While it’s still a stretch that Sheldon Adelson is going to bank an annual $1 billion profit on Marina Bay Sands, as he predicts, he’s making money hand over fist there anyway. J.P. Morgan analysts say Marina Bay is on pace to rake in an average $1.2 billion in cash flow per year (and they keep recalibrating their estimates upward) and will have 45% of market share. Non-gambling revenue is flat but the casino floor is more than making up for it. Next year, when both casinos will be open for 365 days, Morgan analysts see Singapore proving to be a $5 billion market, adding another $500 million in 2012. How much do you think Steve Wynn is regretting giving Singapore a pass?
A hit, a palpable hit. Executives from WMS Industries stopped by Morgan offices recently and the latter’s Joseph Greff liked what he heard. WMS has a winner on its hands with its Lord of the Rings slot: “Moreover, win/day results are coming in close to those numbers achieved by Wizard of Oz, which we find impressive in and of itself,” Greff writes. Few companies are better than WMS at maximizing the intellectual property it licenses. Compare what it did with only three seasons of original-recipe Star Trek to create strong bonus content against Atronic‘s imagination-poor employment of 10, yes, 10 seasons’ worth of Stargate SG-1 mythology. Game designers at WMS are clearly a breed apart.
Congratulations to Golden Gaming, which landed a contract to manage the casino operations of Siegel Group, whose tiny acorns of casinos (including the Gold Spike) continue to grow. Golden’s slot-route arm will oversee the Spike, as well as Siegel Suites & Slots, Rumor Resort (across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which could use new management itself) and The Resort on Mount Charleston. This also enables Siegel to tap Golden’s slot-tracking expertise and (one hopes) do an even better job of marketing to local players. Siegel’s aggregate 460 slot machines and four table games are miniscule compared to Golden’s existing slot inventory but it’s another significant step toward Siegel becoming a major player in the off-Strip market, growing at a time when both Boyd Gaming and Station Casinos have struggled.
