{"id":18752,"date":"2016-08-23T15:53:53","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T23:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18752"},"modified":"2018-10-25T09:41:06","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T17:41:06","slug":"mgm-goes-on-the-attack-wynns-new-masterpiece-isle-out-of-louisiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgm-goes-on-the-attack-wynns-new-masterpiece-isle-out-of-louisiana\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM goes on the attack; Wynn&#8217;s new &#8220;masterpiece;&#8221; Isle out of Louisiana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GAbvS0RVwr4\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This story pretty much writes itself. While <strong>MGM Resorts International<\/strong> cowboys up and makes it clear who&#8217;s sponsoring the ad &#8212; not hiding behind some phony-baloney PAC name like &#8220;Citizens for a Stronger <strong>Connecticut<\/strong>&#8221; &#8212; but the commercial is a rehash of tiresomely familiar political tropes: ominous music, insinuating voice-overs and cherry-picked quotes. While the MGM ad leads one to believe the <strong>Bradley International Airport<\/strong> casino is a done deal, lawmakers say &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/fox61.com\/2016\/08\/22\/how-to-cut-a-bad-deal-mgm-releases-attack-ads-against-proposed-bradley-airport-casino\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Not so fast<\/a>!&#8217; Besides, who wants to go to an airport &#8212; of all places &#8212; to gamble? Nobody thinks of airports and &#8220;fun&#8221; in the same breath anymore.<\/p>\n<p>* Given all the anticipation, the actual opening of <strong>Wynn Palace<\/strong> was almost anticlimactic. Few casino projects have been so heavily debated as this one, and <!--more-->analysts were still arguing about down to the wire. All the guidance that <strong>Steve Wynn<\/strong> would give about the megaresort&#8217;s ROI was that it would be &#8220;fine&#8221; (which could mean anything in <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8824\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/steve-wynn-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"steve-wynn\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/steve-wynn-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/steve-wynn-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/steve-wynn.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>the era of diminished expectations that is present-day <strong>Macao<\/strong>). <strong>Daiwa Capital Markets<\/strong> analyst <strong>Jamie Soo<\/strong> wrote that <strong>Wall Street<\/strong>&#8216;s expectations for the new wave of casinos were &#8220;too optimistic &#8230; Macau is clearly operating in an environment of increasing costs and mounting competition amid a challenging macro environment.&#8221; But <strong>Citi<\/strong> analyst <strong>George Choi<\/strong> countered that Wynn Palace &#8220;is a potential game-changer &#8230; We like the earnings improvement that the new Macau property will likely bring to Wynn.&#8221; <strong>Buckingham Research Group<\/strong> analyst <strong>Christopher Jones<\/strong> added that the table-games issue was overblown, writing, &#8220;We believe that for Wynn and other operators, peak table capacity is only an issue for major holidays.&#8221; As though to head off any criticism that Wynn Palace is too gambling-reliant, its namesake told investors (without going into specifics),\u00a0&#8220;We spent, without exception and without any possibility of contradiction, more money on noncasino attractions in Wynn Palace than has ever been spent on any facility of that sort on the planet <strong>Earth<\/strong>.&#8221; Wow. That&#8217;s pretty big talk.<\/p>\n<p>While <em>GGR Asia<\/em> itself seemed fairly blas\u00e9 about the casino opening &#8212; roused only by sightings of <strong>Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/strong> and <strong>Andrea Bocelli<\/strong> &#8212; it made it clear that players were anything but indifferent: &#8220;All areas of the gaming operation \u2013 including the mass <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-18607\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Wynn-Palace-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"Wynn-Palace\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Wynn-Palace-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Wynn-Palace-150x95.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Wynn-Palace.jpg 625w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>floor, premium mass sections and VIP rooms \u2013 were well populated following the property\u2019s opening to the public &#8230;\u00a0Some baccarat tables on the main floor had clusters of players standing two or three deep, \u2018back betting\u2019 on what they perceived to be players on a lucky streak that were sitting at the table&#8221; &#8212; even ones with $129 minimums. In opening-night remarks, Wynn himself threw any remaining modesty to the winds, saying,\u00a0\u201cTo be the prettiest hotel in the world, frankly, is something that money and good taste can buy. But to be the best hotel in the world is something else altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Analysts at <strong>Sanford Bernstein<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ggrasia.com\/us4-2-bln-wynn-palace-opens-to-the-public\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">gave the megaresort a rave review<\/a>, predicting an approximately 15% return on investment &#8212; which would be a damn sight\u00a0better than &#8220;fine&#8221; in the current market.\u00a0\u201cSteve Wynn and his team have built a masterpiece of a luxury integrated resort, or as they were called in the 1990s in Las Vegas \u2013 a \u2018Super Casino\u2019,\u201d wrote the Bernstein boffins. In addition to <strong>Hollywood<\/strong> musclemen and Italian crooners, a whole phalanx of Macanese government officials turned out for the opening, signaling that Wynn&#8217;s on-again, off-again honeymoon with Macao was back in one of its &#8220;on&#8221; phases.<\/p>\n<p>* Almost all the metrics are looking good in <strong>Atlantic City<\/strong>, where operating profits for casinos rose 21% in the first half of the year. Bunched at the top in the second quarter were <strong>Borgata<\/strong>, <strong>Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong> and <strong>Tropicana Atlantic City<\/strong>, up 27%, 26% and 25% <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-8199\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/CaesarsBallysAC.jpg\" alt=\"CaesarsBallysAC\" width=\"250\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/CaesarsBallysAC.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/CaesarsBallysAC-150x99.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/>respectively. <strong>Bally&#8217;s<\/strong> has overcome its identity crisis to post an 8% upswing (although the <strong>Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> trio was flat overall) and &#8212; for all of <strong>Carl Icahn<\/strong>&#8216;s poor-mouthing &#8212; <strong>Trump Taj Mahal<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/news\/new_jersey\/20160822_ap_1c3efc0021dd454c973b4ae94d1622fb.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">swung from a 2Q15 loss of $10 million to a $2 million profit<\/a>. Year over year, <strong>Caesars Interactive<\/strong>&#8216;s second-quarter profits shot up from $857,700 to over $5 million. <strong>Resorts Digital<\/strong> halved its $3 million loss of a year ago. Hotel occupancy perhaps could have been better &#8212; 79% &#8212; but at least ADRs were $102, with Borgata leading the way, as you&#8217;d expect.<\/p>\n<p>* In a perplexing move, <strong>Isle of Capri Casinos<\/strong> is pulling out of the <strong>Lake Charles<\/strong> area. The company <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/business\/local\/isle-of-capri-selling-louisiana-casino-for-million\/article_721f8b46-3cb1-5ee4-83d2-3c7d70839367.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will use the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt<\/a>. The new owners will be <strong>Laguna Development Corp<\/strong>. and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/albuquerque\/news\/2016\/08\/22\/laguna-development-agrees-buy-isle-of-capri.html?ana=yahoo&amp;yptr=yahoo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">they&#8217;re putting their$134.5 million in the right place<\/a>: <strong>Louisiana<\/strong>&#8216;s top gambling market. Isle <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/isle-capri-casinos-inc-enters-132400714.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">is getting almost 8X cash flow<\/a> for its casino, roughly industry average, although you&#8217;d think a Lake Charles property would command a bit more.<\/p>\n<p>* Racinos at four <strong>Alabama<\/strong> dog tracks <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cardplayer.com\/poker-news\/20744-alabama-gambling-legislation-passes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">were nixed by the state Senate<\/a> but that august body decisively approved a lottery, moving the issue to the House and thence (if all goes well) to the November ballot, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/birmingham\/index.ssf\/2016\/08\/state_senate_bentleys_lottery.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">the governor&#8217;s signature already assured<\/a>. More of the expected proceeds will be used to prop up the state budget, with modest amounts set aside to fund <strong>Medicaid<\/strong> and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story pretty much writes itself. While MGM Resorts International cowboys up and makes it clear who&#8217;s sponsoring the ad &#8212; not hiding behind some phony-baloney PAC name like &#8220;Citizens for a Stronger Connecticut&#8221; &#8212; but the commercial is a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgm-goes-on-the-attack-wynns-new-masterpiece-isle-out-of-louisiana\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[135,23,60,82,166,7,37,85,84,62,11,167,33,111,32,21,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752"}],"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=18752"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22747,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752\/revisions\/22747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}