{"id":2303,"date":"2010-02-19T12:41:16","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T20:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2021-06-13T09:28:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T17:28:37","slug":"sheldon-adelson-tv-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/sheldon-adelson-tv-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheldon Adelson, TV star"},"content":{"rendered":"

There I was, wrapping up a two-day “staycation” with dinner at Metro Pizza<\/strong> when I looked up and … let’s say I’m lucky I didn’t choke to death from shock at what I saw. There was Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> potentate Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> in the hot seat<\/a> on Face to Face with Jon Ralston<\/em>. What made this a jolt is that Adelson is a longtime inhabitant of Ralston’s “Chicken List,” home to local figures who boycott the show.<\/p>\n

Perhaps since Sue Lowden<\/strong> had renounced her F2F<\/em> boycott, Adelson couldn’t let it get about that Lowden had bigger huevos<\/em> than did he. Or perhaps now that Ralston’s show is carried all over Nevada on network affiliates and has Jim Rogers<\/strong>‘ not-inconsiderable backing, Adelson decided it was time to graciously bow to reality.<\/p>\n

\"Venetian-Macao-Hotel-and-Convention-Center\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Venetian Macao: cash cow<\/em><\/p>\n

The timing gave Adelson a chance<\/strong> to put the best face he could on that morning’s earnings report, about which the consensus appears to be “ho-hum<\/a>,” even though net revenue was a half-million above Street expectations (and a huge improvement on 4Q08<\/a>). Analysts appear to have gone somewhat into shock at the revelation that Sands is out $12.4 million to a Chinese high-roller. Bad debts are unenforceable on the Mainland — you can’t send Bernie Zadrowski<\/strong> into Guangdong Province<\/strong> to serve a warrant. (However, a recent legal precedent set by Wynn Resorts<\/strong> in Hong Kong<\/strong> may give Adelson some hope of recouping defaulted markers in the future.)<\/p>\n

Sands dismissed the the matter — and the $12 million reserve it’s set aside — as an anomaly and non-issue. Then again, this was the company that made zero provision against having to pay out on Richard Suen<\/strong>‘s lawsuit ’cause there was no way<\/em> it could lose, right? (Uh, wrong.)<\/p>\n

Comparing Sands’ results to those of its rivals is always somewhat of an apples-against-oranges exercise because LVS doesn’t back out rent dollars from its cash-flow numbers. Even so, the outlook for Sands Bethlehem<\/strong> is even grimmer than previously thought. It missed (already low) projections and is on pace for 3.5% ROI. The company’s decision to double-up on room inventory in Las Vegas<\/strong> continues to prove, at worst, badly mistaken and, at best, horrendously mistimed, leaving Macao as the lone bright spot. Interestingly, Sands says mass-market play, slots and non-gambling revenues are driving 75% of Venetian Macao’s cash flow, even though one might type-cast it as a high-roller haven.<\/p>\n

\"PackerIf Adelson was smiling<\/strong> — as indeed he was — under Ralston’s grilling, it may have been because one of his principal Macanese rivals is hitting the skids. Melco Crown Entertainment<\/strong> is calling it quits on a planned waterfront casino, dubbed “Trinity.”<\/strong> I doubt Lawrence Ho<\/strong> and James Packer<\/strong> (above<\/em>) are savoring the irony that the title of their abandoned, $675 million-$1.1 billion project was also the code name for one the most significant bombs ever detonated. Overpriced land and a too-small casino appear to have ensured that Trinity wouldn’t pencil out. However, it wouldn’t be the first time Packer and the younger Ho have overpromised and underdelivered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wayne Newton may want<\/strong> to think seriously about extending his contract with the Tropicana<\/strong>. It looks like he’s gonna need the bread<\/a>. I don’t know what Alex Yemenidjian<\/strong> pays him, but The Wayner should probably start practicing the phrase “multi-year deal.” And if the Fokker<\/strong> airplane cited in the lawsuit is the same one currently rusting away in Michigan<\/strong>, Newton’s creditor might as well write off the $2 million today: that Fokker’s going nowhere.<\/p>\n

Torah Bright<\/strong>: Gold medalist, hottie, role model … but highly unlikely Vegas customer, despite living next door in Utah<\/strong>. Damn!<\/em> (Pssst, NBC<\/strong>, please stop wasting our time with those play-it-safe Chinese snowboarders; they’re like heavy-duty Sominex<\/strong>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There I was, wrapping up a two-day “staycation” with dinner at Metro Pizza when I looked up and … let’s say I’m lucky I didn’t choke to death from shock at what I saw. There was Las Vegas Sands potentate … 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":[46,28,14,4,22,96,94,62,93,95,25,12,74,32,9,17,38,138],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303"}],"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=2303"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29697,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions\/29697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}