Station reopens bullishly; Who was that masked man, anyway?
On the eve of today’s reopening, Station Casinos hosted a conference call with JP Morgan analysts and was pretty darn confident that its base of Baby Boomers and retirees would flock back. So confident is that Station “has not been running any large-scale promotions ahead of the 
reopening.” (Take that, Derek Stevens!) Yes, Virginia, the little Wildfire casinos have now reopened, along with most of the big properties. The Palms remains on ice since Station “will need to monitor the LV Strip, airlift, etc. as it’s a hybrid property.” The company’s not hurting from keeping its two Fiestas, Texas Station and the Palms closed, as they accounted for only 20% of last year’s revenue and 10% of cash flow (thanks to losses at the Palms).
Analyst Joseph Greff reported that Station “is resuming conversations after buyers paused in March as COVID-19 began proliferating; management is hopeful there will be
Rock International acquisitions in Las Vegas (nobody, it seems, thinks HRI is going to build from scratch). He has The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas as the frontrunner, due to previous discussions between Blackstone Group and the Seminole Tribe, 
Casino CEOs have no shame. They are capitalizing on the Coronavirus crisis to go to Congress, palms extended, cadging for a bailout. In an outrage-inducing story in today’s Washington Post, it is reported that the gaming industry’s wish list includes:
the impact upon sports betting looks to be deep and dire. Last March, Nevada casinos saw $499 million in handle and $39.5 million in revenues with $349 million of that estimated to have been bet on March Madness—which has been scrapped this year. In New Jersey it was $106 million handle and $10 million revenue. If any other marquee sports events are played, it will not be for months. This causes complications for bettors who already had skin in the games. Disaster set in too quickly for nascent markets like Michigan and Illinois to have been greatly affected but it will be quite another story in established territories.
Bennett returns to The Venetian. He’ll play the 12th, 14th and 15th, with an assist from Antonia Bennett. Tickets start at $50, with a portion of the proceeds going to Exploring the Arts Inc. As New York Magazine said of the ageless songster, “no one else on Earth can make a lyric written eight decades ago sound as natural as a conversation at a coffee shop.” Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
savings back somewhere. Potential sales of Caesars Entertainment‘s branded sports-betting operation and Internet gambling have already been reported. Ditto selloffs of the Colosseum and Caesars Forum convention center (Sheldon Adelson will take your call, Mr. Reeg). Now comes 
down 2%. MGM had 40% market share to Maryland Live‘s 35.5%. The latter grossed $52 million for a 12% gain. Horseshoe Baltimore‘s decline softened, down only 4.5% with a $19 million gross. (But it was the only revenue-negative property in the state.) Everybody else had a big month. Ocean Downs was up 11% to $5 million, Hollywood Perryville hit the jackpot, gaining 12% to $6 million and Golden Entertainment‘s Rocky Gap Resort leapt 10.5% to $4.5 million. A 10% gain in slot play boosted West Virginia revenues 8%, with Charles Town Races ceding 6% at the tables but recouping 11% at the slots for a 7% uptick overall.
blew out the 1.5-point money line on the margin of victory, though. As for prop bets, no, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira did not kiss (yes, that was a real prop bet). Pitbull did not take the stage at halftime (ditto) nor did Alex Rodriguez (ditto and what would he be doing up there anyway?). And now a moment of silence for the million dollars that John “Mattress Mack” McIngvale blew on the 49ers, bringing his postseason losses to $3 million. Obviously it does not pay to bet against the Chiefs. But it does pay for sports books to take McIngvale’s action, considering his chronic inability to pick winners (remember his big World Series loss?). He’s as conspicuous a mark as has come down the pike in quite a while and the books should be lining up to take his money, er, bets. Results from the books won’t be available until tomorrow but it looks like bettors other than McIngvale will have done well this year.
announcing a slew of updates/capital projects which helped placate investors, especially those with a longer-term focus.” These include a 300-room hotel at the company’s eponymous racetrack and two ‘historical racing’ facilities, one at Turfway Park in Kentucky. Politzer ratcheted down his estimate for CHDN’s online wagering by 16%, to $63 million “but believe there could still be near-term earnings volatility relating to CHDN’s launching of its sports betting/iGaming business, as well as at TwinSpires, which is still seeing competition for high-volume/low margin players. Higher salaries and benefits (as well as property taxes) also led to the miss.
Circus brings with it. CityCenter North was killed by the Great Recession, Rock in Rio was a flop and the weak performance of nearby SLS Las Vegas surely discouraged casino development. Don’t look for the clown casino to bring big bucks on the market: JP Morgan analysts continually peg its value at 8X cash flow. Maybe all the underdeveloped real estate will raise that up a bit but you’re buying in a rough neighborhood, one that customers have long since fled.
regional data base,” he told reporters. “So I would expect that we would be a seller of a Strip asset, but that decision has not been made.” So, not multiple Strip properties anymore but just one (Planet Hollywood seems the most coveted). Maybe. But maybe not. Also, at least one Wall Street analyst is questioning Reeg’s promised $500 million in cost savings, saying it’ll be closer to $250 million. The one employee whose job is safe, in some shape or form, is Caesars CEO Anthony Rodio, who has key shareholder Carl Icahn in his corner. Any move by Reeg to dump Rodio risks the wrath of Icahn.
on Boston‘s potential as a resort town. So far the Bay State track record is mixed: Plainridge Park has been a home run for Penn National Gaming while MGM Springfield is but an RBI for MGM Resorts International. Academics and legislators are all ratcheting back their early revenue projections for Encore, down from $800 million/year to as little as $540 million. Wynn’s predication of success by luring Chinese whales to Beantown also looks as loony as 
justify a Las Vegas residency, starting May 31 at the Zappos Theater (an improvement on whatever moniker it had before) at Planet Hollywood. In rolling out the news, Aguilera punched all the Xpected buttons: “The Xperience is going to be my most ambitious show yet. Getting to perform in this adult playground we call Las Vegas is inspiring me to bring forth all of my talents in a mind-blowing theatrical experience – song, dance, visuals and uninterrupted high energy. For years I have been collecting ideas and concepts that have yet to be implemented on my stages, and Las Vegas is the perfect opportunity for me to collectively showcase my artistry. I cannot wait to bring you into The Xperience.”
with mullahs, he’s doing the next best thing, warbling sweet nothings to Kim Jong-un. Citing his service in the Korean War, Adelson called for detente between the two Koreas so that he could get down to “open up business,” 
long tried to paint as a failure, has just come off its 
end, Elvis Presley-themed resort 
Also, Penn is looking toward the Canada market for expansion. As Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli headlined his investor note, “We’ve seen this movie before.” The main item of interest on the conference call was the Tropicana Las Vegas, which has seen a revenue increase of 14% in 3Q17. Cash flow was said to be “more than doubling” given the reopening of a critical pedestrian bridge and of Robert Irvine‘s restaurant. Cancellations jumped 35% in the Oct. 1-15 period but “business volumes are slowly recovering.” Worst of all, future capex investments have been pooch-kicked until a year from now or thereabouts. Poor Trop. It never gets the love it deserves.
predicated on the VIP business. Our strategic plan is built on catering to this tremendously emerging more-affluent Chinese customer, a customer that’s looking for more experimental experiences, not just a selfie moment or a gaming table,” MGM CEO Jim Murren told Bloomberg TV. MGM is making “only” $449 million in Macao last quarter 
coin-in was up 4% but winnings were flat. Non-baccarat table games won 3% more even though wagering was 5%. The gross gaming revenue for the Strip was $547 million, while statewide it was just short of a billion-dollar month, coming in at $991.5 million. Locals lost 2% more, mainly driven by a 6% increase in casino winnings at the slots, while table games fell 6% on 1% less wagering. (The calendar was neutral with 2016, having the same number of weekend days.)