Update: All charges in this case were dismissed, as the alleged rape was found to be a fabrication.
Wynn Las Vegas‘ status as the poster child for sexual assault on the Las Vegas Strip just got another boost. SoCal dentist Poria Edalat is accused of a special birthday present: to be part of a gang rape. That’s what he, two of his 
brothers and a fourth dentist are accused of doing to an unnamed woman last weekend. Ali Badkoobehi is charged with singling the woman out at a nightclub and enticing her up to a Wynn hotel room, where the proceedings are said to have taken place. (A finding of rape was confirmed by a hospital examination. The foursome, all of whom boasted douchey designer stubble, to the detriment of their professional images, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit sexual assault, sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping.
Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox must be pulling the bedclothes up over his head today and waiting for better news. At least he can take consolation in the fact that the alleged doings at Wynncore won’t have any bearing on his difficulties in Massachusetts, nor will this week’s beat-down of Wynn stock. Revenue in Macao grew 9% but Wall Street expected more. Nor can investors be consoled by the news that Maddox expects 3Q18 results in Las Vegas to be, as reporter Richard Velotta put it, “mediocre.”
“I believe that Wynn Palace will continue to take market share in both mass and VIP. In fact, I’m so confident that I’ve assembled a team of the most creative people on the planet, and 
we’re in full swing planning our entertainment-focused development on the adjacent seven-acre parcel that fits between the new Lisboa and Wynn Palace,” Maddox told investors. “The project is going to have indoor gardens. It’s going to have waterfalls. We’re working on a theater concept and a new food hall that’s going to focus on seafood, the best seafood anyone can find in that region, and it will be a culinary destination for Macao. We know that our premium customers like these attractions.”
Maddox stressed the importance of quality vis-a-vis attractive price points, saying, “We compete by having the best product and service in the market.” He dismissed the other approach as being 
for “short-term revenue gains.” The original Wynncore Macau will benefit from two new restaurants and 8,000 additional square feet of retail. Closer to home, Maddox definitively ashcanned the Paradise Park theme-park concept and its $3 billion budget, while not tipping his hand at what would replace it. He only said, “It’s early in the design stage, and we’ll continue to work on the master plan for the rest of the year.” Translation: Check back with us at the end of 4Q18.
Maddox didn’t directly address the question of Encore Boston Harbor‘s dicey regulatory situation but chose to sing the praises of the construction project itself, where carpeting is starting to be laid. Among other kudos, he said “we’ve renovated the polluted river bank into a living shoreline and it’s connected by nearly two miles of boardwalk.” He reiterated the company’s promise of a “destination resort” for the Everett area and, as the project continues to be both on budget and schedule, it looks like Maddox is going to be as good as his word.
* “We’re stable, we’re strong and we’re mature,” was the message from the Iowa Gaming Association‘s Wes Ehrecke, as Hawkeye State casinos defied negative economic factors to eke out a slight revenue increase this July. Better still, the uptick comes in the face of lower attendance, demonstrating the resilience of the gaming 
sector. Nearly 22 million visitors patronized Iowa casinos a year ago. This July’s tally was a million souls below that. All casinos but one posted higher win per capita last month. However, Iowa remains a saturated market, with 10 of 19 casinos reporting overall revenue declines. Meanwhile, the prevailing Midwest narrative continues to be one of gamblers with more to spend but fewer of them. The Iowa summer revenue peak of 2012 now looks like ancient history.
* Give state Rep. Ron Stephens (R) credit for optimism. He’s proposing a three-casino package for Georgia: one $2 billion megaresort for Atlanta and two $500 million casinos elsewhere in the state. Gubernatorial candidates are lukewarm at best: Hard-liner Brian Kemp (R) is against casinos, period, while Stacey Abrams (D) will only support one if the tax revenues derived therefrom are expressly channeled in HOPE Scholarships, period.
Even if Kemp should lose, “it’s a mighty lift,” as the Atlanta Journal Constitution puts it. In the off-chance that Stephens gets fellow GOP solons behind him, legalizing casinos would require amendment of the Georgia constitution and while the public is tractable, Stephens is still well short of the two-thirds supermajority he needs. The Georgia Lottery, which flaunts a massive ad budget (although we couldn’t find the commercial with the flying CGI piggy), would undoubtedly be opposed and even casino companies’ willingness to forego tax incentives might not be enough to change lawmakers’ mind.
* “Just the hotel carried a price tag of $1.6 billion, but absent the casino operations, it’s going to be difficult to see any substantial return on investment.” In the Macao market that’s quite an understatement, especially when applied to The 13 hotel-casino, which plans to stumble out of the gate with finished hotel rooms but no casino (usually it’s the other way around). According to one report it’s thoroughly in keeping with The 13’s history of missing cost and schedule benchmarks. We don’t know who will be managing the eventual casino (our money’s on Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, which specializes in subcontracts) but it’s South Shore Holdings whose neck is on the line.
Bonus quote: “Further, we appreciated management reminding investors that regardless of LV Strip trends and investor concerns around the Strip, as long as the mailbox is open, VICI will receive its tenant checks.” — Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli on the latest quarterly results from Caesars Entertainment-spawned REIT Vici Properties.
