Tourism

Balmy August in Indiana; The coming crisis in Vegas; MGM talks up prospects

There are signs that the regional gaming recovery is cooling (Missouri was up just 1% last month) but Indiana‘s August numbers, while not as hot as July’s, were a balmy 10% higher than 2019 as casinos grossed $203 million. Horseshoe Hammond lost a percentage point but retained the top spot with $33 million. Closing fast is Hard Rock Gary, with $30 million, while Ameristar East Chicago gained 9% to hit $21 million. Blue Chip, off to the east, sagged 11% to $12 million. Further to the south, Boyd Gaming saw even greater misfortune at Belterra Resort, plummeting 29% to $7 million. Also hard-hit was French Lick Resort, falling 26% to $6.5 million. Other revenue-negative performers were Rising Star, minus 6% to $4 million and Hollywood Lawrenceburg, down 11% to $14 million. In its last month as a Caesars Entertainment property, Caesars Southern Indiana was up 5.5% to $19 million, while Indiana Grand jumped 13% to $24 million and Harrah’s Hoosier Downs grew 12% to approach $19 million. Bally’s Corp. had a good first month at Tropicana Evansville, up 5% to $13.5 million.

As for sports betting, $215.5 million in handle boiled down to $17 million in revenue. FanDuel garnered $5 million and 30% market share against DraftKings‘ $4.5 million and 26% share. BetMGM was third with $2.5 million and 15%. Also in the game were William Hill ($2 million/11%) and Barstool Sports ($1 million/7%). In terms of getting the most bang per handle, FanDuel (25% of handle) skunked DraftKings (34%). Barstool also maximized its share of handle, which was 4%. William Hill had 13% and BetMGM 12%.

Strip sets all-time record

Could last month’s Las Vegas Strip revenues really have been 46.5% higher than in July 2019? That’s what Wall Street analysts are telling us (Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli says he only anticipated +5%) and there’s no reason to doubt them. The $794 million haul is an all-time monthly record for the Strip and a 30% explosion over June’s numbers. The previous all-time high, set in February 2013, was exceeded by $100 million. Locals-derived revenue was much less than expected but still up an impressive 13.5%. The $241 million locals gross would have been fatter had July not ended on a Saturday, leaving some slot lucre still in the hoppers (traditionally dumped on Mondays). Back on the Strip, slot coin-in leapt 36%, for win of $409.5 million. Table play rose 38% and win was up 31% to $226 million, despite lower hold. All-important baccarat saw increased wagering (+25%) and a lucky house, as win rocketed 114.5% upward (on significantly higher hold).

Wynn “strong” this summer; MGM returning to form

Wynn Resorts released 2Q21 results yesterday and JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff called them “strong” in both Las Vegas and Boston. In Macao, eh, not so much. He began by saying “results by region unsurprisingly reflect differences in vaccination rates and mobility/visitation availability.” Wynncore is gaining momentum as the temperature rises, posting the largest cash flow ever since except when it opened. Occupancy hovered around 95% on weekends and in the 80% neighborhood during midweek. “In Macau, limited mobility and small outbreaks continue to pressure travel, unsurprising and similar to 2Q commentary from” Sands China and Melco Resorts & Entertainment. As for WynnBet, it “expects to ramp up marketing ahead of the NFL season,” which seems to be a nice way of saying nothing much is happening right now. Wynncore generated $207 million in cash flow compared to a feeble (and worse than expected) $67.5 million in cash flow from all the Macanese properties. Wynn Macau and Encore Macau only contributed $14 million, while Wynn Palace has finally found its sea legs with a $53.5 million donation. Encore Boston Harbor was a little bit under certain projections at $47 million, though it improves month by month.

Due to a sharp decline in VIP play in Macao, Wynn Resorts is remarketing them as premium mass-market casinos, in order to get pre-Covid revenues without pre-Covid foot traffic. As Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli put it, “Las Vegas & Boston shine as Macau remains a waiting game.” Word! “We don’t think we heard anything from management tonight that will meaningfully change the view on the resumption of normalized operations in Macau, with management acknowledging an uncertain timeline, while noting encouraging trend that resemble pent up demand at certain times,” he elaborated. “We expect the Macau names to continue to trade on virus headlines and policy decisions, things we, nor most, can truly opine on with any legitimate confidence.” Back in Vegas, business is fueled by slot fanatics, with coin-in up 37% and table wagering down 3%. Blame the latter on a lack of international players.

Station hits records, drops hints; Strip suffers mild setback

Station Casinos announced 2Q21 earnings yesterday and “blows through” previous peaks, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. Despite expiration of the management contract at Graton Rancheria, Station recorded record levels of net revenue ($426.5 million) and cash flow ($210 million), leaving Wall Street‘s $159 million consensus in the dust. Management is in no hurry to reopen Texas Station or Fiesta Rancho or Fiesta Henderson and why not? It costs only $2 million per quarter to keep them dark and their business is obviously being soaked up elsewhere. Station execs performed a fan dance regarding Durango Station, withholding the budget but announced their intent to break ground in early (pre-April) 2022, with an 18-24 month construction timeline envisioned. When completed, it will have 2,000 slots, 40 tables and four restaurants, along with the inevitable sports book. Santarelli expects Durango Station to be financed out of (abundant) free cash flow, possibly filled out with the sale of some excess land. The $650 million all-cash Palms sale proceeds have also been earmarked to cover construction costs.

Buffets may be gone with the wind but Station expects to reopen its showrooms in the second half of this year, and for group business to return over the next two years. Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas noted “incremental hotel business” improvements congruent with the distribution of the Coronavirus vaccine. “Stimulus payments have also played into recent strength, though management noted sizable savings and discretionary income with their core customer base beyond stimulus.” While acknowledging “uncertainty” around the state mask mandate, Station brass said that business didn’t change markedly when masks came off in June. “This suggests there may not be any meaningfully negative impact with reintroducing masks,” reported Jonas, “Management also notes that they expect any potential impact to be short-lived.”

LV Sands overpromises, underdeliver; Court to Station: Unionize!

Shares of Las Vegas Sands traded down yesterday after the company missed its second-quarter estimates. Wall Street expected cash flow of $290.5 million and LVS delivered $244 million, a significant shortfall. (Mind you, Sands no longer reports earnings from Venelazzo.) Revenue overall was $1.17 billion, not the expected $1.37 billion. Sands execs blew sunshine up Wall Street’s keister, predicting better Macao business in the third and fourth quarters, albeit conceding that Singapore was harder to predict. Due to Marina Bay Sands-derived Coronavirus cases, the megaresort is closed from today through August 5. As for LVS’ new focus on i-gaming, the company is thinking small, planning to act as a supplier to other online companies and make minor purchases. Or, as President Patrick Dumont wisely put it, “I don’t think we’re going to buy our way into a business.”

Back on terra firma, CEO Rob Goldstein is still in denial about Texas after the company’s stunning rejection there, while continuing to ramp up ($17 million and counting) a ballot drive in Florida to permit new resort casinos. The company is concentrating on the gaming-averse northern part of the Sunshine State, going out of its way not to antagonize the powerful and well-heeled Seminole Tribe.

Las Vegas flirting with disaster; Pennsylvania sickly

With the exception of brave outliers Las Vegas Sands and Westgate Las Vegas, most casinos in Sin City are reacting to the resurgence of Covid-19 by doing … nothing. There’s a ‘been there, done that‘ attitude toward crisis-period measures like requiring guests to wear masks or stepping up hotel sanitization (one recent guest to Harrah’s Las Vegas says his room was cleaned once in four days). “Where we sit right now with the information we know, that’s the best approach, for each operator to evaluate their own situations,” said industry apologist Josh Swissman. “It really comes down to what makes the customers feel comfortable.” And if that means sickness and death, isn’t that the cost of doing business in Las Vegas? About the only hammer that could be deployed to motivate a robust response would be new safety mandates from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and we don’t seem to be at that desperate juncture yet. (Operative word “yet.”)

Nevada conventions healthy, Nevadans not so much

Tourism to Las Vegas in May was 12% higher than April and June should continue the climb, even if long-awaited World of Concrete was a flop (one-sixth of the expected attendance). Next up was the Nightclub & Bar Show, which drew 9,000 attendees. “I have goosebumps,” said one conventioneer of the back-to-almost-normal atmosphere. Despite the pounding techno music, amenities ran toward such mundane finger foods as Cheetos and tater tots. Portable bowling alleys and karaoke machines were among the items of interest. Evidently attendance was a last-minute decision for some, judging from the on-site registrations spotted by the Wall Street Journal. Most of the products on display were rather humble, such as a new drinking game (patent pending?) and a green-colored schnapps called Nuke Waste—how apt for Nevada.

It wasn’t quite the Nightclub & Bar Show of years past, being significantly chastened by Covid concerns. Where the expo had once been synonymous with six nights of clubbing, this year there were but two. Panels and (the more important) happy hours were also curtailed. Attendance was down 15%, exhibitors by 20%, which is still a lot better than World of Concrete managed. “Most of my sales from 1980 until today are still in-person,” said game entrepreneur Bobby Earp. “There’s no substitute for the contacts we make here.” Attendees were more worried about rising labor costs and flagging social-media presences than about Coronavirus. Even if the event was rather muted, the expo floor was awash with booze, which was freely sampled, one of the great bonuses of almost any Vegas convention. With 35 large-scale events booked between now and the end of the year, the Sin City convention calendar looks surprisingly healthy.

Case Bets

Crown Resorts is in the soup again. Businessman and fugitive from justice Michael Gu allegedly used Crown Melbourne as a sieve through which to strain $8 million in Ponzi scheme money. “Authorities believe he conned clients by claiming he was buying a portfolio of commercial property in Australia. In fact, he and his CFO, Harry Huang, were misappropriating investor funds to pay other investors while living the high life, according to a report by administrator KPMG,” reports Casino.org. Where did the money go? Try two Lamborghinis, a Rolls Royce Wraith, a Ferrari GTB, an Audi Q7 and a McLaren Spider. Gu also deposited ill-gotten funds at Crown Melbourne over a three-year period and withdrew them for gambling.

In no position to appear lax, Crown thundered, “We are treating this matter seriously and have immediately launched an investigation into the allegations. Crown will ensure regulators, the royal commissions, and other relevant authorities are informed and updated as required.” The company had better get on the stick. Australian regulators have discovered that Crown Melbourne helped move $120 million out of China over a four-year period, a red flag if ever there was one, especially since the money was used to book nonexistent hotel rooms.

Florida gets tag-teamed; Penn upbeat on 2021; Vegas room rates soar

This is how it’s done. Or supposed to be done. DraftKings and FanDuel are teaming to back a petition drive to legalize sports betting in Florida. Aimed at the November 2022 election ballot, the resolution would dedicate tax revenues from sports betting to funding for education. As opposed to Gov. Ron De Santis‘ Hard Rock International-controlled setup of sports betting, the proposed constitutional amendment would create an open market. The federal Interior Department is currently scrutinizing the DeSantis compact, which uses a rather absurd construal of ‘tribal lands’ whereby you could place a mobile wager from your back porch and—because it must pass through a Seminole Tribe computer server—it is deemed ‘tribal’ gaming. Also, the Florida Lege is constitutionally enjoined from authorizing any expansion of gambling in the Sunshine State. Even if Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signs off on this misshapen afterbirth of the congress between DeSantis and the Seminoles, litigation at the state level is already in train. We hate to agree with Rob Sowinski of No Casinos but the compact really needs to be struck down.

We don’t know the full details of the DraftKings/FanDuel proposal yet but it appears on the surface to be a more-palatable alternative. One thing Florida Education Champions don’t address is tribal sports betting. Their amendment would simply deal parimutuels and professional sports parks into the action. Seminole Gaming spokesman Gary Bitner fumed that the petition drive “is a political Hail Mary from out-of-state corporations trying to interfere with the business of the people of Florida.” Ah, but it was those same people of Florida who decreed that the Lege had no say in the spread of gaming. Harrumphed Bitner, “They couldn’t stop Florida’s new gaming compact, which passed by an overwhelming 88 percent ‘yes’ vote from Florida’s elected legislators and enjoys 3-to-1 support from Floridians and guarantees $2.5 billion in revenue sharing. The guarantee is the largest commitment by any gaming company in U.S. history.” Constitution be damned! The next hurdles for the PAC are to get 891,589 valid signatures and to have the Florida Supreme Court OK the ballot language. What could hobble them out of the gate is that the window is rapidly closing to collect campaign contributions, capped at $3K apiece as of this Thursday. Petition drives are seven- and eight-figure enterprises, so DraftKings and FanDuel may run out of money sooner than signatories.

Unlucky Lucy; Las Vegas “vibrant;” Secret plan for Atlantic City

No executives? No financing? No problem, right? Big problem! Just ask the nonentities behind a proposed Terre Haute casino. They just got turned down for a license. This almost never happens in “gold standard” Nevada, not because casino projects have their houses in order but because licensing is delayed until the last possible minute, when the casino is a fait accompli. In Indiana’s case, the $125 million Lucy Luck casino hadn’t even broken ground yet. The project is a hand-me-down from discredited Spectacle Entertainment, who dibbed Terre Haute several years ago. “We’re now a year and a half into this process and still talking about things that are prospective in nature,” said an obviously exasperated Indiana Gaming Commission Executive Director Sarah Tait.

Where to go? Back to Square One of the licensing process, provided that the deficiencies noted above are cured. Also, more transparency will be required as to Lucy Luck’s proposed financiers. Hard Rock International, meanwhile, lurks in the wings as a potential savior, having offered to manage the casino. Even so, the covenants for financing Lucy Luck expire June 30 and a June or July groundbreaking is now a fanciful notion. Pouted lead businessman Greg Gibson, “we may reapply, but I’m not sure if we will. Terre Haute deserves this casino, and I wish it could be alongside Lucy Luck Gaming.” Maybe not. Terre Haute deserves casino developers who aren’t all hat, no cattle.

Las Vegas heats up; Zombies overrun Atlantic City

In a benchmark development, three of the four major Las Vegas Strip operators posted higher midweek rates for the July 4-July 10 period than in 2019. Caesars Entertainment was flat, probably due to its sheer proliferation of hotel rooms. MGM Resorts International inched up 2%, Wynncore was +22% and Venelazzo rose 9%. And we’re not even into convention season yet. Weekend rates tended to be stellar: MGM leapt 41%, Caesars hopped 19%, Wynn Resorts vaulted 54% and Las Vegas Sands was up 28%. Obviously the holiday weekend is a big contributor to this phenomenon but who would have thought the Strip would be outperforming 2019 so soon?

Perhaps visitors got a sneak peek at WalletHub‘s finding that Nevada is the third-most-fun state in our great country. It’s tops (like, duh) in access to casino and fourth in arts, entertainment and recreational venues. Surprisingly, the Silver State is 15th in access per capita to amusement parks and 17th in performing-arts theaters (all those casino showrooms, you know … although Las Vegas boasts a remarkably vigorous theatre scene). We could do better in access to national parks, ranking only 24th. Only California and Florida outdid Nevada (we blame Disney), while Mississippi and West Virginia are the least-fun places to be. Nevada has the fifth-fewest marinas per capita but, with the way Lake Mead is shrinking, can you blame us?

Steve Wynn, international man of mystery

“Foreign agent.” That’s who Steve Wynn is, according to the Justice Department, which is prepared to sue the disgraced casino mogul if he doesn’t register as an aegis of Red China‘s government. Seems that Steve was carrying water for the ChiComms during Donald Trump‘s administration. Specifically, he was leaning on the White House to extradite a certain Guo Wengui, who sought asylum in our great country back in 2014. The Chinese say Guo is wanted for bribery and sexual assault. And of course we can always take the Beijing government at its word. (*Cough*Wuhan*Cough*) Ultimately, in another chapter of the Trump/Wynn love-hate relationship, The Donald didn’t cede to Wynn’s pressure … perhaps because Guo is card-carrying member of the Mar-a-Lago country club. He’s also in Steve Bannon‘s Rolodex, which obviously didn’t hurt his cause.

According to Bloomberg, “Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, passed in 1938, any person representing the interest of foreign entities in the U.S.—including governments—must disclose their relationship to the Justice Department. They also need to make public all of the activities they’ve done on their behalf and, if applicable, how much they were paid.” Hmmm … Steve Wynn do something untoward? Nah.

Wynn gaining steam; Miami Beach casino juice job dismissed

First-quarter results for Wynn Resorts were worse than expected in Macao but better than anticipated in both Las Vegas and Boston, while the company posted a revenue chasm around Wynn Interactive. To shore up the latter, Wynn is merging it with Austerlitz Acquisition Corp., which taps a new source of funding for the venture, among other virtues. They will form a publicly traded company under the Wynn Interactive banner, ticker symbol WBET. Currently in 15 states, WynnBet is confident of reaching 77% of the American public in the near term. Wynn Resorts will have 58% ownership and 72% voting rights in the new entity. In an ironic twist, Greff lowered his 2021 cash flow projections for the parent company due to relative weakness in Macao (when was the last time you heard that?), despite newly elevated ones for Las Vegas and Boston. Yes, American operations are carrying Chinese ones for the time being.

By 2022, Greff expects Las Vegas Strip cash flow (i.e., return on investment) to be 27% higher than banner-year 2019 while Macao limps along at 77% of 2019 levels. Blame it on casino-shy VIP players. The silver lining for Wynn is that Wynn Palace is finally pulling something close to its weight, drawing 1Q21 cash flow of $27.5 million to Wynncore Macau‘s $16.5 million. In order to get pre-Covid revenues without pre-Covid-sized visitation, Wynn is recalibrating its marketing toward premium-mass customers. Mass-market wagering remained 55% below 1Q19 and VIPs played 80% less.

Illinois’ surprise; Scandal at Churchill Downs; Palms complications

Gambling revenue of $108 million out of Illinois last month looks pallid at first glance. But consider this: It was only 6% off April 2019’s pace, when casinos were at full capacity and last month they did it at 50% capacity. So the demand is the definitely manifesting. One of the stars of the market was Grand Victoria (pictured), up 1% to $13.5 million. Of course the marquee performer was Rivers Casino Des Plaines, grossing $41 million for a 7.5% lift. Nearby rivals Empress Joliet and Harrah’s Joliet were down 16% and 17% respectively, grossing $7.5 million and $12.5 million. Hollywood Aurora slipped 9.5% to $8.5 million. Mid-state, the tailspin continues for Casino Rock Island, spiraling -37.5% to a meager $3.5 million. Par-A-Dice, meanwhile, dipped 6% to $6 million. In the St. Louis area, Argosy Belle slipped 20% to $3 million while DraftKings Casino Queen was down 23% to $6.5 million. Harrah’s Metropolis was steady as she goes at $6 million.

Sports betting continues to lag casino reporting by a full month, so we are only now getting the March numbers. Handle was $633.5 million, from which $50 million in revenue was derived, including a tax haul of $6.5 million. Noteworthily, Illinois was just a few whiskers behind Nevada ($641 million handle). Silver State, look to thy laurels! The prohibition of bets on University of Illinois and Loyola College may have put a damper on March Madness action ($177 million), with professional basketball engendering $366 million in wagers. “March Madness helped deliver a huge month for Illinois, but March is essentially a ‘last hurrah’ for the state’s rapid growth,” warned PlayUSA analyst Joe Boozell. “Illinois will still be one of the largest U.S. markets because of the population of the state, but it will be difficult to maintain its current status as the U.S. No. 3, much less catch Nevada. No matter how appealing a market, there isn’t any easy way to overcome the inconvenience of in-person registration.”

Hail Caesars; Durango Station green-lit

“Solid … very encouraging … impressive momentum.” Those were some of the things JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff had to say about Caesars Entertainment‘s 1Q21 numbers. Cash flow of $548 million well exceed Greff’s expected $429 million, to say nothing of the Wall Street consensus of $408 million. The report continued, “we think stronger group volumes, incremental entertainment revenues, banquet/F&B, and overall hotel room pricing will drive continued growth in Las Vegas and the regionals recovery will continue, with, for CZR, a more acute recovery in Atlantic City and New Orleans, which have lagged.” Despite the struggles of Caesars in the latter two markets, Greff believes that the Roman Empire will record $3 billion in cash flow this year, up from his projected $2.4 billion. It looks like CEO Tom Reeg‘s euphoria about the second half of 2021—and Las Vegas in particular—was well-founded. Due to the exceptional strength of January and February 2020, Caesars’ year/year numbers were actually down. Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli reports that Las Vegas was 39.5% lower ($497 million in revenue), regionals were off 17.5% ($1.1 billion) and managed/international properties were 30% lower ($94 million). So it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.

MGM “roaring back”; LV recovery accelerates

That’s what Credit Suisse analyst Ben Chaiken had to say about MGM Resorts International, citing strength in regional casinos, Las Vegas and sports betting (in that order). First-quarter cash flow exceeded 2019 levels, aided in part by “strong demand reaching ’19 levels … Las Vegas is accelerating, with growth supported by easing government restrictions, an improving event calendar, and pent-up demand. March was one of the best gross booking months in the company’s history.” Non-gaming amenities have lagged gambling and room revenues as recovery metrics, which could be crucial, as they account of 75% of revenues and are at the mercy of capacity restrictions. Elsewhere sports betting and Internet gambling “look very promising.” Nationally, BetMGM has 25% i-gaming market share and 17% of OSB. “Benefits appear to be flowing both ways, with 10% of BetMGM’s new customers coming from MGM, while 44% of new MLife signups coming from BetMGM.” Management was even upbeat on Macao, seeing positive customer trends—as did Melco Resorts & Entertainment—ahead of critical Golden Week.

Chaiken’s opposite number at JP Morgan, analyst Joseph Greff, bumped his stock-price target from $37/share to $45 (it currently trades at $42). He called the 1Q21 numbers “solid, with impressive momentum in Las Vegas. Momentum here commenced in mid-February and has continued thus far into April.” Occupancy on the Las Vegas Strip is running at 73%, which is pretty darned impressive in light of zero convention activity. Weekends are seeing 90%-plus occupancy “indicating strength in the leisure segment and MGM’s efforts to tap into its casino database to fill rooms at present gaming capacity.” Further helping the comeback is an anticipated return to 93% of pre-pandemic airlifts into Sin City in June, escalating to 99% in July. “This airlift support bodes well for the return of group business, which, with what’s on MGM’s books for 2022 and 2023, is at pre-pandemic levels,” Greff wrote. Cash flow on the Strip is expected to achieve 90% of 2019 metrics by next year.

Nevada recovery skips Strip; Boyd buoyant

Silver State casinos grossed $1 billion last month, with the Las Vegas Strip down 9% from 2019 to $501.5 million but locals-derived win vaulting 23%, leading to a 4% statewide increase on pre-Coronavirus numbers. The silver lining for the Strip was that win was 44% higher than in February, while locals improved 38%. The numbers were undoubtedly helped by a March 15 increase to 50% capacity in casinos, with further improvements likely in May (80%) and June (100%). Strip slot win was “flattish” which is actually impressive considering that coin-in plunged 29%. Slots kept $239 million on tighter holds. Probably the best news for Strip casinos was that baccarat is back, as win grew 32% on 29% more wagering and an exponentially higher hold. Other table games sucked wind, down 33% on 27% less handle.

Downtown casinos grossed $71 million, a 21% gain, while North Las Vegas nudged up 2% to $26 million. The Boulder Strip leapt 37% to $96.5 million, while miscellaneous Clark County hopped 19% to $133.5 million. Laughlin was modestly down, -4%, grossing $48 million, Reno jumped 18% to $59 million and Lake Tahoe rocketed 51.5% to $26 million. As for those Strip results, they can be chalked up to still-anemic visitation. Tourism was down 40% from March 2019. Hotel occupancy was 55.5%, compared to 2019’s 91.5%. Average daily rates fell 27% to a wallet-friendly $104, while revenue per room was $58. Thanks to a dearth of conventions, midweek occupancy stood at 48%. Air traffic still has a long way to go, down 42%, but highways saw as much as 7% more vehicles heading into and out of Nevada. There’s a ways to go but we’ll take numbers like these when we can get them.

Sands blitzes Texas; Las Vegas “swarming” with tourists; Oscars suck

Starting last week, Las Vegas Sands has been blanketing the Texas airwaves with a barrage of pro-casino ads. Faced with a loss of traction in the Lege, Sands is turning to the court of public opinion. Going in drag as the Texas Destination Resort Alliance, Sands is using the ads to tout the virtues of a bill currently before lawmakers that would (among other virtues) establish $1 billion-$2 billion ‘destination resorts.’ The TV and radio spots highlight the amount of Lone Star State money being siphoned off by Oklahoma and Louisiana, saying, “Let’s boost our economy, create tens of thousands of jobs and help fund vital services like schools and public safety.” Both the state House and Senate versions of the casino bill are stuck in committee, and Sands is obviously hoping to budge them with an ad blast. Responding to criticism that this was a made-in-Vegas legislative push, Sands lobbyist Andy Abboud responded that Golden Nugget CEO Tilman Fertitta was being consulted on the proposed law.

Unsurprisingly, the problem-gambling issue was raised in committee. To this, state Rep. Charlie Geren (R) replied, “We already have negative social impact. Go no further than our borders than those with an addiction can drive less than 20 minutes and then return home to our state with no resources in place for them. Go no further than your smartphone, where illegal bets are bing placed on illegal bookie apps every day.” Well put.

Pennsylvania booms and busts, Massachusetts lags

Casino revenues were $270.5 million last month in Pennsylvania, down 22% from March 2019, another exception to the wave of recovery sweeping the country. Slots accounted for $199 million, tables for $71.5 million. Casinos were held to 50% of capacity, moving to 75% this month. King of the terrestrial casinos was Parx, far and away the leader with $53 million, only 6% down. Philadelphia Live may have done ‘only’ $20 million but solidified its hold on second place in the greater Philly market. Rivers Philadelphia was just under $20 million but down 28%, Harrah’s Philadelphia grossed $16.5 million, a 34% tumble and Valley Forge Casino Resort notched $10.5 million, a 19% slippage. In other major markets, Wind Creek Bethlehem won $34 million, a 33% falloff, Rivers Pittsburgh did $27.5 million, down 23% and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs dipped 14% to $18.5 million. Mount Airy defended its market share best, off 4.5% to $15.5 million.

Elsewhere, Presque Isle Downs fell 21.5% to $10 million, The Meadows racino tumbled 37% to $15 million, Hollywood Penn National slipped 17% to $20 million, and Live Pittsburgh grossed $8 million (no comparison available). Oh, and little Lady Luck Nemacolin slid 26.5% to $2 million.

Vegas: green shoots galore; Seminoles saluted

Against all odds, it appears that Las Vegas‘ recovery is taking place faster than anticipated (save by a very few). A CNN feature is vaguely euphoric but it does cite several new must-see attractions. For the all-important convention business, which sustains the town Monday-Thursday, there is the lure of the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which may banish memories of the Riviera, whose site it occupies. Then there’s a triple-whammy of new casinos: Circa, Virgin Las Vegas (or Mohegan Sun Las Vegas, according to the TITO vouchers) and the July-debuting Resorts World Las Vegas, the most expensive megaresort yet built in Sin City. And, for a wholesome change of pace, the Pinball Hall of Fame reopens at a new location at the southern terminus of the Las Vegas Strip, complete with a park for food trucks. We sense a smash hit in the making.

More quantifiably, Plaza Hotel CEO Jonathan Jossel reports that business was “hopping” during March Madness and that casino play has regained pre-pandemic levels, which would be no small achievement. Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) is so optimistic that he’s planning a return to full capacity in public spaces as of June 1 (Nye County, for one, is jumping the gun, going 100% on May 1). Self-service buffets—if they return—can come back at 50% on May Day, as can nightclubs and strip joints. (No word yet on brothels.) As for casinos going back to 100%, that’s the Nevada Gaming Control Board‘s call to make, although we imagine the pressure will be overwhelming.

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