That was essentially the message conveyed to several dozen workers at MGM Grand Detroit as the hotel-casino passed its first anniversary. Such cutbacks are usually routine in the industry and this one affected but a fraction of a percentage of the casino’s workforce. But it’s a heckuva way to say, “Happy anniversary!”
It’s also an indicator of how much our economy has soured that MGM Grand Detroit is having to curb staffing even though it’s by far the dominant player in the Motown market. Still, its workforce reduction is microscopic compared to the cuts coming up at Harrah’s Entertainment (whistleblower Fred Frazzetta, who knows a thing or two that Harrah’s management wishes he didn’t, says 20% of Harrah’s Vegas-based workforce will be decimated). Then there’s Mill Casino, in Oregon, which opened a new hotel tower in the teeth of a recession. The result? A 7% workforce diminution, the first in the casino’s 13-year history. Small wonder that Atlantic City is preparing to backpedal on its Oct. 15 smoking ban.
Wall Street has been no help. Liz Benston explains why several gaming companies’ market-cap value is a fraction of that of their asset base. The casino industry’s debt loads and ambitious construction plans are giving investors jitters, Benston reports. Ironically, the same Wall Street that has loudly pined for a never-ending stream of megaresort openings would now be happier if those same companies were doing nothing. Worse still, the gaming group is one of the few sectors that can be shorted with impunity. So if gaming stocks continue to plummet, it’s partly because it’s in some investors’ interest that they do so.
Boyd’s Michigan nemesis, Four Winds Casino is profiled by the Columbus Dispatch. It’s a close-up view of the tribal casino that’s taken a whopping big bite out of revenues from Boyd Gaming‘s Indiana riverboat, Blue Chip, basically by pre-empting the latter’s Michigan-customer base.
Second wind in Maine. While developer Gary Goett‘s Olympia Gaming may have found the Las Vegas and Kansas markets too rich for its blood, at least for now, Maine is a whole ‘nother story. Since Olympia threw in its lot with a pro-casino initiative, momentum has shifted in the project’s favor.
