There’s so much news today we almost don’t know where to begin. But we’ll start with Atlantic City, which reported a 2% increase in casino revenue, to $229 million. Internet gambling and sports betting chipped in another $169 million. One of the biggest beneficiaries was Bally’s Atlantic City (above), which leapt 20% to $13.5 million. Other coffee achievers were Ocean Casino Resort, which catapulted 29.5% to $30 million, and Hard Rock Atlantic City, scarcely to be outdone with a 26.5% increase to $44.5 million. Borgata actually lost market share (or was unlucky at the tables), down 4% to $54 million. Of the Caesars Entertainment threesome, only Tropicana Atlantic City was revenue-positive, up 1.5% to $21.5 million. Harrah’s Resort was 5.5% down to $20 million and Caesars Atlantic City, formerly the most volatile house in town, ceded just 4% to $19 million. Resorts Atlantic City was flat at $14 million and Golden Nugget nudged up 3.5% to a last-place $12.5 million. Overall, slot revenue climbed 11% to $171 million on 12% more coin-in, while tables saw 4% less win but on 7% less wagering.
Internet casinos brought in a whopping $133 million, with Borgata (30.5%) narrowly holding more market share than Golden Nugget (27%), followed by Resorts Digital (21%), then Caesars (12%), Hard Rock International (4.5%), Bally’s (3%) and Ocean (2%). Sports betting win was way down (-45%) at $39 million, as customers abandoned retail books (-62.5%) for online ones. Low hold of 6% was also to blame, as handle was only off 17.5%. FanDuel‘s $19 million led the market, distantly followed by BetMGM ($5 million), DraftKings ($4.5 million), Caesars Sportsbook ($4.5 million) and Barstool Sports ($1.5 million).
Irony Alert: Vice President Kamala Harris (D) is visiting Atlantic City today to discuss health issues. Other than Las Vegas itself, we can’t think of a place less appropriate for spotlighting health, not so long as smoking is permitted in the city’s casinos. The inappropriateness of venue was not lost on Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects, whose Nicola Vitola stated heatedly, “pregnant casino workers are still forced to breathe secondhand smoke that puts their health and the health of their unborn baby at risk … This is also a matter of health equity, as our casino workforce is diverse and as a result, people of color are disproportionately harmed by indoor smoking.” Point made and rightly so.
Having been ‘outed’ by Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, under the cloak of the weekend Station Casinos admitted that, yes, it is going to sell the land under Texas Station, Fiesta Rancho and Fiesta Henderson—after it has demolished all three, leaving only Fiesta Rancho’s ice arena standing. The skeleton crews currently manning the three hulks will be transferred to other company properties. Station President Scott Kreeger was candid about the reasoning behind the move, saying “Even before the pandemic, they were our worst-performing properties.” Now with their customers predominantly exported to other Station properties and little reason to continue maintaining three derelicts, the company is going to level them, take a writedown and remove their gaming entitlements—or so Santarelli surmises.
In a follow-up report, he said that the move was a major plus for Station’s operating margins and potentially a big payday on the real estate front. We’re loath to disagree with Santarelli, one of the more skeptical analysts on Wall Street, but what happens if Station holds a big-ass (107.5 acres) land sale and nobody comes? In case you think that scenario is far-fetched, remember that Station has been trying for years to locate buyers for various items in its much-vaunted land bank and found no takers. The development of a Wildfire on the old Castaways site is Station making the best of a bad situation.
Ditto the noises Station is now making about developing a new resort casino on the long-vacant “Losee Station” site on the north Beltway. Kreeger also hinted at sprinkling North Las Vegas with Wildfires—a strategy that makes eminently more sense than casino-hotel development, since there’s less gambling revenue to be taken out of the city than any other part of the Las Vegas Valley and hardly enough to justify resort construction. Don’t tell it to outgoing Mayor John Lee (R), who dissed the idea of big-box retail to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, saying, “We’re not interested in that. There’s a community over there that needs services. And so we’re going to look at what we can do to not impact that community with just a lot of traffic. We want to protect that community. [Texas Station] had bowling alleys, movie theaters, they had a lot of stuff over there and it blended well. If it’s another casino, that would be great. We’re not against that at all.”
He’s very supportive of the “Losee Station” notion, predicting Station would put up something “world-class”—and superior to Station-built Aliante Casino, or so Station execs tell him. As for the preservation of Pepsi Ice Arena, Lee was surprisingly ungrateful, saying he wished the Las Vegas Golden Knights would erect a facility there instead. Lee moped, “North Las Vegas is somewhat feeling that it’s being left out of sharing the success of our community. I don’t know if they feel obligated to involve North Las Vegas as they have Henderson,” whose mayor, Debra March, is far less persnickety than Lee about what happens to the Fiesta site, upon which no casino has thrived. “It’s a great defensive move.” So said Strategy Organization co-founder Josh Swissman of the demolition derby. Indeed, industry analysts were positively breathtaken with the sweeping nature of Station’s grand scheme.
The wrecking spree is a sad fate for Fiesta Rancho, which was—when owned by George Maloof—one of the very best locals casinos in town. But Station’s logic is pretty inarguable, moreso than Lee’s seemingly wishful thinking that other developers are going to come in and develop 100% new casinos on the acreage left empty by Station’s scorched-earth strategy. As for Station, its priority beyond Durango Casino & Hotel is an as-yet-untitled and undefined (but clearly upscale) development in the Inspirada region of Henderson, where the company appears all but ready to swing for the fences with another Green Valley Ranch-style development. The latter is ticketed for some new amenities and Station is also spending on a “rejuvenation” of Sunset Station, meaning that the elimination of three white elephants doesn’t equal retrenchment.
That Genting Singapore sale saga is becoming more complicated. Potential buyers may just want a piece of the casino operator, not the whole enchilada. And if the entire company were to be sold, debt on Resorts World Las Vegas would come due. Also, Genting has notions of buying out SJM Holdings in Macao, even though SJM is a dog, weakest of the six operators. Still … better to reign in Macao than serve in Heaven, eh?
DraftKings can’t take bets on U.S. elections in this country—but it can (and will) do it in Canada. Odds published by DraftKings have Donald Trump (+250) recapturing the Oval Office in 2024, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is oddsmakers’ second choice at +550. However, the ostensibly smart money in American gaming is defecting from Trump to DeSantis. The latter’s biggest backer in Sin City is UFO-chasing motel mogul Bob Bigelow, who’s in for $10 million. By comparison, gaming big shots are just committing chump change at this point. From beyond the grave, Sheldon Adelson has given half a million (according to the R-J, the Adelson family’s personal megaphone), while exiled casino boss Steve Wynn is down for $100K. Close behind is Dotty’s owner Craig Estey with 90 grand, then Estey’s nemeses, Station Casinos CEO Frank Fertitta III ($63,000) and board member Lorenzo Fertitta ($50,000), along with Phil Ruffin ($50K)—that’s right, Ruffin is betting against his sometime business partner, Trump.
BetMGM is in the DeSantis camp to the tune of $50,000 and South Point owner Michael Gaughan has ponied up 25 thousand clams. Other prominent Las Vegans bankrolling DeSantis include Golden Knights owner William Foley (a george $400K) and former Trump administration comptroller of the currency Joseph Otting, who’s contributed 65 grand. Et tu, Otting?
Jottings: Although the Congressional Gaming Caucus wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to shut down offshore sports books that market to U.S. customers (think Bovada), legal experts like UNLV‘s Anthony Cabot say it’s hardly as easy as lawmakers seem to think … Got a riverboat casino that’s gathering dust? One abortion-rights group would like to talk to you. It would take a ship three miles out to see to perform abortions in international waters. Trouble is, aside from myriad legal obstacles, is it would require $20 million in startup money … Valley Forge Casino (above) is raking it in these days and not all of the tender is legit. The Secret Service is investigating some funny money that Boyd Gaming intercepted, part of a wider problem in Philadelphia-area casinos, although it’s nothing compared to the 77 fake $100 bills that were almost passed at Wind Creek Bethlehem … Closure of The Mirage looks all but inevitable. Employees of a resident theatre troupe (*cough*Cirque du Soleil*cough*) recently received contract extensions for just one year, not the customary three … Gaming analysts are cautioning that China‘s zero-tolerance policy on Covid-19 is “unsustainable,” a warning sure to fall on deaf ears in Peking. “We would probably need to write off July and likely August as well from the models,” warned J.P. Morgan‘s DS Kim. Meanwhile, Macao‘s health infrastructure is collapsing under the strain, prompting fisticuffs, and both Sands China and MGM Grand Paradise have had to borrow hundreds of millions from their U.S. parents … Texas, having been stomped by SCOTUS, is doing the decent thing and ceased persecuting the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe. Let the Class II gaming resume at Nakila Gaming bingo hall … Great Britain‘s review of the 2005 Gambling Act has been going on so long that it the portfolio has passed to its fourth minister. Undersecretary of State for Online Safety Damian Collins has inherited the thorny white paper, which comes down particularly hard on Internet gaming.
If you want to bet on US elections, try “predicit.org”, a ‘research project’ in New Zealand.