MGM National Harbor drove a 40% increase in Maryland gambling revenues last month. The $50.5 million gross at MGM was evenly 
divided between table games and slots. Since the latter are taxed at a far higher rate, MGM won’t be crying into its beer. The casino has increased its share of the Free State market from 37% to 38.5%. Maryland Live ($42 million) continues to take it on the chin, down 22%, whereas Horseshoe Baltimore ($22 million) slackened only 10%. Believe it or not, Hollywood Perryville snapped out of its doldrums, up 6%. All of the outlying casinos had a warm June, with Rocky Gap Casino growing revenue 8.5% and Ocean Downs up 9.5%.
West Virginia uses different dates for measuring casino revenue, so the comparison is imperfect but National Harbor is making itself felt. Statewide, gambling revenue was 3% down, mostly at the tables (-14%). Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races the feed bag was 7% emptier, with slots off 4% and tables 17% down. Since the opening of National Harbor, slots at the racino are down 6% and table games 19%.
* Resorts World Las Vegas is offering a sneak peak of how it will look inside when it opens. Although writer Dave Bontempo didn’t get the memo that the panda exhibit is Out (I hear the unicorn petting zoo is still on), he persuades interior designer Nicole Dalton to open up about the look of the guest rooms, which will have fully upholstered walls and, in the bathrooms, “To create the look of a high-end marble bathroom, we’re now using engineered stone, which is far more durable and less expensive than natural stone—again, to create a high-end residential look.” Dalton’s goal is “to create a room that doesn’t have any negative feedback on sites like TripAdvisor.” iPhones and Alexa-like control systems also play a large role in Genting Group‘s concept for the guest rooms. It certainly sounds like the company is sparing no expense.
Ditto Hard Rock International‘s reinvention of Trump Taj Mahal. “Doing it right doesn’t just mean some new carpet. It means a complete renovation of all the guest rooms—not just bedspreads, but literally taking the bathrooms out and redoing them,” CEO Jim Allen tells Bontempo. “t means all new furniture and a complete redesign of the casino floor.” He reports that, yes, two 7,000-seat arenas are in the works, so ambiguity continues to hover over that facet of the re-do.
* Speaking of Hard Rock, tribal casinos continue to set the pace with which the rest of the industry must keep up. At Pechanga Resort & Casino, designer Lifescapes is hard at work on a pool complex that will feature “family activities around the pool, integrating splash pads, slides, beach entries, bocce and horseshoes, as well as a nearby event lawn for private functions, concerts, fitness classes and the like. The complex, set to open in 2018, will measure 100 feet longer than the height of the Empire State Building. There will be three [heated] primary pools, one with a family lagoon.” After all, why shouldn’t you enjoy the pool in the cooler months too?
Shouldn’t that be $50 million gross for MGM NH?