Could default or bankruptcy be in the offing for Mohegan Sun? The tribal supercasino’s attempts to get out from under an onerous fee arrangement with Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman are not only facing heavy weather, Mohegan Sun is also coming up short on its debt-servicing requirements. A thinning revenue stream doesn’t portend well, either.
We like this guy. As you know, S&G tries to avoid endorsing specific political candidates. But it’s hard to resist someone who describes the State of Alabama‘s current jihad against electronic bingo as “an almost maniacal tilting at windmills.” That’d be Bill Johnson (R), who has clearly given careful scrutiny to the issue.
Though he scarcely sounds like a casino proponent, Johnson suggests untying the Gordian Knot of Alabamian e-bingo by putting it to a statewide vote. He defines the issue as, “whether we should regulate and tax the gaming that’s already here.” While one might not agree with every component in Johnson’s proposed package of regulations (daily loss limits, for instance), by and large it’s both judicious and a big stride in the right direction.
Weidner everywhere. The former Sheldon Adelson mouthpiece (left) and current Las Vegas Sands scapegoat is being floated as a possible successor to Dan Lee at Pinnacle Entertainment. But if Lee was a loose cannon, Weidner is an out-of-control Sherman tank.
S&G confines itself to one prediction, contingent upon Carl Icahn gaining ownership of insolvent Fontainebleau. We figure Icahn has sussed out the immediate competition and will finish F-bleau in stages, repositioning it as a resort for the $30-$49/night crowd. That’d write finis to the Sahara and Riviera, and could kneecap Circus Circus in the bargain. Just a surmise, based on Icahn’s history as a Vegas operator.
He’s a believer. While many are skittish about CityCenter‘s impact, T. Rowe Price Porfolio Manager Joe Fath has placed a $277 million bet on MGM Mirage‘s prospects for success. He points to a slew of macroeconomic indicators that tell him Americans are ready to spend more and (in an echo of remarks made by Adelson) are willing to pay for luxury — or a fair approximation thereof. Fath also bucks conventional wisdom by saying now is the time to increase ADRs (although the market itself will be the ultimate arbiter of that).
What gives Fath particular credibility is that he was a skeptic regarding both the Station Casinos and Harrah’s Entertainment LBOs, two spectacular busts. As he points out, unlike those two companies, MGM actually had something to show for its $8.5 billion leap of faith that was CityCenter. Harrah’s and Station have … debt and lots of it. While Las Vegas Sands hasn’t gone bankrupt, per Fath’s prediction, it’s far from out of the woods.
Where are we? The Vegas Strip in 1975 or Dubai circa 1990?
Donning my CityLife fedora, I look at the fatal attraction between Dubai and Las Vegas, two enclaves of “growth pays for itself” thinking with more in common than a dearth of water. I also catch up with FAYM founder Hal Weller, one of a slew of individuals and and groups that are making Vegas a better place.
Best of the year. None of them played the Strip, I regret to say, but here are the 10 best Vegas shows of 2009. With three “bests,” it was a banner year for Las Vegas Little Theatre, just a few blocks from Venelazzo and just around the corner from LVA HQ. Check out its current season at www.lvlt.org.
Instead of F-Bleau’s re-positioning itself into the $30-49
range being the end for it’s neighbors, I think it’s gonna have a different effect-the anchor for an ‘affordable’ section of the strip…with most of the strip becoming less and less affordable for the average Joe (the current economy producing what I believe to be just a temporare reprieve to
this trend), the North end of the strip (Fountainbleau, along with Circus, The Riv, Sahara, and (finally) Stratosphere could finally become relevant again!