If you think Covid-19 is bad in Nevada, take Michigan out for a spin. Wolverine State citizens are headed toward a death rate of 1,000 a week and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said, “We are in the worst moment of this pandemic to date. The situation has never been more dire. We are at the precipice and we need to take some action because as the weather gets colder and people spend more time indoors, the virus will spread, more people will get sick, and there will be more fatalities.” Thus, even though they’ve been operating at only 15% of capacity, Detroit casinos are closed for a three-week period ending Dec. 8. (Tribal casinos are mostly staying open, burying their heads in the sand.) They are expected to miss out on $67 million in revenue during Great Shutdown II.
Although FanDuel and DraftKings are seeding Michigan with promotional offers to join, neither sports betting nor Internet gambling will get out of the blocks while casinos are temporarily defunct. In Pennsylvania, where Rivers Philadelphia is temporarily shuttered, state officials are weighing even broader measures. “We may be tired of Covid, but Covid’s not tired of us,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley said to an analyst. This uncertain situation casts a pall over the planned early 2021 opening of Live Hotel & Casino Philadelphia. In addition to operating at 25% capacity, New York State casinos have seen Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) impose a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew.
Cripple Creek casinos dodged a bullet when they received a temporary exemption from an anti-Covid shutdown. Compared to high prevalence rates elsewhere in Colorado (only 395 cases, four of them fatal), Cripple Creek was deemed to doing an exemplary job of curtailing Trump Flu. Casinos in Black Hawk and Central City were not so fortunate and had to go dark. In New Mexico, the Navajo Nation is showing the right order of priorities by keeping its casinos shuttered. As tribal President Jonathan Nez admirably put it, “We cannot put a price tag on the health, safety and lives of our Navajo people. Revenues do not outweigh the precious lives of our elders, children and gaming employees.” Carve those words in stone.
Jottings: Fickle FanDuel is transferring its loyalty in Illinois from Par-A-Dice to Fairmount Park Racetrack. No word on how this might strain Boyd Gaming/FanDuel relations … Good news for Macao operators. The government can’t get its act together to review concession renewals by June 2022, so another extension appears in order. Gather ye rosebuds while yet ye may … Pennsylvania’s first satellite casino, Live Casino Pittsburgh, has opened. The news comes at a time when Keystone State casinos are suffering from saturation … Caesars Entertainment may wriggle out of a whistleblower lawsuit involving Harrah’s Southern California by moving it to federal court. Former general manager Darrell Pilant was forced out of Harrah’s rather than expose employees to Covid-19 at a time when most other Golden State casinos were still closed … The Danville casino in Illinois has scored a branding coup: It will be part of the Golden Nugget chain. That is, if it’s approved. The applications is being submitted this week … The Klamath Tribes in Oregon are imposing a fortnight-long “freeze” on operations. It’s another attempt to stem Covid-19’s spread.
I don’t understand how to navigate this column. Many times you have multiple stories in the headline, but only detail one of them in the text. What am I doing wrong?