Online sports betting has evidently proven too rich for Wynn Resorts‘ blood. The New York Post reports that Wynn “is looking to unload its online sports-betting business at a steep discount as the fledgling niche faces painful losses from stiff taxes and costly promotions needed to lure customers.” Wynn Interactive, valued at $3.2 billion, is being peddled for $500 million. This will come as bad news to Shaquille O’Neal, who unloaded his share of the Sacramento Kings in return for becoming a “brand ambassador” for Wynn, which also built a ritzy Las Vegas broadcasting studio to showcase its product. There were rumblings from the top that Wynn and OSB were an uncomfortable fit. CEO Matt Maddox had told investors, “The market is really not sustainable right now. Competitors are spending too much to get customers. And the economics are just not something that we’re going to participate in.”

Resorts World Las Vegas, we’ll see your Celine Dion health-scare postponement and raise you an Adele cancellation at Caesars Palace. The British megastar’s team has, like so much of the human race, contracted Covid-19 and is not physically capable of grinding out a Vegas residency at this point. We wish them a speedy recovery—and a contract extension. There are skeptics about the matter, asserting that the show simply wasn’t ready and that there would have been empty seats galore (we blame the greedy secondary market). Indeed, nixing 13 weekends of shows on account of Covid-19 seems an extreme reaction. Did Caesars Entertainment rush this show to market to one-up Resorts World? It kinda looks that way. Tickets sellers seem to have sensed this, judging from a precipitate, last-minute drop in prices.

December brought an acceleration in most forms of New Jersey gambling revenue. Atlantic City casinos managed a 1.5% increase over the end of 2019 but sports betting revenue dropped 11% year/year, blamed on low hold. Sticking close to home, Internet gamblers lost 34% more than last year, the brightest spot on the horizon (unless you were a player). Boardwalk grosses were $212 million, i-gaming yielded an impressive $133 million and sports betting engendered $59 million. Slot revenue was flat at $150.5 million on 2% less coin-in while table games captured $59.5 million (+5%) on 10.5% less wagering. Borgata stabilized at -1% or $54 million, too late to save Melonie Johnson‘s presidency. Hard Rock Atlantic City vaulted 37% to $35.5 million while Ocean Resort climbed 27% to $26.5 million.