{"id":18629,"date":"2016-08-05T10:33:39","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T18:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18629"},"modified":"2016-08-05T11:27:40","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T19:27:40","slug":"murren-minces-few-words-wynn-boston-harbor-sets-opening-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/murren-minces-few-words-wynn-boston-harbor-sets-opening-date\/","title":{"rendered":"Murren minces few words; Wynn Boston Harbor sets opening date"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commiting truth isn’t as rare in the casino business as in politics but MGM Resorts International<\/strong> CEO Jim Murren<\/strong> was startlingly candid\u00a0in yesterday’s earnings call, crediting \"Jim-Murren\"a surge in Las Vegas<\/strong> summer business to a Zika<\/strong> virus outbreak in Florida<\/strong>, one that has led the federal government to warn pregnant women away from the Sunshine State. \u201cOne of the interesting notes I got this week were comments from JetBlue<\/strong> that they\u2019re seeing a pickup in passenger activity to Las Vegas and maybe a slowdown to Florida … It\u2019s helping everybody in town, and not just the MGM portfolio. As sad as that situation is in Florida, I certainly don\u2019t want to benefit from that. I can say we\u2019re seeing a pickup in air traffic and driving traffic even in the last couple of months.” Proceeds from the sale of Crystals<\/strong> goosed profits<\/a>, bumping them from $0.17 a share to $0.83<\/a>. Murren admitted that 2Q16 had been disappointing in terms of room revenues on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong>, even with comparisons to 2Q15’s MayPac charade and Rock in Rio USA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While not making any promises, the CEO hinted at a better third-quarter report, saying that high-rollers from China<\/strong> and other Pacific Rim countries were coming to town at non-traditional times. “We have not seen this level of activity in terms of people in the resorts up and down the Strip ever.” Murren is already looking into his crystal ball for 2017 and likes what he sees. \u201cOur leisure and convention business continues to be strong. That\u2019s the bulk of where this city\u2019s hotel business lies,\u201d he said, predicting that group business would hit record levels, not least because of ConExpo-Con Agg<\/strong> (so the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority<\/strong> had better have the Riviera<\/strong> site cleared in time<\/a>). Although T-Mobile Arena<\/strong> is cannibalizing some business from MGM Grand Garden Arena<\/strong> — but not Mandalay Bay Event Center<\/strong> — it is hitting its targets, particularly at the all-important higher price points.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Connecticut<\/strong>, the air went out of the balloon of MGM’s efforts to stave off a Foxwoods<\/strong>\/Mohegan Sun<\/strong>-branded satellite casino. The\u00a0Schaghticoke Tribal Nation<\/strong> abandoned a lawsuit<\/a> that MGM had been bankrolling. The tribe could still refile. MGM, for its part, is trying to revive a lawsuit of its own which was dismissed in June. While we are less than convinced by MGM’s sudden concern for the southwestern-Connecticut market, it’s had a good point that the new-casino law shouldn’t have been crafted so as to juice Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in on a no-bid gaming establishment. The legislature still hasn’t voted to authorize the actual construction of the casino, so maybe there’s hope for the Schaghticoke yet.<\/p>\n

* South Korea<\/strong> is suddenly looking slightly more attractive to casino developers, at least for the moment. The minority Peoples’ Party<\/strong> has proposed a locals-only megaresort for \"Koreana tourist area four hours southwest of Seoul<\/strong>. The role model is Marina Bay Sands<\/strong>, in Singapore<\/strong>. Stock analysts are pooh-poohing the legislation’s chances, although the Peoples’ Party says it has multilateral\u00a0support. To protect South Koreans from themselves, the proposed casino would have an entry fee of $45 or more (far higher than locals-only Kangwon Land<\/strong> casino)\u00a0and citizens could gamble there no more than 10 days a month. Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> executives have already been sniffing around the city of Busan<\/strong>, hoping to develop a casino there. But it would be conditional on allowing locals to play — and Kangwon’s statutory monopoly doesn’t end until 2025.<\/p>\n

* A graveyard-like stillness has fallen over sentenced-to-death Trump Taj Mahal<\/strong>. Workers’ favorite pen pal, Carl Icahn<\/strong>, sent an open letter to strikers<\/a>, placing blame for \"icahn\"the closure on Unite-Here Local 54<\/strong>. He said the union knew before the strike that management had made its final offer (which does somewhat validate Local 54 President Robert McDevitt<\/strong>‘s contention that Icahn’s approach was ‘my way or the highway.’) Queried Icahn, “Why have they incited you, the union workers at the Taj, to destroy your jobs and your livelihood rather than accept the prior offer that we made at McDevitt’s suggestion?” Maybe because the burden of continuing to bear the increased cost of living imposed by Trump Entertainment Resorts<\/strong> — and continued under Icahn — stuck in workers’ craw? Just a thought.<\/p>\n

* If you’re staying at Hilton Grand Vacations<\/strong>, be careful what you say or you may be beaten to the verge of death<\/a>. While alleged assailant London Lacy<\/strong> may have been provoked (not that it excuses what ensued), even more deplorable was the behavior of eyewitnesses like former college football player Jabari Howard<\/strong>, who just sat and watched like a spectator at an MMA fight.<\/p>\n

* Mark your calendars: June 2019 is the target date for opening Wynn Boston Harbor<\/strong>. Site preparation has already started on a small scale<\/a>. Although litigation-happy Somerville<\/strong> Mayor Joseph Curtatone<\/strong> has a flurry of lawsuits pending against the casino, Wynn Boston Harbor President Robert DeSalvio<\/strong> characterizes Wynn Resorts<\/strong>‘ relationship with Hizzoner as “good” and “we are absolutely, positively moving forward from this day forward.\u201d We like the sound of that.<\/p>\n

* Both daily fantasy sports and Internet<\/strong> poker have hit a large speed bump<\/a> in the California<\/strong> state Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commiting truth isn’t as rare in the casino business as in politics but MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren was startlingly candid\u00a0in yesterday’s earnings call, crediting a surge in Las Vegas summer business to a Zika virus outbreak in Florida, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,34,82,4,36,166,22,37,75,112,11,167,33,55,108,187,32,9,19,100,21,169,196,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18629"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18641,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18629\/revisions\/18641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}