MGM revving up on Strip; The Skull returns

Posted on June 11, 2020 by David McKee

Allowing for the context that one’s hotels fill up faster when only 25%-50% of the rooms are being rented, MGM Resorts International seems to be enjoying a honeymoon with its customer base. Its Las Vegas Strip resorts are reopening, in most cases, well ahead of expectations. Not only is Excalibur returning June 11 and Aria on July 1, several other hotels have been ticketed for resumption of business. They are Luxor (June 25), Mandalay Bay (July 1) and Four Seasons (July 1). Still no word on Park MGM, Vdara or The Mirage, the latter of which MGM is rumored to be shopping. CEO Bill Hornbuckle stressed the imperative of adding jobs, saying, “We are eager to get more of our employees back to work and Continue reading →

Posted in Caesars Entertainment, Colony Capital, Dining, Downtown, Dubai, Economy, Entertainment, Golden Gaming, Golden Nugget, International, MGM Resorts International, Minnesota, New Jersey, Resorts World LV, The Mob, The Strip | Comments Off on MGM revving up on Strip; The Skull returns

“The calculus of reopening”

Posted on June 11, 2020 by David McKee

There seems to be a perception abroad in the land that, because Coronavirus is abating we’re out of the woods and can revert to pre-Covid-19 conduct. Reports of people wildly disregarding social distancing (now being downgraded to “appropriate distancing,” whatever the Sam Hill that is) on casino floors bear this out. And the recent spate of civil-rights marches poses an existential question of whether protesting heinous injustice outweighs creating one’s own roving “hot zone” (a complex conundrum with which we continue to wrestle). Former casino boss Richard Schuetz has a column today that is must-reading (as Schuetz usually is). He talks about the grim realpolitik of reopening casinos, saying, “Anyone who suggests there will not be any deaths associated with coronavirus as a result of the reopening of the casinos simply does not Continue reading →

Posted in China, Current, Health, history, Horseracing, MGM Resorts International, New Jersey, Regulation, Security, Tourism | Comments Off on “The calculus of reopening”

Casino recovery still mild; Recession: The Sequel

Posted on June 9, 2020 by David McKee

Casinos that have reopened in Las Vegas, Louisiana and Mississippi are seeing fewer customers—but higher value ones. That’s the bottom line of a new report from JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, who cites data tracked by Visitdata.org. Foot traffic is “significantly lower” than pre-pandemic levels. How much lower? 47% in Clark County, 32% in Louisiana and 18% lower in Mississippi. However … “duration of visits has been tracking higher in Clark County and Mississippi, up 15% relative to pre-COVID levels in February, which we think is supportive of higher quality, more dedicated players being the first to return.” Greff adds that “we view these visitation results as broadly encouraging and likely better than previously feared,” although the much-ballyhooed “pent-up demand” now appears to have been a brief spurt.

“On Sunday, June 7th, estimated visitation to casinos in Clark County was ~374,000, or ~71% of the daily average in Continue reading →

Posted in Brothels, Economy, Health, International, Louisiana, Mesquite, Michael Gaughan, Mississippi, Nevada, Resort fees, Sports betting, The Strip, Wall Street, Wynn Resorts | 1 Comment

NBA odds sizzle; Stanley Ho’s revenge

Posted on June 8, 2020 by David McKee

While the expansion of the NBA playoff field to 22 teams fiddled with the odds, the favorites to win remain the same: the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. The league’s plan is to resume play July 31 at Disney World. (Sorry, Vegas.) DraftKings‘ odds remained the same but those on FanDuel bumped up and down. The Bucks slipped from +240 to +200, the Lakers leapt from +250 (paying $250 on a $100 wager) to +270 while the Clippers shifted from +325 to +340. DraftKings has the teams at +250 (Bucks), +333 (Clippers) and +250 (Lakers). If a miracle happens and Kevin Durant comes back—and you love playing extreme long shots—the Brooklyn Nets are at +8,000 on DraftKings and +5,000 on FanDuel, a big improvement from +20,000 and +21,000, respectively, but still a real gamble. The DraftKings/FanDuel breakdowns for the other favored teams were as follows: Denver Nuggets (+3,000/+2,500), Philadelphia 76ers (ditto), Indiana Pacers (+10,000) and Portland Trail Blazers (+17,000/+20,000, down slightly in both cases). Place your bets, friends.

* Silver Slipper Casino really pushed its luck with Continue reading →

Posted in AGA, California, Economy, Florida, Louisiana, Macau, MGM Resorts International, Mississippi, Pansy Ho, Politics, Regulation, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, Sports, Sports betting, Stanley Ho, The Strip, Tribal | 2 Comments

MGM changes mind on Aria; No appetite for deals?

Posted on June 8, 2020 by David McKee

Having told its entire Aria staff to look for new jobs, MGM Resorts International finds itself in the position of saying, “Never mind.” In an interview last weekend, CEO Bill Hornbuckle floated the possibility of reopening Aria by July 4, followed by one more resort every two to four weeks, climaxing in early September at best, start of November at worst. Which is a much more hopeful timeline than MGM had been discussing with Wall Street, one that saw closures extending into 2021. If Aria resumes business next month, that leaves Park MGM, The Mirage, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. When it happens, it won’t be the same old same-old, according to PR boss Jenn Michaels. “Other changes we’ve implemented will improve the hospitality experience at our resorts forevermore,” she e-mailed journalists. “Our restaurants now Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, California, CityCenter, Conventions, Current, Derek Stevens, Dining, Downtown, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Hawaii, Health, Las Vegas Sands, Law enforcement, LVCVA, Marketing, Massachusetts, MGM Resorts International, Money laundering, Resort fees, Sahara, Singapore, Sports, Sports betting, Station Casinos, Terry Caudill, The Rio, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, TV, Virginia, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 8, 2020 by David McKee

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”—Benjamin Franklin

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Park MGM goes smokeless?; Excalibur returns

Posted on June 5, 2020 by David McKee

Resuming business in mid-pandemic, the casino industry finds itself at a nodal point unlike few in its history. The question: To smoke or not to smoke? Leaving aside our (negative) feelings about tobacco and its side effects, if the casino industry has the willpower to extirpate smoking in casinos, this is the moment when it can make that happen. Normally, this would be commercial suicide but gamblers want to play again. Where are they going to do that if not in the casinos? Online? Only in a few states and even there Big Gaming owns the action. Besides, how many people want a potential airborne pathogen blown in their faces, cosseted amidst a cloud of cigarette smoke?

Also, gambling = smoking turns out to be something of a myth. Global Gaming Business reports Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Arizona, Atlantic City, California, Environment, Health, Jim Murren, MGM Resorts International, Technology, The Strip, Tribal, Washington State | 3 Comments

Very green shoots; Miller takes the lead; “Crisis fees”

Posted on June 5, 2020 by David McKee

It’s an open question whether we’ve tamped down Coronavirus (keep wearing those masks!) but we seem to have turned a corner in the economy, a development that bodes well for the gaming industry. According to the Boston Globe, unemployment “unexpectedly” went from just under 15% in April to 13% in May, as the economy began to reopen. This trend can, obviously, be expected to continue as June brings more lifting of restraints. And since casinos are at the mercy of consumers’ discretionary income, more employment should translate into more dollars on the green felt. Pent-up demand is all well and good but there’s got to be real money behind it for it to matter.

Let’s not be selfish, however. 13% unemployment is unsustainable (especially as it stands at 17.5% for Continue reading →

Posted in AGA, Derek Stevens, Dining, Diversity, Downtown, Economy, Health, Massachusetts, MGM Resorts International, Resort fees, The Strip, Wynn Resorts | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 5, 2020 by David McKee

“America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.”—James Madison, The Federalist Papers.

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Station reopens bullishly; Who was that masked man, anyway?

Posted on June 4, 2020 by David McKee

On the eve of today’s reopening, Station Casinos hosted a conference call with JP Morgan analysts and was pretty darn confident that its base of Baby Boomers and retirees would flock back. So confident is that Station “has not been running any large-scale promotions ahead of the reopening.” (Take that, Derek Stevens!) Yes, Virginia, the little Wildfire casinos have now reopened, along with most of the big properties. The Palms remains on ice since Station “will need to monitor the LV Strip, airlift, etc. as it’s a hybrid property.” The company’s not hurting from keeping its two Fiestas, Texas Station and the Palms closed, as they accounted for only 20% of last year’s revenue and 10% of cash flow (thanks to losses at the Palms).

Analyst Joseph Greff reported that Station “is resuming conversations after buyers paused in March as COVID-19 began proliferating; management is hopeful there will be Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Caesars Entertainment, Cirque du Soleil, Crown Resorts, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Entertainment, Health, Las Vegas Sands, Marketing, MGM Resorts International, Palms, Planet Hollywood, Real Estate, Resort fees, Station Casinos, Steven Witkoff, Tamares Group, Terry Caudill, The Rio, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 4, 2020 by David McKee

“As this weekend unfolded, there was elation as SpaceX celebrated its first crewed launch from U.S. soil. We can launch astronauts to outer space, yet many of our unemployed are still waiting on their first checks. The gaming industry reopens to appreciative guests, and still millions of workers are unemployed. COVID deaths in the US reached 106,000, and businesses across the country re-opened on their last dime. No wonder so many of us feel imbalanced.”—Raving Consulting CFO Brady Scott.

Posted in Current, Economy, Health | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 3, 2020 by David McKee

“April will go down in history as the month that Nevada’s casinos stopped, and the economic consequences will be felt for months, if not years, to come.”—David Schwartz, gambling historian, professor and associate vice provost at the University of Nevada—Las Vegas.

Posted in Economy, history, Nevada | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

The Drew is through; Stevens’ green shoots

Posted on June 3, 2020 by David McKee

Would somebody please implode Fontainebleau already? It’s an eyesore, a civic embarrassment and a product for which demand does not exist. We perhaps should be saying “The Drew” but—per Scott Roeben‘s all-but-infallible VitalVegas, The Drew is in default, meaning that it’s time for CEO Bobby Baldwin to update his resumé, presuming he wants people to know he was affiliated with this white elephant. Steven Witkoff (over)paid Carl Icahn for the incredible hulk (F-blue, not Baldwin) and his business plan always seemed to have more optimism than logic. Among Roeben’s revelations is that Witkoff’s capital—$490 million—was pathetically short of what he needed. The backers were “Mirae Asset Daewoo, NH Investment & Securities, Hana Financial Investment, Kangwon Land and a Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary.” (Witkoff also had some tobacco money in the project.) If Kangwon Land sounds familiar, it’s the only casino Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Carl Icahn, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Economy, Fontainebleau, Health, Horseracing, Illinois, Phil Ruffin, South Korea, Sports, Sports betting, Steven Witkoff, Technology, Tourism, Transportation | 1 Comment

Putting diversity into action

Posted on June 2, 2020 by David McKee

We hardly feel qualified to address the present turmoil in our country, so we are momentarily turning over the microphone to Dave Marlon, CEO of CrossRoads of Southern Nevada, a prominent drug-rehab center, very active during the Covid-19 crisis. He is also CEO of homeless-Nevadan charity Vegas Stronger. Here are Dr. Marlon’s thoughts on the current state of affairs, particularly with regard to the history of Las Vegas.

In 1989 a Police Officer Pressed a Gun to My Nose for a Routine Traffic Stop

 Reflections on how I learned from that experience and have applied diversity to my businesses ever since

By Dave Marlon, CrossRoads of Southern NV & VegasStronger CEO

June 2, 2020

Seeing the horrific George Floyd incident and the related protests, mayhem, and looting is bringing back a flood of emotions and memories.

Back on August 28, 1989, I was driving home from the east side to my home by Lorenzi Park. I had just watched Blue Oyster Cult at Calamity Janes and they had put on an awesome show. I was an Italian 25-year-old still pretty new to Las Vegas driving my Blue T-top Camaro home on a hot summer night.   I was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction, but that night I made a critical mistake.

As the officer approached my car, I reached down to Continue reading →

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Atlantic City gets good news; Stanley Ho canonized

Posted on June 2, 2020 by David McKee

July 4 could spell independence for Atlantic City casinos, judging by recent statements from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D). In a radio interview he said, “It’s probably still too early to give you a very specific answer but there’s a lot of work going into that right now. But we are trying like heck to get toward, I hope, before the Fourth of July or at least by the Fourth of July … that we’re in a position where we can say, you know what, subject to a lot of different parameters the casinos can be open again.” Which is the best news the Boardwalk has had in months, equivocal though it may be. Murphy was pretty candid about the challenges faced: “The bad news is casinos sort of have the attributes that are hardest to deal with this virus. It’s indoors, no Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Derek Stevens, Health, International, Internet gambling, Iowa, Macau, Marketing, MGM Resorts International, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Problem gambling, Regulation, Stanley Ho, Twin River, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 2, 2020 by David McKee

“I don’t gamble at all. I don’t have the patience. Don’t expect to make money in gambling. It’s a house game. It’s for the house.”—Stanley Ho (1921-2020), in a 1971 interview.

Posted in Stanley Ho | 1 Comment

California Lege mulls sports betting; Mega-Jottings

Posted on June 1, 2020 by David McKee

Gaming analysts may be getting a little ahead of themselves but they’re estimating that California could generate $30 billion a year in sports-betting handle, $2 billion in revenue and $300 million in taxes. That’d be pretty good news for a state whose budget is reeling from Coronavirus. Trouble is, sports betting isn’t legal in the Golden State just yet and the Lege will have to act fairly swiftly if it’s to make its way onto the November ballot. PlayCA.com is pinning its hopes on a pair of Assembly and state Senate bills shepherded by state Sen. Bill Dodd (D, below) and state Rep. Adam Gray (D, pictured), a longtime warrior for gaming. Revenue would be taxed at 10%, tribal casinos and horse tracks would be entitled to both retail and online sports wagering, and taxes would be levied directly upon the platform operators, circumventing a state/tribal clash of authority. Conspicuously missing are the state’s card rooms, already staggering under the ongoing Covid-19 shutdown.

PlayCA calls the tax rate “reasonable” and we have to agree—particularly compared to Pennsylvania‘s confiscatory Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, California, Downtown, Economy, Eldorado Resorts, International, Lotteries, New Jersey, Politics, Regulation, Rhode Island, Sports betting, Station Casinos, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Twin River | 2 Comments

Unrest on the Strip; Boyd tightens belt

Posted on June 1, 2020 by David McKee

Maybe Coronavirus can’t keep people away from Las Vegas but we think we’ve found one thing that will: civil unrest. A pair of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters found themselves in the line of fire when Las Vegas Metro launched a fusillade of rubber bullets and tear gas on protesters marching north on the Las Vegas Strip. It was one of the latest of many, many such shows of public ire since the choking death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Or, as one protester told the R-J, “It has now become a crime in America to be black.” (A smaller demonstration in Summerlin went off peacefully.)  Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford defended Metro’s actions—which included calling out SWAT—by asking, “Are they perfect? Absolutely not. We have work to do, we absolutely do.”

Police themselves were bombarded with projectiles, including frozen water bottles. The Strip disturbance (one hesitates to call it a Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Downtown, Economy, Indiana, Ohio, Politics, The Strip | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 1, 2020 by David McKee

“Every time a riot develops, it helps George Wallace.”—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., February 1968.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on May 30, 2020 by David McKee

“When you burn down this city, you’re burning down our community. If you want change in America, go and register to vote.”—Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Posted in Current | 1 Comment