Casino expansion in Florida may be nominally on the table for the incoming Lege but it looks D.O.A. Both Senate President Don Gaetz (R) and possibly Speaker of the House Will Weatherford (R) want preferatory constitutional amendments that would require additional gaming to be approved by voters at large. And once you put a casino-expansion amendment onto the election ballot, it’s at the mercy of the churchy set, in the the northern part of the state. Not good. A supermajority of the voters (60%) would also have to say “aye.”
So casino expansion is as good as dead. That doesn’t mean that casinos might not see a tax increase or a restructuring of the way parimutuel betting is conducted. Genting Group is going to be back with a revised plan, but its $1 million in the state GOP so far has been money ill-spent. Las Vegas Sands has also bestirred itself and is making noises about needing a monopoly again, being too frail to withstand competition. Meanwhile, Lee County wants slots, as resistance to gambling slowly continues to crumble Down South.
Here’s a different way to get into the Macao casino market: Instead of sublicensing a casino, buy a share of a junket operator. It’s certainly far cheaper than building from scratch. That’s what Hong Kong mogul Cheng Yu-tung did, trading $950 million for a 70% stake in Sun City Gaming Promotion. Cheng is #5 on Forbes “rich list” for Hong Kong, just below Stanley Ho‘s Wife #4, Ina Chan. Stock in International Entertainment spiked on news of the deal. (Cheng also owns 10% of Ho’s Sociedade de Turismo & Diversoes de Macau SA, not so incidentally).
His new purchase, Sun City Gaming Promotion, controls a wide web of VIP rooms, including 17 in Macao. So Cheng can make money by lending to VIP players and from play at Sun City’s clubs. Sun City’s annual ROI is 19%, so this transaction looks pretty heavy on the upside.
Ladies and gentlemen, you have until midnight Sunday to get your bets in at the Atlantic Club Hotel. As operations decelerate, Caesars Entertainment has starting making offers to ACH customers to match their coupons. But the Tropicana Atlantic City still looks like the bigger beneficiary, not only owning the ex-Hilton’s database but an inventory of slot machines it can use to refresh its own floor.
Penn National Gaming missed a deadline to open its hotel at Kansas Speedway. Fortunately, local government was feeling clement and suspended the penalty Penn would had to have paid.
