The NFL‘s rationing policy regarding sports book ads worked like a charm in Week One, allowing for a variety of content without blanketing the airwaves. Of the ones we saw, Caesars Sports Book took the palm for creativity. As for irritating and overloaded, there was one outright loser, by a vast margin. You guessed it, it was …
Continue reading And the winner is …Category: Casino News
Illinois, how could you?; 888 is Caesars’ lucky number
Count on Illinois to disappoint in an otherwise balmy August. True, it grossed a not-shabby $108 million but it was 8.5% down from 2o19, as business slipped 10% from July’s level. (We don’t want to say the gaming recovery is waning but it does appear to have peaked, judging by regional trends.) The preponderance of revenue came from northern Illinois and nearly half of that purely from Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which won $41.5 million, defying the odds to rise 10%. From there it was way down to Grand Victoria‘s $13.5 million (-6%) and Harrah’s Joliet‘s $13 million (-14%). Hollywood Aurora grossed $9 million (-12%) and Empress Joliet brought in $7 million, plunging 29%. Mid-state, Jumer’s Casino Rock Island, in its first month as a Bally’s Corp. property, plummeted 35% to $4 million—Bally’s CEO George Papanier will have his hands full—while Par-A-Dice slid 15.5% to $5 million.
In the southern tier, DraftKings Casino Queen was down 18% to $7 million while Argosy Belle tumbled 23.5% to $3 million. Harrah’s Metropolis slid 21% to $5 million. Mandatory mask-wearing was reimposed on Aug. 30, so we’ll have to wait and see if that put a damper on this month’s results. In the meantime, slot routes continue to spread, dimming the prospects of casinos new and old alike. Sports betting hit a lull in July, with $369 million in handle and some worry that the state’s in-person registration requirement could dampen a football-season rebound. Said PlayUSA‘s Joe Boozell, “Because in-person registration was reinstated in April at the beginning of the slow season in sports betting, the industry has skirted the most severe effects of the state rule. But there will be no hiding from it during football season.”
Continue reading Illinois, how could you?; 888 is Caesars’ lucky numberMaryland, Ohio prosper; Sands scraping bottom in Macao
Regional gaming continues to be a gravy train. Maryland casinos grossed $168.5 million in August, up 9% from 2019. Just think how much better the take would have been had the month not been two weekend days shorter than August 2020. MGM National Harbor led the pack with $67.5 million, up 8%, while Maryland Live‘s 35% market share translated into $59.5 million in revenue, a 12% gain. Horseshoe Baltimore actually managed to lose ground, down 1.5% to $18 million. Ocean Downs neared $10 million, up 12%, while Hollywood Perryville grossed $8 million in a 21.5% leap. Rocky Gap Resort brought in $6 million for a 10% uptick.
Yesterday, Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli predicted a 19% upsurge in Ohio when August receipts were tallied. He overshot his mark … just barely. The Buckeye State rose 18% to gross $194 million. Wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “We note that results for the full month indicate that rising delta variant infection rates have not yet negatively impacted visitation/revenue, consistent with recent commentary from operators.” Slots-only MGM Northfield Park led the state with $23 million, up 12% and edging Hollywood Columbus‘ $21 million (+10.5%). Hollywood Toledo made $19.5 million, up 13%, but Scioto Downs came on fast, +22%, to win $20 million. Even the smaller fry were prospering. Hollywood Dayton grossed $12.5 million, a 25% leap, Hollywood Mahoning Valley captured $13.5 million, hopping 21%, and Belterra Park gained 9% to $8 million.
Continue reading Maryland, Ohio prosper; Sands scraping bottom in MacaoFurther growth projected for Vegas; Arizona sports betting upheld
As we await tomorrow’s reopening of Main Street Station, a set of projections comes from Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli that should have Las Vegas casino owners rubbing their hands with glee. Mind you, Santarelli might be erring on the side of caution: He expected Las Vegas Strip casino winnings to rise 5% in July and they vaulted 46.5%. Nevertheless, he foresees 26% Strip growth (up from a previous 14%) once last month’s earnings are tallied. Elsewhere he sees a deceleration in the fevered pace of gambling revenue. Vegas locals will be up, but by just 6.5%, Missouri should be up 7%, Indiana will gain 14% and Ohio will boom 19%. The one area of implosion will be Louisiana, down 19% and the explanation is quite simple—Hurricane Ida. “While July GGR trends, helped in part by a favorable calendar which included two extra weekend days, were robust across all markets in terms of their rate of change relative to 2019, we expect August trends, as the calendar dynamic reverses, to show a deceleration,” Santarelli explained.
Continue reading Further growth projected for Vegas; Arizona sports betting upheldCosmopolitan drinks its own bathwater
Late yesterday Bloomberg broke the news that Blackstone Inc. is shopping The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas … for a $5 billion minimum price. What’s even more incredible is that apparently it has suckers, er, corporations already on the hook. Why is the asking price so absurd? Consider that the Cosmo was built for $3.9 billion back in 2010 and that Blackstone obtained it from Deutsche Bank for a fire-sale $1.7 billion. We’re talking some serious profiteering here, folks. (Ya ever hear of depreciation, Blackstone?) Consider also that the Cosmo has 3,027 rooms while $4 billion Aria has 4,000 and $4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas boasts 3,506. So Blackstone wants more money for a smaller property. They’ve got some nerve.
Even crazier is that Apollo Management, not yet having taken the $6.25 billion keys to Venelazzo, is already circling the Cosmo and that MGM Resorts International might splurge on the megaresort, perhaps with a view to augmenting CityCenter. Does Bill Hornbuckle light cigars with $100 bills? Between a $9 billion commitment to Osaka and a potential $5 billion-plus indulgence on the Cosmo, MGM hardly seems the epitome of carefully targeted investment. (Remember that the Japanese casino can only occupy 3% of the megaresort’s total square footage.) At Blackstone’s initial put, one would have to generate a near-impossible $600 million in annual cash flow to have a prayer of a 15% return on investment. In other words, it would have to be THE GREATEST GAMING JUGGERNAUT OF ALL TIME. And if you believe that, let me sell you this bridge in Brooklyn … Apollo may cover its ass by going halves with Vici Properties but we’re still talking a helluva heavy lift. Normally it would be cheaper to buy than build on the Strip but these are far-from-normal times.
Continue reading Cosmopolitan drinks its own bathwaterFall of the Packer empire; Culinary Union’s kabuki theatre
The house that the late Kerry Packer built continues to go from bad to worse to downright awful under the all-thumbs leadership of heir James Packer. During the first half of this year Crown Resorts lost $191 million (on a 33% revenue decline), not to mention getting its Sydney casino license shelved, sparking a flurry of other investigations. Now Oaktree Capital is abandoning its $2.3 billion attempt to buy out Packer’s share, which is a dire turn of events, as authorities will continue to frown upon Crown as long as the younger Packer is around to screw things up. As Reuters put it, “The loss, which Crown had already flagged, and the failure of the Oaktree deal show the extent to which its future is being shaped by regulatory scrutiny as it struggles to rebuild its image amid multiple Royal Commission enquiries.”
Continue reading Fall of the Packer empire; Culinary Union’s kabuki theatreSuper-spreader event at Caesars nixed; Mega-jottings
Caesars Entertainment must have decided it was poor optics to be hosting a convention of anti-vaxxers at brand-new Caesars Forum as Coronavirus cases spike. Or maybe it blanched at the potential deep-cleaning costs after the event. Either way, QAnon-espousing “Patriot Double Down” will have to find somewhere else if it wants to play Vegas this October. (Have they called the Fertitta Brothers?) Event organizers must be scrambling for a new venue to infect, er, book. The Associated Press reported that it was presently unclear if the show “would be moved, postponed or canceled. Event officials did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages.” But with a top ticket of $3,000, we don’t expect Double Down to just fold its hand. There’s money to be made! Given QAnon followers’ eschatology, we’re frankly surprised they’d choose Sin City for their “Great Awakening” but so be it. (Good luck getting them to comply with mask mandates.) We’re talking about a city where Las Vegas Raiders fans would rather forfeit their tickets than get vaccinated. Nor does it seem like one can hold a public meeting in Clark County without being inundated with screaming anti-vaxxers. Las Vegas has so many already it scarcely needs to import more. Meanwhile, the number of Sin City vaccination mandates continues to grow, a laudable trend.
Continue reading Super-spreader event at Caesars nixed; Mega-jottingsFanDuel gets up all up in your grille; Tahoe casinos: Fire? What fire?
What will sports-betting advertising be like once football season starts? Our prediction is for overkill, followed by backlash. As though to prove our point, FanDuel is unleashing a national ad blitz with a minute-long TV spot called “Anthem.” It’s so over the top, so relentlessly in your face that a certain amount of revulsion is all but inevitable. Judge for yourself:
Shades of the inescapable DraftKings/FanDuel DFS commercials of a few years back. Fortunately, the market will probably be self-regulating, or at least heavily filtered. The first layer of filtration is sports leagues themselves. The NFL has already limited sports-betting puffery to six spots per game. Consumer reaction will also play a role and, if that and other forces don’t keep things to a reasonable level, state regulators can make their displeasure known. In Europe and the United Kingdom, sports leagues have seen governmental intervention when gambling advertisements were felt to have gone too far and become too ubiquitous. Nobody wants a repeat of that scenario stateside, least of all betting providers.
Continue reading FanDuel gets up all up in your grille; Tahoe casinos: Fire? What fire?Ida hits coastal casinos; Case Bets
Gulf Coast casinos are currently weathering Hurricane Ida and can be optimistic—at least in Mississippi—that it will not be a replay of Hurricane Katrina, now that all the coastal casinos are onshore. However, garages are flooding and casino doors are being sandbagged and reinforced, so this isn’t being taken lately. Most Biloxi-area casinos were proactive about shutting down on Saturday afternoon, although tardy responses from Golden Nugget and Island View Casino are to be noted. We’ll provide further news as it arrives but Ida’s bark appears to have been worse than her bite, thank God.
Two sports betting licenses remain up for grabs in Arizona. But the full tribal complement of 10 has been issued by Gov. Doug Ducey (R). Winners include WynnBET (San Carlos Apache Tribe), Westgate Las Vegas (Fort Mojave Indian Tribe), Golden Nugget (Hualapai Tribe), Tonto Apache (Churchill Downs), two tribes going with no-name outfits and four tribes—including the doughty Tohono O’odham nation, flying solo. Sports teams dealt in included the Arizona Cardinals (BetMGM), the Arizona Diamondbacks (William Hill), the Phoenix Suns (FanDuel), the Phoenix Mercury (Bally’s Corp.), TPC Scottsdale (DraftKings), Phoenix Speedway (Penn National Gaming), the Arizona Rattlers (Rush Street Interactive) and the presently unaffiliated Phoenix Coyotes. Left out in the cold is the Gila River Indian Nation, which partnered with BetMGM but to no avail.
Continue reading Ida hits coastal casinos; Case BetsStrip sets all-time record
Could last month’s Las Vegas Strip revenues really have been 46.5% higher than in July 2019? That’s what Wall Street analysts are telling us (Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli says he only anticipated +5%) and there’s no reason to doubt them. The $794 million haul is an all-time monthly record for the Strip and a 30% explosion over June’s numbers. The previous all-time high, set in February 2013, was exceeded by $100 million. Locals-derived revenue was much less than expected but still up an impressive 13.5%. The $241 million locals gross would have been fatter had July not ended on a Saturday, leaving some slot lucre still in the hoppers (traditionally dumped on Mondays). Back on the Strip, slot coin-in leapt 36%, for win of $409.5 million. Table play rose 38% and win was up 31% to $226 million, despite lower hold. All-important baccarat saw increased wagering (+25%) and a lucky house, as win rocketed 114.5% upward (on significantly higher hold).
Continue reading Strip sets all-time record