Maryland craters; Penn takes Trop loss

Free State Gov. Larry Hogan (R) having closed casinos on March 16, revenue results were predictably dire, down 58%. That’s a measly $69 million gross. MGM National Harbor booked $26 million, a 58.5% slide, with slots down 62% and tables falling 55%. If it’s any consolation, MGM retained the most market share—38%—although Maryland Live is closing the gap with 36%. Horseshoe Baltimore was a distant third at 14.5%. The latter plunged 61% to $10 million while Maryland Live fell 55.5% to $25 million. Barely registering as blips on the radar were Hollywood Perryville with $3 million (-58%), Ocean Downs‘ $3 million (-59%) and Rocky Gap Resort‘s $2 million (-58%). West Virginia casinos enjoyed one more day of business and were only down 35% by comparison, partly because the reporting period is not exactly congruent with Maryland’s. At Charles Town Races, slots were 37% off and tables fell 31%. This is just the first of what are bound to be many such reports.

* Penn National Gaming‘s Tropicana Las Vegas misadventure just looks worse and worse. Bloomberg reveals that Penn took a $52.5 million bath on the Strip dowager in order to get five months’ free rent from Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. One thought the salvation of the gaming industry, REITs have become an elephant on its back, generating a new form of liability: rent. Asset sales and debt restructuring could be the fallout, according to veteran gaming analyst Jason Ader. How apt that this should happen to Penn, which was Patient Zero in REITmania. It shelled out $870 million in rent and has long-term obligations to the tune of $11 million.

There’s a limited silver lining in the Trop deal. If GLPI sells it in the next two years, Penn gets three-fourths of anything over $308 million. But “What is more important right now is firming up additional liquidity and showing the market how long their business is sustainable without operations,” wrote Stifel Nicholas & Co. analyst Steven Wieczynski. Post-Trop deal, Penn’s got seven months to get that act together.

* With so many Americans hoarding toilet paper (for reasons to delicate to disclose), Encore Boston Harbor is stepping into the butt crack, donating TP to Coronavirus-relief efforts. Contrary to what we reported yesterday, first responders in Detroit who are comped hotel rooms at Greektown Casino must be Covid-free. We apologize for the error. Two Detroit police officers have died of the disease and another 39 are infected. In Queens, health officials have requisitioned Aqueduct Racetrack as an ancillary hospital. Las Vegas Sands qualifies for low-interest CARES Act loans, although it’s not clear whether CEO Sheldon Adelson will tap them, because its workforce is below 10,000. Looking like Casey Jones in his MAGA hat, Adelson doled out attaboys on a bipartisan basis, praising Trump and Govs. Steve Sisolak (D), Andrew Cuomo (D), Mike DeWine (R) and Gavin Newsom (D). We’re not making that up.

* Just because sports betting is scarce doesn’t mean it’s extinct. Soccer from Belarus and Ukrainian table tennis are hot right now. One Florida sports book is taking over/unders on how much Donald Trump will say something like “fantastic” in his daily press briefings.

* Caesars Entertainment is a ghost empire, having furloughed nearly its entire workforce. Estimates run from 90% to 94%. The move does not affect Caesars’ overseas properties. Caesars shareholders are going to be $200 million richer, thanks to a “ticking fee” that’s going to keep on kicking in as the consummation of the Eldorado Resorts merger drags into June. Company officials swear the $17.5 billion deal is no risk. Says one, “The deal was constructed with a balance sheet to survive a crisis, with ample liquidity and no debt maturities until 2024.” Meanwhile, Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo, who hasn’t signed off on the merger yet, has had a come-to-Jesus moment about casino attendance. “The gaming industry won’t turn back on like a faucet with water,” he told CNBC.

* The Trump Organization, co-owner of Trump International Las Vegas, is in familiar territory, seeking to defer loans on its properties. That’s bad news for one bank. Reports the Boston Globe, “Deutsche Bank has lent [Donald] Trump and his companies about $2 billion since 1998, the only mainstream financial institution consistently willing to do business with Trump and his companies.”

* Getting Away With It Dept.: Lakeisha Holloway, who slammed her car into Las Vegas Strip pedestrians in 2015, has been found incompetent to stand trial. Remember, one person was killed by her and 12 more injured. That’s justice delayed and denied.