{"id":23272,"date":"2019-01-14T10:38:20","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T18:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=23272"},"modified":"2020-10-19T06:55:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T14:55:08","slug":"icahn-power-play-at-caesars-big-plans-for-borgata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/icahn-power-play-at-caesars-big-plans-for-borgata\/","title":{"rendered":"Icahn power play at Caesars?; Big plans for Borgata"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know that Carl Icahn<\/strong> has a sharp eye for undervalued assets. Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> stock fell 46% last year, making it ripe for the plucking. And pick it Icahn did<\/a>, scarfing up enough to spur a 11.5% rally in CZR shares<\/a>. We didn’t expect Icahn to be back in the casino biz so soon but we do expect Caesars to resist any \"\"potential Icahn takeover offers just as it did<\/a> when Tilman Fertitta<\/strong> came a-courting. Icahn is flush at the moment, having made $1.85 billion from selling Tropicana Entertainment<\/strong> to Eldorado Resorts<\/strong>, so he certainly could scoop up a sizable tranche of Caesars stock. Credit Suisse<\/strong> chalked up Caesars’ curb appeal<\/a> to room renovations and convention center improvements. To further complicate the picture, CNBC<\/strong> reports that Fertitta hasn’t given up<\/a> on a Caesars takeover either. As for the mooted Caesars\/MGM merger, that has been quashed<\/a>, apparently upon fears of a Federal Trade Commission<\/strong> veto. With the exception of his brief tenure at Trump Entertainment Resorts<\/strong>, Icahn has had the Midas touch with casinos. Caesars should listen to whatever he proposes. Not necessarily agree, but definitely listen.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Last year was a banner one for Detroit<\/strong>\u00a0casinos, who banked a record $1.45 billion. (Whatever happened to that conventional wisdom that Ohio<\/strong> was going to wipe out \"\"Detroit?) That’s $20 million more than 2011, the previous high-water mark. We’re still waiting to see what happens when Penn National Gaming<\/strong> takes over Greektown<\/strong>, but so far the division of the spoils looks pretty healthy<\/a>. As always, MGM Grand Detroit<\/strong> led with $619 million and 43% market share. MotorCity Casino<\/strong> had $490 million and 34%, while Greektown picked up the remainder: $335 million and 23%. These were new high-water marks for MGM and MotorCity but Greektown has done better in the past. Between the state and the city, the tax haul was $306 million, which gives you some idea of why Gov. Rick Snyder<\/strong> (R) decided to nix Internet<\/strong> gambling, the better to preserve the terrestrial revenue pipeline.<\/p>\n

* Faced with a declining population and waning textile industry, Danville<\/strong>, Virginia<\/strong>, is looking at casino gambling with new interest. The city on the North Carolina<\/strong> border has been jawboning its city council<\/a> to take up the idea. “Seven thousand potential new jobs, over $1 billion in new spending in our city over the next 10 years,” said Councilman James Buckner<\/strong> “to me, that’s a no-brainer.” added colleague Larry Campbell<\/strong>. Still, it’s far from a done deal: Danville citizens would have to approve the casino in a referendum, get the assent of the Legislature, then pass a second amendment. Steps ones and three don’t look so hard but making the case in Richmond<\/strong> will require some heavy lifting.<\/p>\n

* Borgata<\/strong> is investing $11 million in a permanent, improved sports book, complete with bar. Borgata President Marcus Glover<\/strong> promises something “innovative,” without getting into specifics. Perhaps it could team<\/a> with Turner Broadcasting<\/strong> in the latter’s bettor-referral initiative. MGM Resorts International<\/strong> spokesman Brian Ahern<\/strong> says they’re working on something like it\u00a0already, so we wouldn’t be far off the mark. As Turner prexy David Levy<\/strong> says,\u00a0\u201cIn the future \u2014 and this is where I think the opportunity is \u2014 not only can I say to you, \u2018By the way for 99 cents do you want to watch the game, but would you like to bet on it?\u2019 I can give the referral to MGM or to Caesars or to FanDuel<\/strong> and have the opportunity to benefit in some way, shape or form from that consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

* West Virginia<\/strong> may be the next state to get into Internet<\/strong> gambling, although it’s failed in two previous tries. A bill has been introduced<\/a> in the Lege to permit the state’s five terrestrial casinos to open online gambling portals. The activity would fall under the auspices of the West Virginia Lottery Commission<\/strong>, the entry fee would be $50,000 and taxes would be set at a sensible, 14% rate. Let’s hope the third time is the charm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know that Carl Icahn has a sharp eye for undervalued assets. Caesars Entertainment stock fell 46% last year, making it ripe for the plucking. And pick it Icahn did, scarfing up enough to spur a 11.5% rally in … 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":[23,244,82,154,44,227,37,245,25,243,31,8,129,169,215,38,139],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23272"}],"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=23272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28519,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23272\/revisions\/28519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}