Isle of Capri Casinos appears to have laid an egg with Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and is now having to lay off 15% of the workforce. Much of the blame properly goes with the State of Pennsylvania‘s flawed business model for resort casinos, which restricts to play to hotel guests or those willing to pay a $10 fee to play. Valley Forge Casino Resort, however, has not Continue reading
“What we don’t need in Vegas is more hotel rooms and more casino capacity.” — Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman, currently the only major CEO adding hotel and gambling capacity along the Strip.
It was eyeball-to-eyeball and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino just blinked. Threatened with the termination of Steve Wynn‘s Everett project were Boston to be deemed a host community, Menino’s administration folded like a pup tent. “Based on the new information provided at Wednesday’s public meeting, the parties have agreed to begin discussions about Boston’s status as a surrounding community to address the impacts that Wynn’s proposed gaming establishment would have on Boston and the Charlestown community,” read the writing on the white flag.
Menino’s abrupt surrender to Wynn comes as a shocker but may be a prudent bit of Continue reading
“We remain deeply close friends and incredibly proud parents and our children are our priority going forward” — James Packer, managing to make the announcement of his second divorce sound like an earnings call.
You can’t drive around the Vegas Valley these days without having a clear view of the Las Vegas High Roller, the Ferris wheel that is Caesars Entertainment‘s would-be 
tourism magnet, which seems to grow overnight. It’s an impressive sight, one likely to be both iconic and a big draw (providing that the pricing of rides reflects what the market will bear). Also, on a Strip where retail is increasingly of the monkey-see, monkey-do variety, Caesars is bringing in a host of names which are either new to the Strip or underrepresented on it. The vast majority of them are unfamiliar to me and the selection suggests that Caesars has done a careful job of picking and choosing. If things work out in reality they way they’re doing on paper, Continue reading
It wasn’t exactly a Profile in Courage day for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission yesterday. It told the cities of Everett and Boston to work out their feud over a proposed Steve Wynn casino between themselves. Now what do you think are the chances of that producing a mutually agreeable result? Beantown Mayor Thomas Menino has made no secret of his partisanship toward the rival Suffolk Downs proposal backed by Caesars Entertainment. And Wynn Resorts seems to have been rather coy as to how much land in Boston it owns and what it plans to do with it. To not have foreseen what Menino would do so seems … well, careless. Given the volatile personalities involved — Menino, Steve Wynn, etc. — the MGC is naive to expect everyone to join hands and sing “Kumbaya.”
Pissy casino opponents got faced by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. They’re trying to repeal Continue reading
Penn National Gaming‘s bid to get into Massachusetts is taking a turn for the bizarre. In a surrealistic proposal, it has taken out an option to buy on Plainridge Race Course. But … the option is condition on Penn being awarded the sole slot-parlor license by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. So Penn is basically asking to be chosen sans facility … especially if Plainville residents vote gambling down on Sept. 10. Penn is saying, “Give us the license and then we’ll buy … probably.” You have to admire CEO Peter Carlino‘s persistence. There’s no keyhole he won’t squeeze through to get into the Bay State.
Although it appeared as though Suffolk Downs wouldn’t get a host-community agreement done before the deadline arrived, it’s filed its project plan with the Boston Redevelopment Authority in record time. Compared to Steve Wynn‘s Continue reading
If you thought Pennsylvania‘s casino-selection process was more than a bit fishy, you’re not alone. Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. Ralph Periandi (ret.) tried to probe whether then-Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and “members of his administration and others in state government might be trying to control the new gaming industry in Pennsylvania.” Ya think? If you were a “george” donor to the Democratic Party your chances of getting a casino license were extremely good, as Neil Bluhm and the late Don Barden could tell you. (OK, you might have trouble getting an answer from Barden.) However, in Periandi’s attempts to put the squeeze on Mob associate Louis DeNaples, the state court system kept tripping him up.
These revelations are a subplot in a new biography, The Quiet Don that is mainly preoccupied with Russell Bufalino, the titular capo. From this foretaste, it has the flavor of a must-read.
At a time when it’s pushing for a Massachusetts casino license, the last thing Continue reading
Politics making strange bedfellows and all that, S&G woke up to find Sheldon Adelson
enjoying connubial bliss with President Barack Obama. Both are pushing for military intervention in Syria, swimming against the tide of American public opinion. And to think that Adelson spent $68 million on failed presidential candidates last year when he could have obtained a partner for his warmongering tendencies simply by supporting the incumbent. But hey,the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands has just been named the finest in the world. Congrats, Shel.
Did Icahn overpay? It’s looking like Carl Icahn‘s purchase of Lumiere Place was priced above the industry median of 7X cash flow — and for an underperforming casino at that. Icahn shelled out $260 million. However, Continue reading
Add Cedar Rapids to the list of cities offering a “Las Vegas flavor” to their citizens — at least if Cedar Crossing Casino goes through as planned, which will include a management team of Peninsula Gaming execs rendered homeless by Boyd Gaming‘s takeover of their company. Of course, a rival Iowa City casino is predicting 30% cannibalization of its player base while Cedar Crossing (equally predictably, if rather less credibly) says there’s more than enough business to go around. But when was the last time you heard architect Louis Sullivan referenced as an influence on casino design? Probably never.
Las Vegas casinos are falling behind the industry’s elite, if this list of luxuries is any indication. Note that not one of them is offered in Sin City, not even the “Pleasure Kit” offered by The Drake, in Toronto. (Wouldn’t you pay to see the expression on Sheldon Adelson‘s face if someone suggested putting Continue reading
I didn’t know what “cocaine dancers” are but the Las Vegas Review-Journal says Palazzo’s nightclub, The Act, has them. (It seems to involve far more snorting than dancing.) Sheldon Adelson‘s peeps would like the “simulated drug use, bestiality and exotic human sex scenes staged nightly” to be eliminated in favor of something a little more family friendly. Judge Susan Scann is understandably leery of judicial activism or of ‘editing’ the show from the bench and Act attorney Pat Lundvall appears to be putting on an effective defense. And — whoops! — Las Vegas Sands no longer owns the retail mall in which The Act sits. Also, while bestiality is simulated, the virtue of a snake used at The Act remains intact. The one real zinger was Continue reading
Caved, shaken down, outfoxed: Take your choice of term as Foxwoods Massachusetts has seemingly capitulated to Milford selectmen and raised its downpayment from $18 million to $34 million. All it took was a few grumblings from the aforementioned selectmen and Foxwoods flung down the most “george” offer in the Boston area — $1,192 per capita, plus a lot of goodies on the back end. Why Foxwoods should be trying to outbid casino projects closer to Boston itself is a question CEO Scott Butera (above) might prefer not to answer.
Foxwoods, of course wants something in return. Gone is the low-profile, 660K-square-foot casino of yore, to be replaced with a 2.8 million-foot megalith. After all, those extra millions have to come somewhere and Milford selectmen may realize they’ve made a Faustian pact: much more money for much more casino. Town chairman William Buckley, whose insistence on Continue reading
David Sisk, the COO of Sands China, has resigned — the latest casualty of high executive turnover in Sheldon Adelson‘s fiefdom. You’d think that such instability in the upper ranks would give Wall Street an ulcer. But when Sands is posting revenues that are above expectations, that’ll buy a lot of Pepto-Bismol.
God help the public-pension funds that foolishly put money into the buyout of Caesars Entertainment. If that investment were any more of a dog it would bark. Shamelessly, Texas Pacific Group and Apollo (Mis)Management have been slurping away at the trough, widening Caesars losses by pocketing “transaction fees” (paying themselves for buying Caesars) and “monitoring fees.” But the investors aren’t mad because David Bonderman and Leon Black are sucking Caesars dry. No, Continue reading
“It certainly impacts my line of thinking in terms of what these licenses are worth.[Foxwoods] needs to package the best deal possible and, right now, they’re third in the list of three.” — Milford Board of Selectman Chairman William Buckley, reacting to the eight-figure deals made by Wynn Resorts and Caesars Entertainment with Everett and Boston, respectively. Foxwoods’ offer is for “initial payments of nearly $2 million, annual payments of about $2.8 million and a community development fund totaling $25 million. Meanwhile, Boston’s government is already giddily spending casino money before they’ve booked a dime of revenue.
Mohegan Sun ran out its host-community agreement with Palmer and it’s pretty clear that no expense will be spared to close the deal, either now or in a couple of months at the ballot box. The Mohegans are promising the Massachusetts town $3 million up front, $16.2 million per year and a performance-based bonus, more than doubling the local tax base. (Let casino opponents put that in their pipe and smoke it.) On a per capita basis, the Palmer deal is far richer than MGM Resorts International‘s one in Springfield. MGM would lavish $25 million on 150,000 burghers … but Continue reading
That’s the word that normally temperate J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff employedd to describe a July in with Las Vegas Strip winnings fell 14% (as opposed to 8% statewide; others had a different perspective). And since the month began and ended on a weekday, there’s not going to be any late-month slot revenue hiding in August. If anything, some June play may have been sloshed into the numbers (July began on a Monday) and they still weren’t pretty. Poor baccarat hold — and terrible casino win, down 39% — is to blame for the sharp decline and, year to date, the Strip is flat with 2012. Lady Luck wasn’t with the casinos, whose table win fell 21% although money dropped on the felt was only 8% less. Non-baccarat win was up 2%, despite smaller play. A small reduction (1%) in slot coin-in yielded 5.5% less win.
If there was a silver lining, it was a Continue reading
Racetrack owner Richard Fields and Caesars Entertainment are wrapping up their deals with Boston and Revere with dispatch. And the latter are making out like bandits. In their zeal to close deals, Fields and Loveman may be overpaying for the privilege. Compared to Wynn Resorts‘ $25 million annual commitment to neighboring Everett, the Suffolk Downs duo has pledged $32 million to Boston — atop a $33 million downpayment –plus now a percentage to Revere, which will get no less than $4.25 million a year (and probably quite a bit more). That’s more than double what Foxwoods Massachusetts has promised to Milford, which makes one wonder if Caesars and Fields are giving away the store.
Either way, the racino-to-be picked up a quasi-endorsement from Gov. Deval Patrick (D). He praised Continue reading
Now that we’ve had our National Feel-Good Moment of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, here’s a reminder to keep thinking about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and not just shove him back into the history books.
In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) finds himself conducting a tricky balancing act vis-a-vis tribal casino expansion. It’s difficult to decide whether he’s showing restraint or hiding under the mattress. You can make the case for both conclusions. He doesn’t look as bad, certainly, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who was for tribal casinos before he was neutral about them.
Here’s the deal: The Menominee Indian Tribe wants to convert Dairyland Greyhound Park, near Kenosha, into a casino. Milwaukee’s mammoth Potowatomi Bingo is opposed to this incursion on the market. To appease the Forest County Potawatomi Community‘s wrath Continue reading
