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 …
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.
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.
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.
What do you do when there’s no really big story of the day? Bust out an order of Case Bets, what else. Let the fun begin …
Rivers Portsmouth has already had a come-to-Jesus moment after its pro-smoking stance revolted patrons. (One activist likened the existence of a smoking section in the casino to a “peeing section” in a public pool.) Well sorta. Rush Street Gaming‘s rather lame excuse was to erect signage designating where smoking can and cannot be practiced … as though the smoke itself will obey the signs. And guests continue to complain. The pervasive smoke has contributed heavily to Rivers’ dismal 3.2 rating on Google. “I won’t be back because my post-COVID asthma and congenital heart condition cannot be around smoking,” grumbled one customer.
Life at S&G HQ is seriously clouded by the critical illness of a beloved fur baby. Nevertheless, we shall endeavor to gather our thoughts, starting with the consequences for bettors of the life-threatening Damar Hamlin injury on Monday Night Football. Those who placed their wagers on the Buffalo Bills/Cincinnati Bengals tilt via WynnBet have had their action refunded swiftly. Not so lucky are Circa punters, as Derek Stevens is hanging onto the money until or unless the NFL reschedules the game within eight days of the Hamlin tragedy. Other slackers include DraftKings, which is keeping bettors in on call waiting, piously claiming its thoughts were with the Hamlin family instead. PointsBet and Caesars Sportsbook also took the ‘thoughts and prayers’ line, diving under the table alongside Circa and DraftKings. Since the game wasn’t replayed by yesterday, BetRivers patrons got their money back, though.
Dateline: O’Hare International Airport, land of crappy wi-fi.
We’re not back at the office yet but there’s so much news it just can’t wait. Let’s start in Atlantic City, where casino revenues slumped 7% to $220.5 million last month. Everybody was revenue-negative with two happy exceptions, Borgata (+1%) and Hard Rock Atlantic City (+4%). The latter’s Joe Lupo definitely has some secret sauce for attracting players. Borgata raked in $62.5 million to Hard Rock’s $39 million. Ocean Casino Resort had an abnormally poor month, down 6% to $28 million. Even so, Ocean still outperformed all of the Caesars Entertainment properties, with Caesars Atlantic City tumbling 17% to $17.5 million and Harrah’s Resort also falling 17% to $20 million. Tropicana Atlantic City slid 18% to $17.5 million. Golden Nugget ($12 million, -16%) and Resorts Atlantic City ($13 million, -11.5%) duked it out for last place but were aced by Bally’s Atlantic City ($11 million, -13.5%), which means we look forward to hearing the Bally’s Corp. braintrust spin that on their next earnings call.
Inflation or no, there is one quantifiable, incontestable fact about the American consumer. He or she is spending more—way more—on gambling than before Covid-19 and more than last year, when they had stimulus money to burn. So if there are fewer presents under the Christmas tree, maybe the economy isn’t to blame. Big Gaming’s poster child for its current prosperity has to be Maryland, where last month’s gambling losses were 37.5% higher than 2021 and 48% over pre-pandemic 2019 for a total haul of $213 million. That may be peanuts by Las Vegas standards but it’s the biggest casino month in the history of the Free State.
There will be at least one serious push for a casino in the heart of New York City, now that Wynn Resorts has thrown in with Related Cos. on “an exposed and sunken rail yard” that some see as a gaming gold mine. The project would be near and dear to Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s heart, so Hochul + Wynn = momentum. “Wynn New York,” or whatever it would be called, would anchor a $25 billion, 28-acre mixed-use development, giving the project much needed sex appeal. On the plus side is proximity to the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Less thrilling is the fact that the casino would have to be built on a mega-platform over some train tracks. (Nothing says “the glamour of gaming” like the subterranean rumble of trains.)
Is Ocean Casino Resort‘s new leadership sweating comps? Our East Coast correspondent tried to score two for a Boz Scaggs concert, couldn’t, but paid anyway. What did he see? “The concert was far from being sold out. Do you think they could have given away ‘comp’ tickets for at least some of those empty seats?” Even so, the casino floor “was still very crowded” at 11 p.m. He did spot a construction flaw in the ultra-popular casino: “The other photo is in the self-park garage. I’m not an engineer, but isn’t the concrete supposed to meet the metal? The light you see is from the garage level below.”
