Happy trails to Scientific Games CEO Lorne Weil, who got the axe this morning. He was immediately replaced by former Revlon CEO David L. Kennedy. Revlon ower Ronald Perelman takes over as CEO. Kennedy isn’t a newcomer to Scientific: He served with the company from 2010 to 2012. Deutsche Bank analyst Kelly Knybel said the move should be viewed “with some level of caution.”
Don’t pop any champagne corks for casinos in Japan just yet. As part of his ruling coalition, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has to appease the New Komeito Party, which contends that the Japanese public lacks a “full understanding” of the issue. Abe may have to table the issue until next year, leaving any number of major casino operators to bide their time and hone their sales pitches.
Saturation isn’t a problem in Pennsylvania just yet, but the state’s cutting it pretty fine. Gambling revenue increased 2.4% this month, with new Isle of Capri Nemacolin helping to put the Keystone State over the top. In the Philadelphia area, Valley Forge Casino Resort (up 28%) led all gainers, with Parx Casino and SugarHouse up just 1%. Harrah’s Philadelphia dropped 5%. In the Pittsburgh area, Rivers Casino (up 9%) had a good month while The Meadows racino (-8%) did not. And a 12% surge at Sands Bethlehem made it the top-grossing casino in the state, pushing past Parx. Sheldon Adelson must be a happy man today.
The convoluted saga of a Phoenix-area tribal casino now hinges upon a Supreme Court case involving an unrelated casino in Michigan. At question is a loophole in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that breaches tribal immunity under certain circumstances. If the Michgan ruling goes in the tribe’s favor, Arizona’s Tohono O’odham Nation is sitting pretty. If not, its tribal opponents have many more grounds upon which they can sue to halt the Tohohno O’odham project … but their own immunity will be compromised in the process. It’s a lose-lose proposition. (Up in Michigan, the Bay Mills band essentially got away with murder by building their casino off tribal land, thus putting it outside IGRA’s reach.) A ruling against the Bay Mills tribe opens the door to every state government — starting with Alabama — that wants to declare war on tribal immunity.
