Despite his (at best) tepid standing with the Nevada electorate — whether the right or the left — Sen. Harry Reid (D) has almost every important name in the casino industry in his corner. Sheldon Adelson may yet choose to be contrarian and throw his weight behind casino colleague Sue Lowden, but he’s definitely bucking the tide in that respect. Even Steve Wynn, in all his recent bluster about matters economic, has been careful to aim his blunderbuss away from Reid.
Why? I’d been meaning to explain this for awhile but a bunch of casino bigshots called a press conference and did my work for me. In particular, listen to the audio clip that accompanies this Las Vegas Sun story. Harrah’s Entertainment and Station Casinos veeps Jan Jones and Scott Nielson lay out in very clear-cut terms why Harry’s their main man. (I could also link to a video interview with MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren but that would mean subjecting you to a whiny, cliché-addicted Neil Cavuto, and I can’t have that on my conscience.)
The bottom line is that the casino companies have run the numbers and have decided that, as a dollars-and-cents proposition, they come out ahead with Majority Leader Reid rather than Freshman Senator X … especially now that Sen. John Ensign (R) has forfeited his clout on Capitol Hill. Which is why they’re dancing with the guy that brought them tax breaks. One might not share their enthusiasm but their calculus is difficult to fault.
Broken Record Dept. There’s nothing Macao needs like another 21,000 hotel rooms, says the $2 Million Man (aka Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven). The Adelson crony said the company’s next three hotels would be “a game changer … It’s key to our growth in Macao, and it’s key for Macao’s differentiation, to make Cotai a destination.” Which sounds a lot like what was said about Venetian Macao.
Also, Adelson continues to promise non-core asset sales, a tune so over-familiar it qualifies for Golden Oldie status (wake us when you actually sell something, sir) and it doesn’t sound like Marina Bay Sands is going to make its Feb. 15 opening date. Adelson’s peeps, meanwhile are holding completion of Sands Bethlehem hostage until table games are approved in Pennsylvania. As I thought, Sands’ revenue projections for Bethlehem have proven way over-optimistic.
There’s a grand farce playing out in Maryland. Basically, the Ann Arundel County Council has been chasing itself ’round a mulberry bush. Cordish Co. wants to build next to a popular shopping mall. The council, fearful of political backlash, has counter-proposed dumping Cordish’s casino into an industrial area. Failing that, the council lacks the will — and, for now, the votes — to rezone the mall area for gambling. Instead, it wants the state to license a Cordish casino in the abstract and let the county worry about where it goes. The state, understandably wary of signing off on Some Casino Someplace Undetermined, is demanding that Ann Arundel County get its act together by mid-December. This political game of chicken should be fun to watch.
If you prefer drama, there’s a mostly splendid revival of The Shawl by David Mamet this weekend at Las Vegas Little Theatre. How many shows in Vegas offer a $12 top ticket?
