degree of advertising overkill … Casinos in Thailand have been approved by parliament but several hurdles remain. One of these is yet another study, to be conducted by the Ministry of Finance … OSB is losing the sports betting debate but DraftKings CEO Jason Robins thinks he has a winning strategy: Blame the victims. Once a douchebag, always a douchebag.