Category: Entertainment

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F-blue, Rio approved; Indiana down again; Biden smoked

Fontainebleau owner Jeffrey Soffer and top exec Brett Mufson are certain to be approved after their audition for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. And why not? Aside from an ancient tax issue involving the Town Square mall, there’s nothing untoward about Soffer’s application. (Trivia question: Upon what casino’s gravesite was Town Square built?) The only beef we have is the NGCB’s habit of waiting until the last possible minute to approve such applications. If something truly noisome turned up it would be too late to address it properly. The Control Board essentially takes itself hostage to the unstoppable momentum generated by large casino projects. As for the total budget for 16-year construction folie de grandeur that is F-blue, nobody’s talking. We have to defer to Citizen Kane‘s stentorian newsreel description of Charles Foster Kane‘s Xanadu: “Cost? NO MAN CAN SAY!” However, we strongly suspect that F-blue will outstrip Resorts World Las Vegas as the costliest megaresort in Las Vegas history, were the tab to be honestly accounted.

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Bellagio bargain?; Shame on Maine; Trump seen slumming

Yup, it’s true. Blackstone Group is shopping the real estate assets of Bellagio as it draws down its Las Vegas Strip exposure. At least one Wall Street analyst thinks this would send a signal to the REIT industry that Strip real estate is “undervalued.” MGM Resorts International still holds 5% of the $4.3 billion megaresort and there’s no word whether that sliver is in play, though apparently not. At any rate, CB Richard Ellis analyst John DeCree decreed that a “Bellagio sale could be positive for valuation signal. Given the iconic nature of Bellagio, we suspect any real estate investor with the financial means would likely be at the table, even for a minority stake in the asset.” He added that “a partial sale could appeal to a broader set of interested buyers, considering the potential price tag,” which he did not specify. DeCree strongly implied that Blackstone would get its 2019 purchase price back, which hardly seems like a strong incentive to sell.

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New player in NYC; Big splash in Atlantic City

Look out Manhattan casino aspirants: There is a new player in the game. It’s Larry Silverstein, the real estate mogul behind the redevelopment of the World Trade Center area post-9/11. He’s proposing Avenir, a mega-budget project that would erect two 46-story towers above the casino podium, which itself would entail 600,000 square feet of gaming and related amenities. High in the sky, a 1,000 concert hall would be on the 45th floor of one of the towers, which will be connected to the other via a lofty skybridge. Silverstein has a strategic location—just north of the convention-centric Javits Center and four blocks west of Times Square. What’s more, Silverstein owns the land outright, which clears a few hurdles. Avenir could be a category-killer and there’s more …

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All Atlantic City, all the time; Gone to the dogs; Mega-Jottings

The former Trump Marina looks sadly outmoded next to Borgata and Ocean

Although terrestrial casino revenue dipped 2.5% last month, New Jersey casinos made out like bandits online, with i-gambling up 19% and sports betting leapt 33.5%. In Atlantic City the gross was $227 million at traditional casinos, as a sharp decline in table revenue (-8%) pulled the Boardwalk down. Borgata slipped 4.5% but still led the market with $60.5 million. Hard Rock Atlantic City felt a chill, off 6.5%, but banked $39 million nonetheless. Ocean Resort was the usurper, jumping 17% to $30 million. Among the Caesars Entertainment flotilla, only Tropicana Atlantic City held its ground, flat at $21.5 million. Harrah’s Resort ceded 10% to fall to $19 million whilst volatile Caesars Atlantic City slid 9.5% to $18 million—not a good look for a high-roller joint. Everybody else was bunched way to the back, trailed by the Golden Nugget with $12.5 million (-1%), as Resorts Atlantic City made $13.5 million (-5%) and Bally’s Atlantic City managed $13 million on a 4% gain.

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Massachusetts up, Indiana, Louisiana down; Miller’s folly

Gambling revenues nudged upward a bit in Massachusetts, rising 2% from a year earlier. April’s numbers had Encore Boston Harbor far in the lead with $64 million but flat year/year. MGM Springfield (shown) had quite a good month, up 5% to $24 million, while Plainridge Park did almost as well, rising 4% to $13.5 million. Sports betting was lucrative, bringing home $60 million on $579 million in handle. Favorite son DraftKings scored a much-needed win with $29 million in revenue, followed by FanDuel‘s $22 million. (The two had been deadlocked last month.) WynnBet tumbled below the Mendoza Line, while Barstool Sports slumped to $2 million after a strong-ish start and BetMGM fell way back to $5 million, more indications that revenue was flowing DraftKings’ way. Caesars Sportsbook held its ground with $2 million.

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Mob merriment; Golden Nugget woes

What the hell were you thinking, Bally’s Corp.? The company’s struggling Atlantic City casino recently hosted a meet-and-greet featuring mobster Gianni Russo. Our Boardwalk correspondent, who was there, says Russo is “a lifelong member of the Mafia, who was in The Godfather. [He played Talia Shire‘s doomed husband.] It was both a strange and very interesting presentation. He told his story along with screens showing many photos of people he interacted with, with film clips (my favorite was Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra singing a song together), newspaper headlines, and also sang a few songs! The promotions said there would be gifts; they had five violin-shaped liquor bottles, and each invited guest received a signed copy of his book . No other gifts. They had an open bar and some desserts.”

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Sands hailed; A’s to Vegas; Coney casino razzed; Mega-Jottings

First-quarter numbers for Las Vegas Sands were “nicely ahead” per J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, who said Sands’ Macao casinos were firing on all cylinders (mass-market play, VIP action, slots, retail and lodging). He expected Macanese cash flow of $304 million and got $385 million, far more than the rest of Wall Street was awaiting. “There is still ample room for further recovery,” Greff wrote, noting that Sands had achieved the near-unthinkable with only 69% of hotel rooms (due to a labor crisis), 25% of normal ferry capacity, low passenger loads—39% of capacity—at Macao’s dinky airport, and “less robust visitation” from Hong Kong (74% of peak performance) and Guangdong Province (55%). Retail sales of $109 million were particularly impressive, as they hit 95% of pre-Covid altitude. Beyond that, Chinese mainland visitation is very low: 27%. Still, he expects “a rising tide to lift all Macau boats.” As for Sands itself, its labor crunch is expected to ease by summer, so neither Greff nor management is worried.

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Storm in Atlantic City; Big trouble for sports betting

All was not sunny at Borgata last weekend. Our Atlantic City correspondent writes, “When we were driving back to Borgata, heavy rain started. As we pulled into MGM valet intake the wind was getting stronger. The luggage carts were starting to roll around, so the valet people took quick action and knocked the luggage carts over into the nearby grassy area to keep them from hitting parked cars. The wind got extremely strong, and started to make the parked cars rock back and forth, including ours, and we even felt some ‘lift.’

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Massachusetts soars; The Strip meets The Street

Gambling win in Massachusetts shot up 14.5% in February, reaching $98 million. Market leader, of course, was Encore Boston Harbor with $63 million (+14.5%). MGM Springfield leapt 17% to $23 million and Plainridge Park climbed 10% to $12 million. Wynn Resorts, Penn Entertainment and MGM Resorts International were among the companies represented at the J.P. Morgan Gaming & Lodging Forum and you can read our takes on most of them at CDC Gaming Reports. As for the others …

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Atlantic City in winter; Ohio rebounds; Lightfoot booted

Given a slow news day, let’s finally catch up with our East Coast bureau and see what’s been happening on the Boardwalk. First off, demerits to Ocean Casino Resort for contributing in its own small way to climate change by having three open-air, gas-fired flame pits blasting forth during a light snowfall. Nearby, at the Showboat, it appears that Bart Blatstein needs to put a bit of stick about, as construction of his (much-needed) water park presently looks unlikely to finish by Memorial Day, when you expect him to want to be good and ready.

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