{"id":25668,"date":"2019-12-20T09:53:56","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T17:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=25668"},"modified":"2020-10-16T07:08:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T15:08:48","slug":"louisiana-stagnant-michigan-a-sports-betting-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/louisiana-stagnant-michigan-a-sports-betting-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana stagnant, Michigan a sports-betting go"},"content":{"rendered":"

An extra weekend day didn’t do bupkis<\/em> for Louisiana<\/strong>, where November gaming revenues ($205 million) were flat with last year’s. The good news \"\"is that Baton Rouge<\/strong>, so troubled a market, was incrementally higher than in 2018. Eldorado Resorts<\/strong>‘ Belle of Baton Rouge<\/strong> continues to suck wind, down 25% to $2 million but L’Auberge Baton Rouge<\/strong> gained 6% to $12.5 million and Casino Rouge<\/strong> was up 3% to $4 million. (In other news, Casino Rouge owner Gaming & Leisure Properties<\/strong> is reportedly being pressured to merge with Vici Properties<\/strong>.) In Lake Charles<\/strong>, only Delta Downs<\/strong> was revenue-positive, up 5.5% to $15 million. L’Auberge du Lac<\/strong> slipped 5% to just under $26 million, while Golden Nugget<\/strong> was down 1.5% to $26 million. Isle Grand Palais<\/strong> ceded 11% to $7 million.<\/p>\n

In New Orleans<\/strong>, gaining 2.5% Harrah’s New Orleans<\/strong> led the market with $26 million. Boomtown New Orleans<\/strong> was a distant second with $9 million (flat), followed by Treasure Chest<\/strong> ($8.5 million, -3%), Fair \"\"Ground<\/strong>s racino ($4 million, +15%) and Amelia Belle<\/strong> ($3 million, -7%). As for the crowded Shreveport<\/strong>\/Bossier City<\/strong> area, Horseshoe Bossier City<\/strong> regained dominance, posting a $16 million gross and 4% uptick. Most-improved performance went to Diamond Jack’s<\/strong>, leaping 18% to $3 million, and to Sam’s Town<\/strong>, jumping 11% to $6 million. Eldorado<\/strong> fell 9.5% to $9 million, Boomtown Bossier<\/strong> slipped 3.5% to $4 million and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs<\/strong> gained 4% to $3.5 million. That leaves Margaritaville<\/strong>, bouncing 7% but, at $13 million, well behind Horseshoe.<\/p>\n

* Sports betting is officially legal in Michigan<\/strong>, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer<\/strong> (D) having appended her signature to HB 4916<\/strong>, bringing sports wagering and Internet gambling into law. The market looks to be highly competitive, not least because the tax rate is the lowest of any state \"\"not named Nevada<\/strong>. Tribes will pay 8.4% on sports revenue, Detroit<\/strong> casinos\u2014thanks to a city surtax\u20149.65%. That compares to a punitive 26% in Pennsylvania<\/strong>, 9.75% in New Jersey<\/strong>\u00a0(13.5% on online sports wagers) and 9.5% in Indiana<\/strong>. \u201cSome in Michigan obviously wanted a higher tax rate, but the current rate should draw significant interest from sportsbook operators,\u201d said online-gaming analyst Dustin Gouker<\/strong>. \u201cThat will help the market mature more quickly than markets such as Pennsylvania, where the ramp-up has been much slower despite having the largest population among all states with legal sports betting.\u201d<\/p>\n

* Macao<\/strong> welcomes China<\/strong> President Xi Jinping<\/strong>\u2014or does it? President Xi (pictured<\/em>) is a real Debbie Downer where casino revenues are concerned. The occasion caused journalists from Hong Kong<\/strong> to be barred from the gaming enclave and for the city to be put on lockdown<\/a>. Can’t have people \"\"engaging in free speech, you know. As the Boston Globe<\/em> reports, “Macau\u2019s small size, ineffectual rule by Lisbon<\/strong>, and the overriding influence of the tycoons who control gambling and related businesses [historically] kept democratic expectations low.” As a result, the Macanese have been more willing to go with the flow than their Hong Kong brethren. The likeliest cause of popular unrest would be a demand for better wages and working conditions, about which City Hall has been relatively obliging. No doubt President Xi will mount one of his favorite soapboxes: economic diversification<\/a>. But with customers overlooking casino amenities in favor of more and better gambling, Xi is speaking to an audience of the deaf.<\/p>\n

* If you think that sexism in the casino industry is bad, try Wall Street<\/strong> on for size. Bloomberg<\/em> reports that execs like sexist pig Ken Fisher<\/strong>\u00a0aren’t the aberration<\/a>: The difference is that Fisher got caught. The tools of \"\"maintaining the status quo are described as “forced arbitration, captive human resources departments, high-priced lawyers, and a culture of fear.” The Street itself is described as “a fraternity with nicer houses.” Perhaps few remember when gaming analyst Joe Coccimiglio<\/strong> came out of the closet\u2014and was quickly hounded into obscurity. As for #MeToo<\/strong>, Wall Street can fight it with high-priced lawyers and by keeping women out of the business. One attorney “says most of her Wall Street clients feel they can\u2019t even go to HR.” Perennial bad boy Cantor Fitzgerald<\/strong> is currently embroiled in a court fight with bond saleswoman Lee Stowell<\/strong>, who says she was sacked for complaining about “locker-room behavior.” As for Wall Street’s self-regulation, “One arbiter fell asleep, another left for the bathroom at a key moment, and lawyers bickered over a granola bar.”<\/p>\n

There are glimmers of hope but we’re still in a culture where the top 27 executives at Colony Capital<\/strong> are male. While the Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong> case was expected to shine a light on Wall Street sexism, Epstein’s convenient suicide means that we’re in for business as usual for a while to come.<\/p>\n

* Now that Cats<\/em> has coughed up an epic hairball<\/a>, we can scratch it from our Oscar<\/strong> tout sheets and turn to the consideration of movies that actually have their head screwed on straight. My heart is with Quentin Tarantino<\/strong>‘s Sixties valentine, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood<\/em>, but my head tells me that Noah Baumbach<\/strong>‘s Marriage Story<\/em> is the film to beat, although it is distributed\u00a0by Academy bete noir<\/em>e Netflix<\/strong>. Then again, the reclusive Terrence Malick<\/strong> is back with Holocaust drama<\/a> A Hidden Life<\/em> and Malick is long overdue for some Oscar love, not having come close since 1978’s Days of Heaven<\/em>. Don’t sell short.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An extra weekend day didn’t do bupkis for Louisiana, where November gaming revenues ($205 million) were flat with last year’s. The good news is that Baton Rouge, so troubled a market, was incrementally higher than in 2018. Eldorado Resorts‘ Belle … 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":[60,244,275,176,44,14,199,190,68,37,84,62,259,10,248,69,95,232,243,31,129,20,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25668"}],"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=25668"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28266,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25668\/revisions\/28266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}