A longtime observer of the industry (and player) has this to say about Steve Wynn‘s revised sales pitch to the City of Philadelphia …
“Unlike too many folks, I don’t worship Steve Wynn (in fact, I’ll never forgive him for blowing up my cherished [Desert Inn]) but he’s right in his expectations for the Philadelphia market.
“Of course, the city fathers want a glamorous “destination resort” from him, but the mid-Atlantic casino market now is so fragmented that it doesn’t make sense to build an extravagant, over-the-top property.
“The real estate line about location, location, location is what governs here. Players are going to patronize the most convenient casino because they know that the slot machines are the same, the layout/felt of the table games is the same, etc.
“There’ll be a second full-service casino inside the city, Parx just north of the city,[*] Harrah’s Chester just south of the city, others scattered around the state, four in neighboring Delaware, more in nearby Maryland and West Virginia and, of course, the Atlantic City offerings. Wynn would be crazy to believe people are going to drive past all of them to come to his ‘special’ property. Philadelphia has come late to this party and will have to accept that role.“
[* — not to mention a third, SugarHouse, when it reaches completion, competing for downtown traffic.]
I think your analyist is dead on in his observations — I’d just add that downtown Philadelphis is right smack in the middle of the busiest transportation corridor in the country, Northern Virginia to Boston. The other locations in the Mid-Atlantic pretty much depend on the automobile or day trippers. Philadelphia will be the most easily accessable casino in the country.
IT’S TIME YOU FORGAVE HIM FOR IMPLODING THE ‘DESERT INN’…….IF YOU WERE SO UPSET-YOU SHOULD HAVE PURCHASED IT YOURSELF AND KEPT IT THE SAME…I NOTICED YOU DIDN’T MENTION THAT HE DID THE SAME TO THE ‘DUNES’……ALSO GOT THE TOWN OF L.V. TO SELL HIM PART OF A STREET SO HE COULD EXPAND THE GOLDEN NUGGET….ALSO MANAGED TO MANUEVER THE STATE OF NJ INTO BUILDING A TUNNEL WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO WHAT TODAY IS THE ‘BORGOTA’……I THINK I HAVE SAID ENOUGH…..