Las Vegas Advisor – Page 19 – Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on June 26, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

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 …

Posted on June 20, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 3 Comments

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.

Posted on May 16, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

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.

Posted on April 21, 2023 by David Mckee — 6 Comments

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.”

Posted on April 20, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

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.

Posted on April 7, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

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.’

Posted on March 15, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

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 …

Posted on March 1, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

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.

Posted on February 7, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Maryland, Illinois leap; Mega-Jottings

So where’s that recession? January revenues from Maryland casinos are in and the $167 million gross is a 9% improvement on 2022. None of the six gambling halls were revenue-negative. MGM National Harbor led the pack with $72 million, an 8% gain, while Maryland Live was up 6.5% to $58 million. Horseshoe Baltimore jumped 9% to $17.5 million and Ocean Downs catapulted 41% to $7 million. Hollywood Perryville also grossed $7 million, up 6.5% and Rocky Gap Resort grew 17% to $5 million, to round out an impressive month.

Posted on January 31, 2023 by David Mckee — 3 Comments

Nevada closes 2022 roaring; Lombardo’s big blunder

Gambling grosses for last month have been tallied and it’s an understatement to say they’re boffo. Nevada casinos raked in $1.3 billion, a 14% leap over 2021. You can see why we think that—as it pertains to gaming—a recession is “the most overhyped narrative of the last year.” It simply refuses to manifest itself. That’s especially true of the Las Vegas Strip, which vaulted 25% to $814 million. Downtown took it on the kisser, down 7% to $69 million. Hopefully, new product at the Fremont Hotel can help reverse that before it becomes a trend. The Boulder Strip also had a rough month, slipping 8% to $64 million.

However, long-anemic North Las Vegas was up 5% to $25 million and miscellaneous Clark County was flat at $137 million. Laughlin hopped 8% to $32 million, while Utah-facing Mesquite and Wendover were bonny, jumping 11.5% and 20%, respectively ($16 million and $22 million). Snowbirds avoided Lake Tahoe, which tumbled 16% to $15.5 million whilst Reno was up 6% to $59 million. A lot of mixed signals, yes, but more pluses than minuses.

Category: Las Vegas Advisor