Mutiny at MGM?; The art of the presidential deal

Global Gaming Business sources say MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren “was forced out by activist investors who had gathered enough support from institutional investors for his ouster.” The reason is not clear, as Murren had been doing everything possible to placate dissidents, including selling almost all of the company’s real estate to sundry REITs and throwing employees under the bus with MGM 2020. In addition to receiving a retainer (read: non-compete) for 2021, Murren will have a soft landing, receiving $2 million in salary, a $4 million bonues, a $7 million “equity award” and a $12 million severance payment. We should all be ousted that way. Wall Street analysts were unfazed by Murren’s departure, with the market being more concerned by MGM’s withdrawal of 2020 earnings projections, due to that big X factor known as coronavirus, along with soft baccarat play on the Las Vegas Strip, still the company’s bread-and-butter market.

GGB cites a lengthy series of positive, recent metrics at MGM, including a 15% dividend increase, so those activist investors must be a pretty prickly bunch, considering that Murren’s admirable steermanship failed to please them. Perhaps the only blemish on GGB‘s reportage is its whitewashing of Murren predecessor J. Terrence Lanni‘s departure,

chalking it up to “failing health” and not the inflated-resumé scandal that forced Lanni’s hand. (Murren’s ability to sell Kirk Kerkorian on CityCenter by going over Lanni’s head cannot have helped.) Also, in an underreported bit of cost-creep, the budget for MGM Springfield is now pegged at $1 billion-plus, a number that won’t help its anemic ROI. Not everyone wish Murren well, Groused gaming pundit Oliver Lovat, “Jim Murren will be cursing the day he approved car parking fees, that, rather than MGM Growth Properties or saving the company in 2008/9, will be his legacy.”

At least Murren can take solace in the news that Genting Group and Galaxy Entertainment have silently crept out of Osaka, giving the CEO the Japan trophy he so badly coveted. The local government deemed the MGM/Orix Corp. joint venture the only qualified bid. The Shinzo Abe administration still has to sign off on the choice but nobody else is left, Wynn Resorts and Melco Resorts & Entertainment having already quit the scene. Asia Gaming Brief contended that MGM/Orix won by default: “It will certainly be an embarrassment to the Osaka government that only one IR operator candidate came through with a bid, especially when just a year ago it was the most sought-after municipal government in Japan.” It also must be a source of chagrin to Murren that the snail’s pace of Abe’s government has cost MGM a shot at capitalizing on World Expo 2025, to be held in Osaka too soon for MGM to be finished building.

* Citing higher taxes, more stringent regulations and a greater government concern over problem gambling, LeagueOfBetting.com is predicting a $3 billion ball in United Kingdom revenue, to just under $80 million, tumbling to $70 million by 2024. For context, the U.K. gaming industry’s high-water mark for gambling revenue was $114 million in 2014. The ensuing pinch has been most greatly by the online-gaming sector: New-player registrations, after rising greatly in previous years, flattened in 2019. Overall, the industry has been hurt by greater stringency in age verification, I.D. checks and the number of gambling machines. “In January, an international betting and casino website, Royal Panda announced it is leaving the UK market, telling customers they should withdraw funds before the end of the month.” Maltese firm Slotty Vegas also pulled out of Britain, citing Brexit as the provocation. We could see more defections, particularly as the guvmint narrows the use of credit cards for gambling.

* After serial failures as a businessman, too many to list here, Donald Trump has finally found a way to make money: turning a profit off the presidency. Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (you mean there are ethics in Washington?) has found 19 ways that Trump has monetized the Oval Office. Our favorite has to be imposition of tariffs on foreign wine, to improve the market for Trump Winery‘s vino. Trump International Las Vegas (we knew there was a Las Vegas angle in this) is one of the beneficiaries of a the rollback of a “rule that required businesses with more than 100 employees to include race, ethnicity, and gender in their annual reports that are used by the EEOC to identify discriminatory pay practices.” We have to have priorities, after all.

Jottings; The Virginia Lege has approved casinos in five southern cities, although the tax rate remains unspecified. One solon called the casino industry “our Amazon,” presumably alluding a retail colossus rather than a dying rainforest … Macao‘s casinos will be closed for at least 22 days now, sparking fears of a 95% revenue plunge in February … The Massachusetts Lege is said to be considering sports betting ” in a through and plodding manner,” albeit with a conclusion expected soon. It needs to come quickly: Gov. Charlie Baker (R) has already baked $35 million in tax revenues into his next budget … CBS Sports will be obtaining its sports-wagering info exclusively from William Hill. The new pact gives William Hill promotional rights on various CBS digital properties … Here’s the skinny on how Hard Rock Atlantic City‘s “live slots” work. Hard Rock credits the Division of Gaming Enforcement for being supportive and proactive of the innovation.