King on the rag; Macao mobbed; Sheldon goes green

Better hurry and line up that Circa funding, Derek Stevens: Rep. Steve King (R) is coming after your EB-5 investors. King has introduced a bill, currently little more than a placeholder, to terminate the EB-5 program. In the past we’ve been anti-EB-5, due to its permanent-Green Card provision but have quietly had a change of heart after judging its job-creation aspects … but still we might be more closely aligned to King (an anti-casino pest) than we’d like. Given his history of statements on behalf of white supremacy, he’s probably trying to keep more Chinese out of the country. Kneecapping small casino projects would just be lagniappe for him. EB-5 has been a blessing for gaming both in successful casinos (Maryland Live) and unsuccessful ones (Lucky Dragon), as well as those on which the jury is still out (SLS Las Vegas, Circa). Besides, King probably won’t get very far, being so far to the right of the Republican Party he’s in danger of falling off the side of the earth. Unless Donald Trump wants to pick a fight with China, we don’t see this legislation going anywhere, although eternal vigilance is the price of casino financing.

* Sports betting had a calamitous January in Delaware, falling 91%, leaving only $1.5 million in revenue for the books. Players wagered 35.5% fewer times and put 26% less money on the counter. To add insult to injury, Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway had to shell out $205,480 in vendor fees. Can Delaware afford another month like that?

* No such problem in Macao, where January tourism was up 25%. Keep the champagne on ice, though. According to GGR Asia, “investment analysts have often said there is not necessarily a direct correlation between the number of arrivals and the amount wagered in casinos because only a few of the visitors are the high rollers and premium mass players that bet in high multiples and contribute the majority of the city’s annual gaming revenue.” Macao is still a day-tripper market, with most staying four hours and 48 minutes, presumably the amount of time it takes one to blow through its government-rationed bankroll. However, length of stay by overnighters is improving, up 11% and averaging over two days per trip. Tourists from Hong Kong were way up (22%) but even an increase from South Korea (1.5%) was noted. Arrivals by sea were 35% down while the HKZM Bridge was a hit, bringing 443,908 souls last month.

In other good news from Macao, Sands China is ixnaying shark-fin soup from its owned-and-operated restaurants. We’d never taken Sheldon Adelson for an environmentalist but are happy to applaud him for doing the right thing. Finning sharks is an unsustainable fishing practice (among other ills) and caters to old-wives-tale notions about shark fins and male potency. The news follows hard upon a company ban on plastic straws. WWF International exec Sudhanshu Sarronwala applauded the shark-friendly policy, saying “We welcome Sands China’s new commitment, which shows the way for others in the hospitality sector toward saving sharks and the ecosystems that depend on them. As sustainable options do not exist for sharks, halting consumer demand is the only solution today.” Next up for Sands: single-use bathroom products. No more smuggling out extra shampoo and conditioner in your suitcase!

* Caesars Entertainment is eying Greece for its next casino project, part of a much larger reinvention of the Hellinkon airport complex near Athens. The company will be
required to show $227 million in economic activity a year in the last three years (as easy for the gaming giants as falling off a log) and annual revenue of $455 million a year for three years. In addition to Caesars, Genting Group is in the hunt, as are Groupe Barriere, Hard Rock International and Mohegan Sun. We’re surprised not to see Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the mix but perhaps developing the Cyprus market is keeping them busy.

* Tax Day is probably the right time to break out a show called Heartbreak Hotel. It’s the latest attempt by Sin City impresarios to cash in on the town’s long association with Elvis Presley. (Has the stench of Cirque du Soleil‘s Viva Elvis finally dissipated?) The 18-song set list will be augmented with historic imagery playing across four LED walls. The official title is Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel in Concert and Harrah’s Las Vegas, which deserves a good spectacle in its showroom, plays host. “Unlike previous versions of the show, the Las Vegas production will focus on the music and will be a concert performance,” says the press release. Further bolstering its Elvis cred, it announces that lead performer Eddie Clendening has 2,200 performances of Million Dollar Quartet in three cities on his resumé. The emphasis will be on early, Sun Records Elvis, not bloated, jump-suit Elvis of the MGM Grand years. Said Harrah’s LV General Manager Dan Walsh, “We were thoroughly impressed with the show and the caliber of talent–it’s a true stand-out in its class and a differentiator for the current Las Vegas entertainment market.” Tickets start at a wallet-friendly $49. So many Elvis shows have gone bust in Vegas that it would be nice to see this one succeed, no?

* The credulous can get a paranormal fix when the Travel Channel‘s Ghost Adventures investigates rumors of hauntings in the hotels that have been subsumed into Binion’s Gambling Hall. Reads the promotional flat, “Zak [Bagans] and crew investigate two historic hotels inside an infamous Las Vegas casino with a dark and violent history. The long-abandoned hotels, sealed off and left frozen in time, have created a paranormal pressure cooker just waiting to explode.” If there are ghosts in those hotels they’ll be the only patrons that Terry Caudill has had for years.