MGM: Just say no; NBA to Vegas?

Setting an admirable example, MGM Resorts International will be abstaining from any CARES Act bailout money. It will avail itself of the loan guarantees being extended by the federal government. As the company itself says, it needn’t play poor, not with $3.9 billion cash on hand. It advised investors “has since incurred substantial operating losses in March and the Company does not expect to see a material improvement” because we don’t have any light at the end of the Coronavirus tunnel yet. Those March losses reverse a $1.3 billion profit booked in January and February. MGM isn’t the only company showing fortitude: Las Vegas Sands has also sworn off handouts. We applaud them both.

* Golden Nugget, Resorts Digital and the Oregon Lottery are just three of the brand-name Internet-gambling sites that went dark after a ransomware attack on supplier SBTech. The latter says no customer data has been snatched. As LegalSportsReport.com put it, this is “Not ideal preparation for DraftKings merger,” a transaction expected to close imminently. Golden Nugget and Resorts Digital are still able to offer online casino gambling, as they only use SBTech for their sports books, but BetAmerica, which employs SBTech as an end-to-end system, is crippled, as is the Oregon Lottery Scoreboard. “Companies of this size usually have the resources and back-up servers to resume services relatively quickly if its a DDOS attack. Whereas if it’s a ransomware attack, it can take quite a bit of time to restore systems and make sure they are clean,” said GRCI Group Chief Information Security Officer Geraint Williams. Even then, it’s not a matter of flipping a switch: Regulators in six states have to sign off on resumption of service before it can take place.

* The NBA continues to take a hard look at wrapping up its suspended season with a special July tournament in Las Vegas. According to Sports Illustrated, “the league could play best of five series’ in the first round and the Finals, with a one-and-done style tournament replacing the two rounds in between.” Of course, everything hinges upon where the U.S. is vis-a-vis Coronavirus come midsummer but it’s a tantalizing hope for Sin City. “I think they’re turning over every rock they possibly can to play and looking at every different outcome,” one general manager told SI. And Las Vegas is, the magazine says, “one of the few cities, perhaps the only city, equipped to hold this type of event.” In a challenge to the city’s infrastructure, most of the league, supporting personnel and media would have to engage in a giant quarantine in place. Covid-19 testing would need to be available en masse, even though the games would be held without fans in the stands.

But unless tests are readily available to John Q. Public and Coronavirus is on the wane this discussion is academic. “We all want to play,” said one exec. “But we all know we can’t play until things are dramatically different.”

* Stadium Casino in Philadelphia is evidently a “life sustaining” business. It received an exemption from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development to continue construction. When completed, late this year, Stadium Casino is projected by Cordish Gaming to generate $300 million/year in casino revenue. Even so, Cordish is trying to skimp on the $10 million sports book licensing fee for its Westmoreland Mall satellite casino and piggyback it onto the Stadium license instead.