Park MGM goes smokeless?; Excalibur returns

Resuming business in mid-pandemic, the casino industry finds itself at a nodal point unlike few in its history. The question: To smoke or not to smoke? Leaving aside our (negative) feelings about tobacco and its side effects, if the casino industry has the willpower to extirpate smoking in casinos, this is the moment when it can make that happen. Normally, this would be commercial suicide but gamblers want to play again. Where are they going to do that if not in the casinos? Online? Only in a few states and even there Big Gaming owns the action. Besides, how many people want a potential airborne pathogen blown in their faces, cosseted amidst a cloud of cigarette smoke?

Also, gambling = smoking turns out to be something of a myth. Global Gaming Business reports that there are 800 smoke-free casinos in the United States. Laura mercy! Somebody tell the tobacco lobby. Also, as casino demographics grow greener, they also become more anti-smoking. At least one casino has had a moment of truth during Coronavirus. Angel of the Winds Casino Resort near Arlington, Washington State, has just gone no-smoking. “This disease affects the respiratory system, I’ve read that smokers have a great chance of going downhill if they get it,” reported General Manager Travis O’Neil. “It came down to the health and safety of our team members.” (Always a good priority.)

The tribes may be taking the lead (as they so often do) but the big boys may be getting religion as well. VitalVegas reports that Park MGM will reopen as a smoke-free resort. It’s popular with smoking-averse Millennials and is relatively new, meaning there’s less tobacco-related depreciation to reverse. And if it doesn’t fly, well, MGM Resorts International has 12 other Las Vegas Strip resorts to fall back upon. The company has already sounded customers out on going smoke-free and ex-CEO Jim Murren recently prophesied the coming of a tobacco-less Sin City. “We’ve gone non-smoking in multiple venues in the resorts and I think that over time, we’ll gravitate toward that.” Writes Scott Roeben, “We’ve heard there are a lot of MGM Resorts executives who are very nervous about this decision, and if the rumor pans out, we look forward to seeing how this surprising twist unfolds.”

Whatever private-sector casinos decide to do, O’Neil reports no averse effect on “nuts” levels of business: “We maintain a 50% capacity, masks and cleanliness. We take it very seriously. And people are very happy.” Two California tribal casinos previously experimented with going smoke-free but pulled back. Perhaps that’s because tribal casinos are the last refuge of the tobacco addict in the Golden State. “Our data showed that air quality was very, very bad indoors [if] the number of smokers was 9% to 11% at any one time,” California Clean Air Project Director Narinder Dhaliwal told GGB. “A very low number of smokers cause air quality to be extremely low. It begs [sic] the question, why continue to allow smoking?”

Bear River Casino won’t. Neither will Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella, two that are going smoke-free as an anti-Coronavirus response. Even though Sycuan Casino remains a smokers’ haven, it knows the times are changing: Last year’s expansion was all smoke-free. Latest aboard the bandwagon is Talking Stick Resort in Arizona. Customers seemed OK with the change: Drinking beer while wearing a mask was more of a sticking point. The resort reported normal levels of business, although they would not commit to the no-smoking regime on a permanent basis. That’s all right. One skirmish will not win this war. But who’d ever have thought that players would want to gamble more than to smoke? Evidently so.

* Resorts Atlantic City, usually an also-ran among the Boardwalk’s casinos, is making a stir about its reopening plans (although there is yet to be a date certain for casino resumption). President Mark Giannantonio is promising a number of capex improvements. These include “significant capital investment to improve air quality.” Also, “installation of advanced bipolar ionization and UV technology to purify the air and clean surfaces” will take place. The prexy’s five-point plan is big on ultraviolet technology as a preventive mechanism against Covid-19. Additionally promised is “The installation of a bipolar ionization air purification system which purifies and disinfects the air flowing into a space and reduces the spread of airborne viruses and bacteria resulting in healthier indoor air quality.” Who knew it was positive to be bipolar?

Needless to say, this all sounds very much to the good. Employees will be masked and subject to testing before returning to work. They’ll also be schooled in Centers for Disease Control health protocols. As for guests, they’re encouraged to check in and out remotely, avoid crowding and not get into elevators more than four at a time (the latter is actually official policy). It’s an ambitious comeback regime but, with reopening unlikely for another month, Giannantonio has plenty of time to finish putting this into place.

* Excalibur is back. Or soon will be. MGM has announced a June 11 reopening for the kingly casino, so JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff wasn’t too far off the mark when he named it as one of the first MGM casinos to return. The resumption of business at the Ex speaks well to the demand levels MGM is seeing in its lower price tiers. “We are very pleased by the enthusiasm we are seeing from guests ready to come back to Las Vegas,” said CEO Bill Hornbuckle. MGM continues to promote its “Seven-Point Safety Plan” (which actually has 12 points) and the Ex’s casino floor is such a rat’s nest—arguably the most confusing in Vegas—that maintaining a salubrious atmosphere in that property will be MGM’s biggest reopening challenge yet. King Arthur supposedly promised to return to England in its time of greatest need. We don’t know if he did but he’s coming back to Las Vegas when it could use him most.