After all the hype and hoopla of Formula One in November, the real story may be December. Las Vegas Strip revenue alone was $905 million, an 11% leap from 2022—and a 53% moonshot over 2019. Similarly, locals winnings of $241 million were up 7% from the previous December and 10% higher than in 2019, while the statewide tally ($1.4 billion) vaulted 35% from 2019 … heretofore considered the Good Old Days.
Continue reading Vegas vaults; Wynn winning; Mega-Jottings
As I write this, I’m off the coast of Florida, aboard the Icon of the Seas, presently undergoing a somewhat shaky shakedown cruise. Unfortunately, Yr. Humble Blogger has been stricken, not with mal de mer, but with the aftereffects of what was probably undercooked food, of unknown provenance. As such, I’m ill-positioned to provide any more industry news and analysis until we dock on Friday. Wednesday’s dinner was spent surrounded by loathsome, loudmouthed Wall Street fatcats. Now I now what Hell is like and really don’t want to go there. Perhaps that’s what made me ill.
Forget that handsome rendering up above. It’s ‘inoperative,’ as the Nixon administration used to say of statements that weren’t true. Why? Because Bally’s Corp. struck water in its plumbing of the future site of Bally’s Chicago. More specifically, it discovered that driving caissons to support a 500-room hotel would damage water pipes along the Chicago River. Oops. “We need to come up with a different way to build a tower because we can’t now put it on Chicago Avenue,” explained Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim. Funny, but it took 13 months for Bally’s to reach this conclusion.
Continue reading Bally’s screws up; Nastiness in D.C.
Please disregard the headlines today whining about Atlantic City casino grosses for December. They are 8% higher than 2022 and 11.5% than 2019, before the Great Pandemic supposedly drove everyone home—and into the arms of these same casinos’ Web alternatives. The brick-and-mortar tally was $232.5 million. We often treat the three Caesars Entertainment casinos almost as an afterthought (as do customers), so we should give them pride of place when discussing December’s data. Tropicana Atlantic City (pictured) leapt 15% to $21 million and Caesars Atlantic City jumped 13% to $19 million. Harrah’s Resort couldn’t quite keep pace, up 3% but making $21 million.
Continue reading A.C. still rebounding
Hoosier daddy? That’s the question as Indiana casino revenues inched up 1% from December 2022 and 9% from 2019. This, along with news from the East Coast (see below), shows gambling holding fast as an American pastime, regardless of anything else that is taking place economically. Hard Rock Northern Indiana drove the increases. It powered along with $36.5 million, up 7%. The latter number is particularly noteworthy, as former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) painted a target on Hard Rock’s back when she blessed a Windy City casino. After a initial dip in business, the score is now Gary 1, Chicago 0.
Continue reading Gaming resilient; Hill shills for F1
It may be snowy this week in Chicago but the casino news is warm: Illinois gambling halls closed out 2023 with their best month of the year ($141 million). Much of this was driven by fresh product. They were up 3% from 2022 … and 14% down from 2019. But the latter number swung to -10% when adjusted to a same-store basis. Four new casinos in one year will do that.
Continue reading Midwest buoyant; Mega -Jottings
And then there was one. And that one was MGM Osaka, the sole casino megaresort left standing after the government of Japan concluded its glacial deliberations over the selection of gaming operators. Out goes Casinos Austria, which had appeared set to build a rival property in Nagasaki. But the Nagasaki proposal ran into a raft of problems and was dead in the water for some time now. Global Gaming Business reports that it has officially been nixed, for a rich variety of reasons.
Continue reading Why is this man smiling?; F-blue failing
Gaming pundits are finally getting off their hobbyhorse that the industry was due for a recession ANY DAY NOW! Yup. Recession. Any. Day. Now. <crickets> You feel sometimes like they’re rooting for bad economic news. They’ll certainly be at pains to explain Ohio‘s record November. The Buckeye State’s casinos and racinos grossed $186 million, 1% up over 2022 and 15% higher than in 2019. As usual, MGM Northfield Park was the leader with $23.5 million (+3%). Also up 3% were Jack Cleveland and Hollywood Columbus, in a statistical tie around $21.5 million apiece. Hard Rock Cincinnati was up 2% to $20 million and Hollywood Toledo gained 1% to $17.5 million. The latter, despite having table games, was outdone by slots-only Miami Valley Gaming ($19 million, +4%), while Scioto Downs faded 7% to a still-impressive $17 million. Jack Thistledown was up 3% to $14.5 million, Belterra Park slipped 3% to $6.5 million, Hollywood Dayton hopped 4% to $12 million, while Hollywood Mahoning Valley was flat at $12.5 million. Not a bad month at all, particularly for Penn Entertainment in a November that also …
Continue reading Recession? What recession?; Crisis in A.C.
Congratulations, Las Vegas Grand Prix: You’re officially the Dud of 2023. Attendance for the (over)hyped event failed to raise visitation to Las Vegas, which was up less than a percentage point from 2022 … and substantially down from 2019. Such a lift as Sin City got appears to have come from conventions, which saw 2% higher attendance and 598,400 conventioneers. Occupancy was a pallid 82%. Jacked-up room prices did score for resort owners, who saw revenue per available room of $230, which was 38% higher than 2022, on rates that were 35% greater (and 86% above room prices in 2019). Weekend occupancy was 89%, down from the year previous, and midweek occupancy was up to 79%.
Continue reading Two Fs for Vegas; Adelson’s agenda
Had the pre-race hype not been so inebriated, the Las Vegas Grand Prix would be counted an unqualified financial success. On the Las Vegas Strip (in what is traditionally the slowest month of the year), it spurred a 22.5% leap in winnings, to $821 million—still short of the high-water $835 million recorded last July. (Thanks to Howard Stutz for the historical context.) Very impressive … but we were told to expect ‘record gaming revenues!’ thanks to F-U, er F1. What’s Jeremy Aguero‘s spin going to be? Perhaps next November will be better: Dramatically scaled-back prices for hotel rooms and race tickets will leave customers with more money in their pockets for gambling.
Continue reading F1 boosts Strip, but no record