Steve Wynn may have left Wynn Resorts but the collateral damage keeps careening about like a ricocheting bullet. Yesterday The Associated Press got a hold of two police reports filed against the mogul. The more explosive of the two alleges that Wynn raped a Chicago woman “at least three times around 1973 and 1974” and that she later gave birth to his child. In the other, a woman who had a consensual relationship with the magnate says she 
lost her lost her job at a the Golden Nugget after she broke off the liaison. Apparently Steve Wynn just didn’t get that “no” meant no. According to CNBC, “the [first] woman claimed that Wynn pinned her against the refrigerator and raped her. She said he then made a phone call, kissed her on the cheek and left. The report does not explain how Wynn is alleged to have entered the apartment or if they knew each other. The woman claimed she did not give him a key.” As for the second woman, a dealer, Las Vegas Metro reports that “In the Summer of 1976, Wynn approached her in the back hall and wanted her to go with him. [S]he told him, ‘no’, she was done and had someone she was seeing. She was soon after accused of stealing $40.00 and forced to resign.” Forty bucks? Seriously? The latter report, incidentally, was filed last Jan. 29, after the Wall Street Journal had broken the story of widespread sexual misconduct at Wynncore.
Rape and coercion are serious charges, to be sure, depending on whether or not the statute of limitations has passed. At best, Steve Wynn faces nothing more than additional disgrace. At worst, he has a date with the district attorney and Wynn Resorts has to decide how much toxicity he is bringing to its brand. The taint has reached 
fatal levels in Massachusetts, where the Massachusetts Gaming Commission “has been flooded with unsolicited calls to drop” the ex-CEO’s name from Wynn Boston Harbor. The commission “continues to conduct an aggressive investigation on this very serious matter,” said a spokeswoman. If Steve Wynn was hoping that Gov. Charlie Baker (R) would have his back, he was very wrong. The governor’s found the latest news “horrifying and deeply disturbing.” “Putting his name on the Boston skyline is an insult to our community,” wrote one anti-Wynn complainant. This should be a no brainer for CEO Matt Maddox and S&G wonders at his hesitation … unless he’s planning to use it as a bargaining chip to weasel out of MGC fines or, worse yet, license revocation. We rate the chances of a continued Wynn Resorts presence in the Bay State at no better than 50-50.
Maddox, meanwhile, was the beneficiary of a soft-soap piece in Travel Weekly. Although it noted his experience in Macao and Las Vegas, the picture that emerged was of a Mister Cellophane exec, good at schmoozing but perhaps somewhat lacking in ‘the vision thing.’ The best anyone could say of him was ex-colleague Anthony Lucas‘ “Generally speaking, I find him to be very capable … he’s probably going to try to keep it as status quo as possible. In the short term, it’s pretty safe to say you’re not going to see anything too wildly different.” In other words, slow ahead. Already a downsizing of Wynn Paradise Park is rumored and I think we can kiss Wynn West, which was little more than a name, goodbye for the foreseeable future.
* While Wynn Resorts is suffering its woes, things look good for Station Casinos. Phases I and II of the Palms renovation have evidently gone so well that Station management is 
rolling out a Phase III targeted at the Asian player, with 316 new games to match, plus a dim sum restaurant. It will also build a connector to what one analyst called the “Palms Palace [sic] Tower.” The price tag for these improvements is a tidy $185 million. Of course, by going after local Asian players, Station aims a dagger thrust at Gold Coast, right across the street, which is badly in need of renovation. May the best casino win. We’ll find out in 2019.
Lower-than-expect locals revenues in 4Q17 were blamed on Palms and Palace Station construction disruptions. The latter was reported to be “on budget and on schedule” for a late-year debut. It’s hard to believe (but true) that the new restaurant at Palace Station will only be the property’s third. Compare that to The Drew, which plans 60 (!) restaurants. (Too many chefs spoil the EBITDA?) Station continues to keep its powder dry on the Reno front, which puzzles us, but maybe it doesn’t want to have too many plates spinning at once.
* Speaking of casino stocks in general, JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff advises “now is the time to buy -– March and April have the highest average historical gains.” Gaming stocks tend to come on strong in November, October and — especially on the Las Vegas Strip — December. “Given the recent weakness in gaming over the last month … we see several names that we like here,” wrote Greff. These include MGM Resorts International (“undemanding valuation that doesn’t take into account incremental capital return”), Station and Eldorado Resorts, and Wynn Resorts: “we like its risk-reward given its namesake’s departure, which, in our view, has reduced company-specific regulatory risk meaningfully …” Or has it?
