Penn National Gaming swooped in and bought itself a nice little operating contract in Louisiana, the Margaritaville Casino Resort, for $115 million. Considering that the price translates to 5.5X cash flow, 
Penn got itself quite a bargain. It’s also a vote of confidence in the Shreveport/Bossier City market when you consider that Penn will own Boomtown Bossier when its acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment closes. Margaritaville has grossed $157 million year to date, an 8% increase from early 2017. It’s a curious hybrid of a deal, as the physical assets will be owned by Vici Properties, the REIT of Penn’s archrival Caesars Entertainment, the market leader in the greater Shreveport area. Vici paid $261 million for the riverboat and casino, which it will lease at $23 million a year.
“The pace of deal activity has picked up meaningfully over the LTM period with nine announced deals totaling ~$6.2 bn of REIT capital outlays. In fact, the $6.2 bn of transactions over the LTM period represents roughly half of the total volume of gaming REIT deals since GLPI’s first acquisition (Casino Queen) in the 4Q13,” writes Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. Indeed, with Vici making a deal that would normally be the province of GLPI, things are getting decidedly incestuous. This may soon be a matter of antitrust concern, although probably not under this administration.
Speaking of Louisiana, gaming revenues were modestly higher last month, up 1.5% to $222.5 million. This was despite a bad month for Pinnacle, the state’s leading operator. (Caesars made up for it.) Golden Nugget in Lake Charles was gangbusters, shooting up 19% to $27 million. That didn’t hurt Delta Downs, up 4.5% to $16 million. However, L’Auberge du Lac slipped 2%, for just under $27 million, while Isle Grand Palais got walloped, down 13% to $8.5 million.
In New Orleans, vast dominance was exercised by Harrah’s New Orleans, up 7% to $26 million. So much for deleterious effects from 
the smoking ban. Coming in a distant second were Boomtown New Orleans (-6.5%) and Treasure Chest (+3.4%), just under $10 million each. Amelia Belle was up 7% to $4 million and Fair Grounds racino up 10% to $3.5 million. Upriver in Baton Rouge, master of its domain L’Auberge Baton Rouge actually slipped 10% to $13.5 million. Eating its dust were Casino Rouge, down 6% to $5.5 million, and Belle of Baton Rouge, falling 8% to $5 million.
Which brings us back to Shreveport/Bossier City, where Horseshoe Bossier rose 7.5% to $16 million, while second-best Margaritaville grossed $14 million, a 5% increase. (One can see its desirability.) Eldorado Shreveport was flat at $10.5 million while Boomtown Bossier slid 8% to $5 million. Sam’s Town bettered it at $6 million, despite a 5.5% slippage and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs was flat at $4 million. Likely-to-move Diamond Jack’s tumbled 9.5% to $3 million. Guess players don’t take to being jilted.
* Sports betting had better come through in a big way for Rhode Island. The Legislature has baked $23.5 million in tax collections from sports books into its next budget. That’ll cover a $6 million lawsuit settlement, free community-college tuition and part of a 
whopping cut in car taxes. The bill passed out of the House at a veto-proof 66-7 and now moves to the state Senate. Sports betting was a last-minute addition, worked out by Gov. Gina Raimondo (D), IGT and casino operator Twin River, which controls both of the small state’s casinos, including a soon-to-open slot house in Tiverton. The generous — for the state — gives Providence 51% of wagers, while IGT sets the lines and manages the sports books.
Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello (D) applauded the accord, saying, “We are in sports gaming earlier than other states and we have a better percentage for the taxpayers than any state that’s doing it right now.” In an unrelated development, stadium gaming, already in practice in Pennsylvania, will be legalized in Rhode Island in return for a $4 million fee from Twin River. One thing Raimondo didn’t get was a fivefold increase in loco weed dispensaries from three to 15. Call it pot luck.
Twin River’s Tiverton satellite, right on the state border with Massachusetts, can’t open soon enough for some. Penn National’s Plainridge Park, in the Bay State, saw 4% revenue increase last month, implying an eye-popping $377/win/slot/day. (Remember, $200/slot/day is considered a healthy average by the industry.) You can bet your bippy Twin River would like to claw some of that back.
