Right now, incentivizing midweek travel is the play of the day. Wynncore is comping the third night of a three-day stay while three nights at the Flamingo go for $87 (total, plus resort fees). It may have taken a pandemic for the resort industry to see on which side its bread is buttered but better late than never. As for shows, Le Reve was owned and operated by Wynn Resorts, so that was clearly a survival move. Cirque’s problems (aside from shows being on shutdown) are mainly internal and if it doesn’t come back, landlord MGM can always find somebody else to fill the spaces. However, Cirque is not going down without a fight: It’s airing an hour-long ‘best of’ special for Club Cirque members today online at noon Vegas time.
While on the subject of Wynn, it’s getting nervous about Sheldon Adelson‘s close ties with the White House … not for ideological reasons but for fear that Wynn Macau may get caught in the present crossfire between the Chinese government and the Trump administration. In an SEC filing, Wynn Resorts warned of “contentious punitive or retaliatory measures being imposed on businesses and individuals.” That is a nice way of saying, ‘We could lose our concession.’ It fretted about “national security and national and regional politics.” Specifically, Wynn is worried about a U.S. ban on WeChat, popular with Wynn’s Chinese patrons: “We are unable to ascertain the scope of the ban at this point, and there is no assurance that the ban will not adversely affect our ability to communicate with certain of our customers. Sustained tensions between the United States and China could significantly undermine the stability of the global economy in general and the Chinese economy in particular.”
Wynn patted itself on the back for its philanthropy and other good deeds in Macao but professed unease that “our business and prospects may be negatively impacted by the fact that we are majority-owned by a U.S. company should the U.S.-China relationship further deteriorate.” It is unclear whether said unease (and precipitous declines in business) will postpone next year’s groundbreaking on Crystal Palace. As the company concluded, “Our financial results have been, and are expected to continue to be, affected by the economy in China.” The real audience for this communiqué may not be regulators but Adelson, trying to get him to use his direct line to the Oval Office and say, ‘Take a chill pill.’
We guess the Silver Nugget was just kidding with that filing about staying closed. The North Las Vegas locals casinos put doubters like us to rest today with a surprise reopening. The Nugget’s been doing business for 56 years. Here’s to 56 more.
It’s not clear whether Covid-19 was the cause but veteran Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta is meeting his maker right about now. Cullotta, a member of Tony Spilotro‘s “Hole in the Wall” gang, knew where all the bodies were buried and made a second career of it whether as an actor (Casino), a memoirist (Cullotta) or a tour guide. He recently contracted Coronavirus, a terrible way to go—but not as bad as what he did to some of his victims.
Jottings: No more James Beard Awards until 2022. Citing “the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its devastating consequences for the restaurant industry,” the awards are going on hiatus, with the time being used to eradicate “systemic bias” in the selection process … Cost cuts at Melco Resorts & Entertainment are making JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff happy, along with loosening of travel restriction in China. “Lastly, it is tough for us not to think that MLCO, as a Chinese-based operator, faces less direct headline risk related to US-China trade and Macau SAR sub-concession renewal risk (as a hometown team)” … The Culinary Union is fighting its ouster from Boulder Station. Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline tells Eater Las Vegas that the Culinary has filed an unfair-labor-practice charge and calls for immediate negotiations: “Station Casinos continues to waste time trying to bust the union.”
