Atlantic City: The fix was in

Perhaps Plousis was huddling in secret with casino execs during an “unexplained 90-minute delay to the start of the hearing.” Nonetheless, the industry had a heavy thumb on the scale. Ironically, the Eldorado allies opposed to free-market capitalism were its two newest beneficiaries, Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Casino Resort. Plousis threw would-be developers a slim bone by saying that additional discussion of the imprisoned deeds was ‘warranted.’ Assistant Attorney General Tracy Richardson warned, “As we indicated in our report, the financial success of the merger will be determined, in many respects, by events and circumstances that are beyond the control of Eldorado and cannot accurately be predicted at this time.” Yet, by bowing to Eldorado, the NJCCC has chained Atlantic City’s fate to the plurality of market share controlled by Caesars and its new masters.

If there’s an upside it’s that the commission held Eldorado to its $400 million-$550 million capex reinvestment commitment, to be executed over a three-year period. Eldorado CEO Tom Reeg (someone who agrees to capex maintenance only when the regulatory knife is at his throat) continued to blame previous Caesars management(s), adding, “We understand that we acquire the positives and negatives of Caesars.” Unite-Here prexy Robert McDevitt sang the praises of the capex covenant, as well as noting that the Bally’s sale “will allow Twin River to invest heavily on a property that has been starved of resources for a decade.” (We think many readers would agree.) Meanwhile, Bart Blatstein and other would-be casino developers have to ponder new ways of fighting back at the NJCCC’s smothering of new competition.

Having had one near-death experience with Coronavirus, the casino industry in Macao may be facing another. Incompetent Hong Kong strongwoman Carrie Lam says Covid-19 is “out of control” in the former British colony. The latter is reporting 500 new cases in the last two weeks. Yesterday, 108 new cases were announced. Masks are being required and some businesses are being required to close. Can a quarantine be far behind? For the moment, Lam says, “We haven’t adopted [shelter in place] in the last six months because we wanted to maintain a normal life for everyone.” The situation is so bad that the government is rushing to build new isolation wards from scratch. Normal seems to be going out the window.

Former hotel executive Norman Jenkins has an unorthodox take on the lack of diversity in the upper ranks of the resort industry. He says, “I used to do a lot of recruiting for Marriott. We went to majority schools and historically black colleges and universities, and we found that hotels and hotels companies weren’t typically at top of the list for diverse candidates. The best ones had their pick of jobs, and they usually went with banks and accounting firms and blue chip companies.” Jenkins adds, “Lodging hasn’t typically marketed itself very well to diverse professionals. That’s the first challenge. If you’re in accounting or finance or marketing, you don’t immediately think of hotels. You think of accounting firms, finance firms, top-notch marketing or sales firms. When people think of hotels, they often think of service jobs.”

All that being said, Jenkins thinks hotels could do a lot better, citing his own success at Marriott as an example of what’s possible. But when it comes to present-day recruiting, “we’re doing a poor job … it’s a problem across corporate America. When you ask why we don’t have more Latino or black associates at the senior level, the answer is ‘we just can’t find them.’ I don’t accept that. I think there is talent out there.” And when it becomes a priority, the problem will be solved he believes, adding, “When executive compensation is tied to specific results, it will absolutely happen.” In other words, money talks.

Las Vegas Sands has been suckling at the teat of the Trump Victory fund. Perhaps that will help make up for the cancellation of the Republican Jewish Congress, once slated for Venelazzo. Naturally, Trump International on the Strip has also been a Trump Victory beneficiary. One hand washes the other.