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

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 Latinos and almost as high among African-Americans) and we’ve got a long way to go, but matters are clearly headed in the right direction. “Some economists forecast the rate could remain in double-digits through the November elections and into next year,” reports the Globe. As with the green shoots we’re seeing in gaming, we’re clearly dealing with a very fluid phenomenon.

* In a parenthetical digression, we’d like to do our bit to redeem the reputation of Boston Mayor Martin Walsh (D). He was one of our favorite whipping boys (“Mayor McCheese”) thanks to his clumsiness, cupidity and interference with Encore Boston Harbor. However, between the Covid-19 crisis and coping with Beantown’s entrenched history of racism, Walsh has found himself as a leader and provided a steadying hand on the tiller of the ship of state. He may have blundered in gaming matters but he’s also shown (and knows, as a recovering alcoholic) that anyone is capable of reinvention and redemption. And we just wanted to acknowledge that, given our S&G history.

* Someone for whom we’ve recently had harsh words in the recent past is American Gaming Association President Bill Miller, on the basis for his demand that the U.S. media self-censor in the matter of offshore gambling sites. Well, facts remain facts and we still have report them, regardless of provenance. However, Miller rose above his recent blunder with his response to the racial crisis presently sundering America.

Yesterday he issued a lengthy, introspective statement from which I quote the following: “I am hard-pressed to think of a more challenging time then we’ve all seen in the past week … Our society is based on a foundational principle that we are all created equal. Yet, for far too many, and for far too long, that ideal has not been a reality. This must change. We all have a responsibility to listen, exercise greater compassion, and stand up for what’s right … In recent years, gaming has felt the sting of natural disasters and human tragedy, rebuilding each time with the fundamental belief that we are better and stronger together. Now, as economies begin to reopen, we have an opportunity and an obligation as a community engine to be the example of inclusion and collaboration once again.” There’s much more but you get the gist, to which I say: Amen!

(OK, he could have put in a few words about tribal gaming and about the lack of representation of people of color in Big Gaming’s upper ranks. MGM Resorts International, for instance, just sacked one prominent black executive and demoted another. But you’ve got to start somewhere and Miller did.)

* In our media-wide euphoria to proclaim the Second Coming of Las Vegas, we may have gotten a wee bit carried away. An invaluable S&G source visited The D yesterday and reports as follows: “It was dead till about five pm. No one except employees was wearing masks and there was no distancing walking through casino. All slots are on but every other chair has been removed. Drink service good. Coney Dog had plexiglass between dining room and staff with a cut out for food and strict enforcement of distancing marked on floor. They had a full time lobby cleaner. Tables three chairs per table [game]. Got bit more crowded after five, aka you had a pretty full walkway. Temperature checks at all outside doors and elevator to hotel rooms.” Then again, that jibes with the slow recovery we were initially led to expect. Then again, the evening crowd was apparently like this. At least some of them brought their masks but otherwise it’s kibitzing as usual.

Jottings: VitalVegas reports that “breastaurant” Twin Peaks didn’t have enough silicone to survive the shutdown and the boob joint on the Las Vegas Strip is closing permanently. Unlike VV, we’re not sorry to see it go. The days when “Vegas” = exploitation of women are long obsolete … Somebody’s cashing in on Covid-19. It’s Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, which is instituting a “crisis fee,” otherwise known as profiteering. Let’s nip this trend in the bud by boycotting Joe’s. There’s no shortage of alternatives.