As for bricks-and-mortar gambling, Hard Rock Atlantic City was tops with $24.5 million, -36.5%, closely followed by Ocean Casino Resort, grossing $23.5 million, a 23% gain. Harrah’s Resort ($21 million, -29%) led the Caesars flotilla, followed by Caesars Atlantic City ($18 million, -27%), the underperforming Tropicana Atlantic City ($16 million, -44%) and unexpectedly strong Bally’s ($14.5 million, -19%). Resorts International grossed $12 million (-32%), Golden Nugget did a not-so-golden $9 million (-54.5%) and late-arriving Borgata scraped together $8.5 million in a few days of business, down a mere 89.5%.
“It will take some time before Atlantic City rebounds from the closures of the last few months, but we have at least turned a corner in the market with the return of the retail sector,” said market analyst Dustin Gouker. “However, online casinos and sportsbooks should drive the overall market as long as the pandemic continues. A big month for both in July only emphasizes that reality.” What’s particularly impressive about the sports-betting haul is that it was driven only two days of NBA action and a week of baseball. Bettors gonna bet. Handle was $315 million, up 25% year over year, especially remarkable when one considers how much more on-field action there was at this point in 2019. Still, only $19 million of that was walk-up business. Adds Gouker, “with the college football season very much in doubt, and the NFL season facing significant hurdles itself, the fall offers a lot of uncertainty at this point.”
Jottings: A big S&G “thank you” to the estate of Kirk Kerkorian, which donated $2 million to MGM Resorts International‘s fund for unemployed workers … Another weird decision from the Sisolak administration: A lions-and-tigers sort of magic show has been approved for the Las Vegas Strip—in a tent. So Cirque du Soleil can’t resume but big cats in a dubious setting are OK? … Brightline has dropped Virgin as its partner in an $8.4 billion Apple Valley-to-Las Vegas train project. We are reliably assured that Virgin Hotel Las Vegas will not be impacted.
AC: last Thursday, the AC press announced New Caesars “promised” the NJ casino regulators $160 Million for hotel room renovations for Caesars-Harrahs-Tropicana together. The very small AC Golden Nugget spent $150 Million for their casino & hotel renovations (without removing the small bathtubs and replacing with showers stalls as they should have). The AC press then reported the four current New Caesars casinos did not have customer temperature checks “as the other casinos have”. The almost nearly accurate AC press reported Ocean Casino has customer temperature checks – they don’t – but Ocean Casino gives out small bottles of water as you go into the casino – which you are not allowed to drink inside the casino. AC press also reported employees complaints that New Caesars casinos were not cleaning their hotel rooms according to “standards”. Atlantic City as usual, expect more, accept less, with New Caesars, accept much less!
I was at the Ocean last weekend and the casino floor was PACKED beyond how I have even seen it (Revel or the Ocean). The crowd was strictly gamers. No diners or club goers. Maybe the Ocean has found its niche which the Revel could not. GN was very slow and the Borgata appeared much more quiet than normal.