Xstal Campbell, a former dancing barmaid at The D, will be testifying before the Nevada Gaming Control Board today, along with other, unidentified casino workers. The subject will be 
sexual harassment. Ms. Campbell, who also will try her case before the National Labor Relations Board, asserts that she was fired from The D on May 14 because she wouldn’t put out. Her story is as follows: A manager at The D started hitting on her practically as soon as she was hired. “The height of the harassment occurred during my probationary period and I felt vulnerable and that if I spoke up, I could lose my job.”
She reported a hostile work environment to human resources and got, she says, a chilly response, being told to mind her own business. Supposedly HR had the nerve to ask her if she encouraged the manager’s attentions. “In the months to follow, Ms. Campbell felt that she was a target of management and began to feel a lot of anxiety at work. She was unfairly suspended twice for days a time and eventually fired,” according to the Culinary Union. The latter happens to be leaning on The D for stronger workplace protections but we think it takes a lot of stones for Ms. Campbell to testify publicly, let alone allow herself to be named as a victim of sexual misconduct, as she risks being blacklisted in Las Vegas. As the saying goes, let justice be done though the heavens fall.
* Languishing at $9.85/share, Caesars Entertainment is one of the great bargains of the gaming group. Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli thinks so too, putting a “Buy” on the stock. Among the reasons he cites for optimism are “implied 
owned asset valuation that is easily visible & very compelling … leverage to regional gaming markets, which we think will continue to show strength … what we believe will be stronger than peer Strip operating performance … a free pipeline of low risk projects.”
He resumes, “CZR’s cost side execution at its LV Strip assets has outpaced peers and positions the company well for continued margin strength as revenue growth resumes (4Q18 in our view) … driven by renovation activity, a stronger casino customer mix, and the influence of Total Rewards, we expect CZR to continue to outpace peers on key top line metrics in Las Vegas.”
Of Caesars’ assets, 55% are in Las Vegas, which is not viewed as overexposure, despite the market’s current softness. Santarelli 
also thinks Caesars’ ongoing series of room renovations will act as a tailwind to operating performance. “While we don’t see material upside in the 3Q18, in fact we are slightly below current Consensus, we think low expectations account for this and believe upside to 4Q18 is likely … we think CZR is well positioned to be a solid favorable revision story over the coming quarters.”
Caesars is so little thought of these days that Caesars Palace was left out of the Lego Las Vegas, which found room for an out-of-scale Wynncore. The latter was initially bannered “Wynn” but is now “Encore.” Because sexual misconduct. So order your copy through VitalVegas.com and get to work assembling the 501 pieces. We’ll abstain because the cats would probably start batting Lego pieces around Heavens to what trouble that would lead.
* The American Gaming Association commissioned a survey from Nielsen Sports, one that concluded that the NFL could reap an additional $2.3 billion in a sports-betting-enabled climate. How so? Predicts the AGA, revenue from media rights, 
sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales will increase 13.5% or $1.7 billion. $573 million will come from spending by betting operators and data providers. Casinos are expected to spend as much as $451 million in advertising, while sponsorships could scare up an additional $92 million. Nielsen surveyed 1,032 U.S. residents 18 years old and up. They certainly conjure up quite a rosy future for the NFL. We’ll see how it shakes out in the cold light of day. Is there a pot of gold at the end of the sports-betting rainbow or are we looking at the Penn National Effect (over-optimistic revenue predictions)?
