Summarized analyst Dustin Gouker, “August’s results are a clear signal that we are turning the page on its darkest days. The state’s status among legal jurisdictions is relatively safe for now. But Indiana also faces some headwinds, including increased competition in Illinois and Michigan.” That handle translated into $10 million in revenue, in the third-best month of sports wagering in Hoosier State history. Warned analyst Jessica Welman, “An Illinois expansion of online betting could really affect Indiana. In that case, the state’s sportsbooks will have to be creative in attracting new bettors within the state to help blunt the loss of the Chicago market. And Indiana is still in position to capitalize on large markets in Ohio and Kentucky.” 85% of August betting was done online, dominated by DraftKings/Ameristar ($74 million) and FanDuel/Blue Chip ($50 million). BetMGM/Belterra ($9.5 million), BetRivers/French Lick ($5 million) and PointsBet/Horseshoe ($5 million) were the only others above $1 million. Horseshoe led retail books with $7 million in handle.
Missouri gambling revenues sledded 13% down to $131.5 million, mainly in the St. Louis market. Slots were off 11% ($114.5 million), tables tumbled 25% to $17 million. Ameristar St. Charles was the state leader with $21 million, down 10.5%. Penn National Gaming had the problem of competing with itself, falling 29% at Hollywood Casino St. Louis (pictured) for $15 million and grossing $16 million at River City, a 19% stumble. Lumiere Place, now under Caesars’ auspices, slipped 7.5% to $12 million. In Kansas City, top honors went to Harrah’s North Kansas City, grossing $15.5 million and flat with last year. Twin River Holdings has its work cut out for it at Isle of Capri, eking out $4.5 million and slaloming -23%. Argosy Riverside won $12.5 million, a 13% dip, and Ameristar Kansas City ($14 million) slipped 13.5%. The only revenue-positive casinos were three low-grossing ones out in the boonies, including Century Casinos‘ Caruthersville property, up 2%.
If you’re building in Singapore you’d better be prepared to up your game, as Apple is doing with a superstore that is part of the expanding Marina Bay Sands. The desired illusion is that the giant sphere is floating upon the lagoon. If that weren’t enough enough, you enter the boutique through a tunnel that goes underwater. Foster + Partners cunningly repurposed an ex-Louis Vuitton store to create one of the jewels of MBS, inspired by the Pantheon in ancient Rome. “The sphere is a first-of-its-kind, all-glass dome structure that is fully self-supported, comprised of 114 pieces of glass with only 10 narrow vertical mullions for structural connection,” quoth Apple. Software issues are addressed in a sub-waterline Boardroom, although most of the structure’s interior resembles a traditional Apple Store writ large, with the Genius Bar right down the middle. Ah, one more reason to check out Sheldon Adelson‘s pleasure palace when visiting Singapore.
Lastly, it’s been a rough year for fans of The Avengers. First we lost Honor Blackman and this week the Grim Reaper came for Dame Diana Rigg. Aside from being the only Bond Girl to get 007 to the altar (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), Dame Diana had an incredibly accomplished stage career that encompassed everything from Cordelia in King Lear to Abelard and Heloise and Medea. Plus, she kept her TV fandom going right to the end by becoming part of the Games of Thrones ‘verse. But, perhaps to her eternal chagrin, we will remember her best as the prototypical ass-kicking babe, Mrs. Emma Peel on The Avengers, a series that’s just as much fun today as it must have been in the Swinging Sixties. Rage on, Dame D.
