{"id":24110,"date":"2019-05-09T07:11:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T15:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=24110"},"modified":"2021-08-13T06:24:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T14:24:27","slug":"stability-in-the-heartland-the-lure-of-nashvegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/stability-in-the-heartland-the-lure-of-nashvegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Stability in the heartland; The lure of “NashVegas”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month’s gaming revenues from Ohio<\/strong> and Illinois<\/strong> were flat year\/year. Some would look at that as a bad thing but it shows the states aren’t losing significant play to neighboring states. Ohio casinos \"\"grossed $160 million, with MGM Northfield<\/strong> still tops in the state ($20 million) despite an 11.5% falloff\u2014a consumer vote of no-confidence in new management? Hollywood Columbus<\/strong> came up just shy of $20 million, riding a 2% gain, while Hollywood Toledo<\/strong> slid 6% to $17 million. That was also the gross at the two Jack Entertainment<\/strong> casinos, with Cleveland<\/strong> up 2% and Cincinnati<\/strong> down 4.5%. Jack Thistledown<\/strong> vaulted 12% to $12 million. Scioto Downs<\/strong> fell 8.5% to $14 million, while Belterra Park<\/strong> crept 1.5% ahead to $7.5 million. Churchill Downs<\/strong>‘ investment in Miami Valley Gaming<\/strong> continues to pay off, up 12.5% to $15 million. Hollywood Casino Dayton<\/strong> galloped 6% ahead to $10 million and Hollywood Casino Mahoning Valley<\/strong> gained 3% to $11 million.<\/p>\n

Over in the Land of Lincoln, casinos grossed $115 million. Penn National Gaming<\/strong> took a double-whammy, falling 8% at Hollywood Aurora<\/strong> ($9.5 million) and 9% at Empress Joliet<\/strong> ($9 million). Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> slipped 1% but still grossed $15 million, while Rivers Casino<\/strong> was up 10% to $38 million, a real category-killer. Slot routes continue to bedevil Par-A-Dice<\/strong>, plunging 7% to $6 million, while Eldorado Resorts<\/strong> hasn’t worked its magic yet at Grand Victoria<\/strong>, off 2% to $13 million. Jumer’s Casino Rock Island<\/strong> shed 2.5% to reach $6 million and Harrah’s Metropolis<\/strong> (also $6 million) plummeted 10% and Casino Queen<\/strong> slipped 2% to $8 million. For the moment, Rivers Casino appears to be carrying its brethren, despite a few stable spots here and there.<\/p>\n

* Having legalized mobile and online sports betting, Tennessee<\/strong>\u2014and Nashville<\/strong> in particular\u2014could be a powerful new draw for gamblers, and all without having to dip a toe into casinos. “Considering its tourism industry and \"\"that it is home to the University of Tennessee<\/strong> and Vanderbilt<\/strong>, Nashville could become the unofficial legal sports betting destination of America\u2019s most fervent conference fanbase,” reports Gambling.com<\/em>. And don’t forget Chattanooga<\/strong>, well-positioned to siphon off bettors from the Atlanta<\/strong> area. Buffalo Wild Wings<\/strong> is already touting itself as the de facto<\/em> home of sports betting in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee<\/strong> (R) said he\u00a0“does not believe that the expansion of gambling is best, but he recognizes that many in the legislature found this to be an issue they want to explore further\u201d and so it shall be. It will also be another nail in Tunica<\/strong>‘s coffin. Incidentally, Gaming & Leisure Properties<\/strong> says it still will collect rent on Penn National Gaming<\/strong>‘s closed Tunica casino. It’d be a neat trick GLPI\u00a0that can pull that off.<\/p>\n

* Stricter anti-money-laundering laws are scaring VIP play away<\/a> from Vancouver<\/strong> casinos. Money wagered on table games at Great Canadian Gaming Corp<\/strong>. properties was 12% lower in 1Q19. Paragon Gaming<\/strong>‘s Parq Vancouver<\/strong> missed an interest payment. And gamblers will have to give up their beloved habit of checking in with hockey bags and suitcases stuffed with cash.<\/p>\n

* With Las Vegas<\/strong> and Macao<\/strong> maxed out, casino companies may look to try and grow revenue by dint of acquisitions in the Far East. At least that’s the opinion<\/a> of some on Wall Street<\/strong>, including Shaw & Partners<\/strong> senior advisor Adam Dawes<\/strong>, who says “some \"\"of the big U.S. players will probably try growth by acquisition … Macao was the growth engine \u2014 that has slowed down. You’ve got Vegas, which is the old world, but that’s not all so fiery” and new markets are hard to find. As for the attempted Wynn Resorts<\/strong>\/Crown Resorts<\/strong> merger, “I think that might accelerate some of the companies starting to look at different areas, but I don’t have a timeline on it.” Harry Curtis<\/strong> of Nomura Group<\/strong> disagrees slightly, writing that “there is appetite for individual assets, both on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> and in regional markets.” He thinks there may be a number of possible tuck-in acquisitions in the U.S. but few will be accretive to their buyer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month’s gaming revenues from Ohio and Illinois were flat year\/year. Some would look at that as a bad thing but it shows the states aren’t losing significant play to neighboring states. Ohio casinos grossed $160 million, with MGM Northfield … 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":[103,60,244,266,176,219,154,18,199,152,190,58,189,62,245,35,71,69,95,242,74,243,9,19,38,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24110"}],"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=24110"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29955,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24110\/revisions\/29955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}