To park or not to park, that is the question

Jim Murren wants more than our money with MGM Resorts International‘s controversial new parking fees. He wants our gratitude. murren_t198“I ask them to honestly reflect what it means to be a local and how the tourist economy has improved their quality of life,” he said of irate Las Vegans, whose standard of living ebbs and flows with the tourist economy. Murren has a good point (and a tangible one) when he says that MGM’s Strip garages have lagged in capex maintenance. CityCenter‘s is so state-of-the-art compared to the others that it seems light years ahead. As for his competitors, “Frankly, they are sitting back and letting MGM take the heat on this,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Murren says he’s not tone-deaf on the issue, but he’s done a good impersonation so far.

Amazingly, the company claims to be surprised by the volume and intensity of negative reaction, which makes you wonder what kind of Yellow Submarine corporate culture is incubating at MGM. (I’ve never found them to be as out of touch as Caesars Entertainment, for instance.) Ever since it released this lead balloon, MGM has been shading in the gray areas of the initially nebulous policy. Circus Circus customers, rejoice: Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Culinary Union, Economy, Harrah's, International, MGM Mirage, Sports, The Strip, Transportation | Comments Off on To park or not to park, that is the question

Another card room busted; Station becomes Red Rock

Scarcely was the ink dry on the American Gaming Association‘s proclamation of improved anti-money-laundering compliance than a plea-bargaining agreement was revealed involving the Normandie Casino, a venerable Gardena, California, card room. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Normandie “failed to properly record and report a series of large-scale cash transactions in 2013.” As a consequence, it will have to forfeit $1.3 million in winnings, plus pay a federal fine of $1 million. The Normandie’s sin was to Continue reading

Posted in California, Economy, Geoff Freeman, Internet gambling, Law enforcement, Macau, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Another card room busted; Station becomes Red Rock

Lean Christmas in Louisiana; Greater vigilance in industry

Louisiana gaming revenues came in for a hard landing (-7.5%) as the Golden Nugget Lake Charles marked its first anniversary. The New Orleans market (-13.5%) took it worst, although Lake Charles was lauberge_exteriordown 12%. The latter continues to be the top grosser in the state, bringing in $76 million to New Orleans’ $66 million. The Nugget’s novelty factor wore off in a hurry, as it was down 24% year/year. Grossing $30 million to the Nugget’s $21 million, L’Auberge du Lac was off 7%. Isle Grand Palais ($10 million) was down 11% while Boyd Gaming had a relatively easy time of it at Delta Downs, off only 2% on a $15 million gross.

Evidence of whether or not New Orleans’ new smoking ban has hurt Harrah’s New Orleans has been all over the place but it had a terrible December, grossing Continue reading

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Churchill Downs, Economy, GLPI, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Louisiana, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, Regulation, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Lean Christmas in Louisiana; Greater vigilance in industry

A Revel by any other name …; Christie abandons Atlantic City

Whatever it’s called when Glenn Straub reopens it, that $2.4 billion turkey along the Boardwalk won’t be named Revel. The new moniker is the least of several uncertainties surrounding the property. For one, Straub Revel_0947hasn’t even finished his gaming-license application yet, so it’s ‘wait ’til next year’ for a reopening of Revel’s casino. And when it does come back, it will be half the size it once was. No operator has been announced (it definitely won’t be Straub’s Polo North) but the marketing focus will be on Asian players.

However, the casino is low on Straub’s to-do list for Revel. He wants to get construction of his planned water park underway this spring. While that’s in progress, he hopes to Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Election, Glenn Straub, Harrah's, Macau, Politics, Revel, Trump Entertainment Resorts | 1 Comment

Seminoles take to the air; Trop exec vanishes

Florida‘s Seminole Tribe is taking its case to the people, as its new compact with Gov. Rick Scott (R) faces an uphill slog in the Legislature. The compact is such a Rube Goldberg contraption, with so many moving parts, you might say it has something to offend everyone. Clearly, though, the Seminoles think their chances are better by bypassing the Lege and conducting TV air warfare to win what will be a Continue reading

Posted in Delaware, Florida, GLPI, Harrah's, Indiana, Internet gambling, Marketing, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Regulation, Seminole Tribe, Tropicana Entertainment, TV | Comments Off on Seminoles take to the air; Trop exec vanishes

Big contract from Wynn; Parking debate continues

Wynn Resorts bought locally in its search for a Wynn Everett general contractor. It has let the $1 billion construction contract to Suffolk Construction, biggest in Massachusetts. By choosing a Boston company Massachusetts Gamblingfor this seven-figure deal (plus 4,000 jobs), perhaps Wynn will finally get Beantown Mayor Martin Walsh to quit running his yap about what a raw deal he’s getting from Steve Wynn. The casino company says it conducted a nationwide search for the right builder but surely it is more than coincidence that the prize ultimately went to a local contractor. Said Wynn’s Robert DeSalvio, “Suffolk Construction shares our values and is working with us full speed to meet our ground-breaking target,” having promised to meet the end-of-2018 deadline.

Responded Suffolk CEO John F. Fish, “To me, it is the crown jewel of our portfolio,” being the largest single contract the Continue reading

Posted in California, Florida, GLPI, International, Iowa, Lawrence Ho, Marketing, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Pinnacle Entertainment, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Tribal | 2 Comments

Big win for Icahn; Boffo year for Pennsylvania

No further obstacles should remain to a Carl Icahn takeover of ailing Trump Taj Mahal after an appeals court found in favor of wage- and health-care rollbacks at the Atlantic City casino. Unite-Here Local 54 and the workers it represents were dealt a stinging setback, and have icahnto be wondering what other economy measures Icahn may implement. The latter has, however, promised a substantial infusion of capital into the Taj which “performs at the bottom of the Atlantic City market.” Icahn lost in one respect, namely the time it took to get a court ruling. His representatives contended the resort couldn’t withstand “another lost summer.” However, that may be just what it’s looking at after the long legal battle.

While Local 54 ponders its next move — possibly including a strike — it faces a lose-lose situation, its now workers now having to live on limited means but faced with an Icahn closure of the Taj had the appeals court gone against him. (Unite-Here wanted the dispute heard by the National Labor Relations Board.) In the meantime, it has to Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Cordish Co., International, Internet gambling, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Unite-Here | Comments Off on Big win for Icahn; Boffo year for Pennsylvania

Case Bets

The glass at Penn National Gaming‘s Plainridge Park is both half-full and half-empty these days. The win/slot/day ($291) is 50% above the industry’s desired norm. However, Plainridge continues to bleed customers,
wilmottgoing from $12 million in revenue in November to $11 million last month. A racino with first dibs on Boston gamblers shouldn’t be suffering that kind of revenue drain. Writes Penn CEO Tim Wilmott, in a blast at the Boston Globe, “our slot machines in Plainville outperform every casino on the Las Vegas Strip.” That’s a bold claim but Wilmott’s got the numbers that presumably back him up … sounds like he’s really been hitting the books. “Even so, Wilmott adds, “Even so, we’re continuing to make adjustments to our gaming floor, based on customer preferences, and to ramp up our promotions and advertising.” The better is always the enemy of the good.

* Sliding stock prices across 4Q15 may have accelerated Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Florida, Isle of Capri, Massachusetts, Penn National, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Seminole Tribe, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Stick ’em up!

Addressing concerns about the quantity and proximity of parking to the T-Mobile Arena, executives at MGM Resorts International are busting Excalibur garageout plans for a $54 million parking garage, to be built on the northwest corner of the Excalibur “campus,” cannibalizing acreage devoted to space-inefficient surface parking. The 3,000-vehicle space will encompass employee parking as well as that for guests. In addition, MGM is spending $36 million to add (in verbatim): Continue reading

Posted in Current, Economy, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Technology, The Strip, Transportation, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Moment of truth for DFS; Surprise champion for i-poker

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has come forth with her much-anticipated set of rules by which daily fantasy sports will be Healeyconducted in the Bay State. It’s not definitive yet (a public-comment period is forthcoming) and there may be some wiggle room, but as the first regulatory regimen devised for DFS in the United States, Healey’s example is bound to be influential. As one observer noted, “Maura Healey is a powerful law-enforcement officer. And DraftKings is headquartered in Massachusetts. To some extent, they have to play ball with Healey.”

That doesn’t mean DraftKings or FanDuel have to like the new rules. They include: Continue reading

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Wynn Resorts opens its wallet; Further woes for Macao

Steve-Wynn-201198-1-402The most “george” figure in the casino industry last year would have to be Steve Wynn. Rank-and-file employees at Wynn Macau received a month’s salary as an end-of-year bonus. Senior management is ineligible for bonuses. Now, this is part of previously agreed-to bonus plan running through next year. However, if there was ever a time when Wynn could take cover and renege on the pretext of a poor business year, 2015 was it, especially as Wynn Resorts has taken it on the chin in VIP play. But Wynn kept his/its word and is to be commended for it.

The generosity certainly compares favorably to the two-tier bonus system implemented by Stanley Ho‘s underlings at Continue reading

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Atlantic City under siege; Detroit casinos deliver

New Jersey state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) hasn’t been elected governor yet but he’s behaving as though he were the Garden State’s chief Sweeneyexecutive. He’s the driving force behind a suddenly urgent move to exert state control over Atlantic City. Voicing economic policy evidently honed from playing too many games of Monopoly, Sweeney’s plan would “give the [Local Finance Board] control over governmental and administrative operations; the right to dissolve any municipal board or commission; and the right to sell municipally owned assets including water, sewer, wastewater and storm water facilities as well as city-owned real estate.” So who gets Boardwalk and Park Place?

Seriously, this regimen could place a heavier financial burden on hard-hit Atlantic citizens, although Sweeney thinks they’re a pampered lot. According to his figures, Atlantic City spends $6,717 per capita, more than double Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Dan Gilbert, Detroit, Economy, Entertainment, Georgia, Hard Rock Hotel, MGM Mirage, Politics, Revel, Taxes | Comments Off on Atlantic City under siege; Detroit casinos deliver

Quote of the Day

“Moms altered into purchasing their children unhealthy food, study states.” — CNN, as channeled by ArchyNewsy.com. And into what were these mothers altered? Stepford Wives maybe?

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Brokeback Adelson; McDowell calls it a day

Sheldon Adelson must be wishing he could quit Michael Schroeder. He’s the loud tin can tied to the back of the Adelson limousine whose incessant rattling continues to draw attention to the casino tycoon’s foray into U.S. new media. Schroeder, the micro-tenured “manager” of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sheldonstalking horse for the Adelson family, who screwed up and was quickly sent scuttling back to Connecticut, has now taken center stage in the Steven Jacobs lawsuit. The latter’s lawyers want to know whether Las Vegas Sands Vice President of Finance & Strategy Patrick Dumont (who orchestrated Adelson’s R-J buyout) discussed the Jacobs case with Schroeder. The latter is reviled throughout the journalistic community for having published a hit piece on Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez that “contained plagiarized passages and made-up quotes, and was published under the pseudonym Edward Clarkin.”

Dumont tried to conceal himself behind journalistic shield laws when questioned whether he’d done any string-pulling in the “Clarkin” piece. Jacobs’ attorney, Todd Bice, said the questioning of Dumont was germane because Continue reading

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Atlantic City: Better than expected

As much as one hates the term “rightsizing” or endorsing the closure of four casinos, with all the job losses those entail, the numbers say that Atlantic City‘s casino market has been reduced to optimal size. December’s revenues resortswere down only 1% from last year. Internet gambling dollars, meanwhile, shot up 31%, for a $14 million gross. The market share division for online play remains much as before, although Resorts Atlantic City‘s sloth in deploying its PokerStars affiliation is tantamount to giving money away to the competition.

Terrestrially, Borgata grossed $55 million, a 10% increase. Much of this was driven by the tables, where the house won 27% more, despite 7% less money wagered. That was quite a difference from the market as a whole, where Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Dining, Harrah's, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, PokerStars, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Crosby: DFS equals Internet gambling; Macao’s newfound love for slot players

Although state Attorney General Maura Healey continues to draw a road map for daily fantasy sports in Massachusetts, the state’s gambling regulatory body has stepped forward to volunteer its services as an Crosbyenforcement agent. Yes, DFS would be classified as gambling in the Bay State, at least if Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby gets his wish. “One approach for the Legislature to consider is to recognize that because Internet gaming activity is unique, quickly deployed and highly malleable, regulation ought to be vested in a single, nimble Internet gaming regulatory body,” wrote the MGC. (That’s right, DFS would be codified as Internet gambling.) It added, “This approach would require new legislation, but the regulatory body could be one that currently exists or one that the Legislature creates” (emphasis added).

Down in New York City, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman‘s attempts to pull the plug on DFS were stayed by an appeals court, meaning that DraftKings and FanDuel can continue operations at least until the issue has been adjudicated at trial. Schneiderman — known to some as “Inspector Gotcha” — is pushing back with Continue reading

Posted in Illinois, Internet gambling, Macau, Marketing, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Missouri, New York, Penn National, Regulation, Stanley Ho, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off on Crosby: DFS equals Internet gambling; Macao’s newfound love for slot players

Quote of the Day

“Right off, the proposal set off a howl of opposition from legislators against any deal that might be seen as ‘an expansion of gambling.’ (As if there’s Florida flagsome moral difference between, say, Floridians losing money while playing the electronic virtual roulette and craps machines now available at South Florida casinos and Floridians betting at actual roulette wheels or craps tables.) Perhaps it’s the opposition of influential companies like Disney World that brings moral clarity to anti-gambling lawmakers.” — Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm on the multifarious issues and myriad opponents lining up against Gov. Rick Scott‘s compact with the Seminole Tribe.

Posted in Florida, Politics, Tribal | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Atlantic City: Sweeney wins … or does he?

In the end, New Jersey‘s two houses of the Legislature came together on casino expansion and we have to say that Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D) blinked first, from where we sit. (In the peanut gallery, natch.) But was state Senate President Stephen Sweeney‘s victory Pyhrric in nature? Looks that way. By squabbling until after the Jan. 11 deadline, Sweeney and Prieto will now have to summon supermajorities in both houses. And legislators will have to keep in mind the prospect of Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Fontainebleau, Glenn Straub, Hard Rock International, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, New York, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Taxes, Tilman Fertitta, Trump Entertainment Resorts | 2 Comments

Gaming forecast: Moderately sunny; Adelson + R-J = bad news

Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli hung out along the Las Vegas Strip last week and “found few signs of caution as forward indicators remain favorable in most key areas.” Both New Year’s Eve business and mgm-picconvention calendars for the first half of this year were characterized as strong. “Strip-centric operators” (think MGM Resorts International, maybe even Caesars Entertainment) were deemed “attractive.” Santarelli predicted that room rates would continue to rise, based on “1) no new supply, 2) added airlift capacity, 3) continued visitation growth on top of the 2015 expected new peak, and 4) steadily growing convention attendance in 2016.”

Even without resort fees (which the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority doesn’t report as revenue) casino-hotels saw 3% higher RevPAR last year, with 85% of that driven by higher room rates. Santarelli predicts occupancy levels to Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Harrah's, Law enforcement, Louisiana, Macau, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Technology, The Strip, Transportation | Comments Off on Gaming forecast: Moderately sunny; Adelson + R-J = bad news

Quote of the Day

Maharashtra is the den of illegal gambling. If the taxation on gaming is legalised, it could earn good revenue for State.” — attorney Jay Sayata on the activation of a 40-year-old law which could legitimize casinos in Goa and Sikkim. The Indian subcontinent is estimated to be as large as a $60 billion market for gambling.

Posted in International, Regulation, Taxes | Comments Off on Quote of the Day