Commercials practically begging people to patronize the Las Vegas Strip after the Mandalay Bay massacre turn out to have been needless. The company most affected, MGM Resorts International, reports that hotel bookings are “almost back to normal.” “I’m happy to say that these cancellations progressively subsided by mid-October and our booking pace returned — remarkably returned to normalized levels almost immediately thereafter,” said CEO Jim Murren, announcing profits of 26 cents a share.
What revenue loss there will be is attributable to Monte Carlo being hors de combat as it is converted to Park MGM. Shareholders breathed a sign of relief, as MGM stock reached highs not seen since March of last year. 1Q18 may be challenging, however, as MGM faces a lighter slate of Las Vegas conventions and the opening of MGM Cotai cannibalizes business from MGM Grand Paradise in Macao. Speaking of Macao, Galaxy Entertainment announced a 31% rebound in revenue. Is Chairman Lui-Che Woo ready to affirm a recovery yet or would he still like to wait another year?
* Now that restrictions on casino ownership have been lifted in Pennsylvania, developer Watche “Bob” Manoukian can get started on long-in-abeyance $600 million Philadelphia Live. Shovels will go in the ground early next year, especially now that a lawsuit from SugarHouse has been dropped. Although the 
Philadelphia casino market is tight, Manoukian is thinking big, planning 2,000 slots and 125 table games. His partner, Cordish Gaming, is also at work on a non-gambling Texas Live that will be built adjacent to Globe Life Field, home to the Texas Rangers. We suspect that Cordish is being a sapper, tunneling under the Texas Lege and laying its charges in position to explode when, not if, the Lone Star State legalizes gambling.
* The most intriguing question of the week is who is the Las Vegas-based casino company donating used furniture to victims of Hurricane Harvey? Judging by proximity and by its recent volume of room renovations, I’m going to guess Caesars Entertainment. Whoever it is, thank you.
* Congratulations to Penn National Gaming CEO Tim Wilmott on being named chairman of the board of the American Gaming Association. He succeeds MGM CEO Murren, who held the chair for four years.
* Speaking of MGM, where diversity is the watchword, it scored a from the Human Right Campaign‘s Corporate Equality Index, ad did Caesars, Wynn Resorts and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas were among the 609 companies (a best-ever) garnering a perfect 100 for LGBT equality. “The top-
scoring companies on this year’s CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their operations around the globe and impacting millions of people beyond our shores. In addition, many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the 106 corporate supporters of the Equality Act,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. Penn National has a little work to do, as the Tropicana Las Vegas scored only an 85. The perfect is, as ever, the enemy of the good.
