Slot win at Mohegan Sun was $19.5 million (-62%) last month, while Foxwoods Resort Casino didn’t do quite so well, winning $14 million 
(-67%) before closing on March 17, as did Mohegan Sun. The silver lining for the tribes is that they get to defer their 25% revenue share with Connecticut as long as they’re closed. Nonetheless, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment opted out of a $20 million interest payment on senior notes. It has 30 days to make that good, so undoubtedly will be chafing to open soon. That’s easier said than done, 98% of the workforce having been told to hit the bricks. In addition to $187 million cash in hand, MGE drew down a $125 million line of credit. That should tide it over a while.
* Tennessee‘s sports-betting model, now open for business, seems designed to fail. Indeed, the governor of the state allowed it to go into law without his signature, so conflicted was he about gambling. Not only does it cost $750,000 for a license, you’ll be taxed at 20%. Worst of all for bettors, the hold is set at 10%. The highest hold percentage in Nevada‘s last 35 years was 7.9%. We understand the idea is to improve sports betting’s profit margin but the net effect may be to drive away players, possibly to the black market.
* Here’s a novel spin on Coronavirus: It was a great opportunity! “The temporary closures of our properties have provided us with a unique opportunity to reimagine our casinos, and we have already identified ways 
to improve our operating model while enhancing the guest experience,” said Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden in a letter to investors. More concretely, the absence of brick-and-mortar gambling has driven players to HollywoodCasino.com, HollywoodRaces.com and Viva Slots, to say nothing of incoming Barstool. In the near term, Penn can increase its 36% Barstool share to 50% and we fully expect Snowden to use some of his carefully husbanded cash to do that sooner rather than later.
