{"id":27682,"date":"2020-08-04T08:52:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T16:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27682"},"modified":"2020-10-16T06:56:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T14:56:32","slug":"cuomo-stiff-arms-casinos-mgms-blame-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/cuomo-stiff-arms-casinos-mgms-blame-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuomo stiff-arms casinos; MGM’s blame game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tioga Downs<\/strong> owner Jeff Gural<\/strong> was able to get some face time with Global Gaming Business<\/em> … which is more than he’s been able to do with New York State<\/strong> Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/strong> (D), much to Gural’s chagrin. He’s chafing at the uneven playing field whereby the Empire State’s tribal casinos are back to business as usual but his and other private-sector ones remain closed. \u201cWe\u2019ve been unable to convince the governor that it\u2019s actually safe. We don\u2019t disagree with the governor\u2019s concern about not having a spike in opening things up, but as you know, we have not seen that elsewhere\u2014including in New York City<\/strong>,\u201d Gural told GGB<\/em>. “[Cuomo] has full control over what we\u2019re doing, and no control over the Indian casinos. I\u2019m fully convinced we\u2019re safer, but haven\u2019t been able to convince the governor, who has gotten the numbers down. It\u2019s problematical.\u201d Promising strict safety protocols, should he be allowed to reopen, Gural added, “It seems hard to say it makes any sense when Vernon Downs<\/strong> is closed and [tribal] Turning Stone<\/strong>, which is five miles away, is open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Gural’s 12,00 employees were getting by on $600\/week unemployment stipends from the federal government but that’s gone now and many could get pink-slipped. Would he close permanently? “At some point we run out of money. It would really be a last resort to close permanently,” said Gural, adding that “catastrophic” economic damage to New York might spur Cuomo to action. \u201cThe truth of the matter is that Turning Stone has been open for six weeks and we have not seen any spike in that area, and we know our customers are going there. I think if we could get a face-to-face with the governor we could convince him, but we haven\u2019t been able to do that.\u201d And if Gural gets his wish, he’ll put in a plug for mobile sports wagering as an economic Band-Aid. But that will be an even heavier lift, since Cuomo maintains that it requires a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"For his part, Cuomo is unmoved. He told reporters that del Lago Resort & Casino<\/strong> in Seneca County<\/strong>, Resorts World Catskills<\/strong>, Rivers Casino<\/strong> in Schenectady<\/strong> and Tioga Downs must all remain dark. Why? They’re nonessential businesses<\/a>, says the guv. (Pretty essential if that’s where you draw your paycheck.) \u201cIt\u2019s an issue of density, the likelihood of compliance and the essential nature of the business,\u201d quoth Cuomo. \u201cWe\u2019re ready to reopen when the data and science says that we can and we\u2019ll continue to work with state officials,\u201d del Lago General Manager Lance Young<\/strong> rejoined, saying his casino is in full compliance with state and federal health protocols. Said Cuomo, stonily, \u201cYou don\u2019t need a casino to maintain survival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MGM Resorts International<\/strong> CEO Bill Hornbuckle<\/strong> has a new strategy to explain away negligible revenues: Blame the media<\/a>. “Covid-related\u00a0headlines continue to have a meaningful impact on booking trends and cancellations,” he grumbled. Meanwhile, hide the sharp objects from Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> President Rob Goldstein<\/strong>. “We’re in a world of hurt here in terms of Las Vegas<\/strong>,” he lamented, “I’ve never felt more gloomy than I do today about what’s happening in Las Vegas.” He foresees no recovery before next year. Meanwhile, job cuts are coming to Wynncore<\/strong>, previously impervious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In an exciting development for players and industry alike, Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong> might have a deep-pocketed new owner: Churchill Downs<\/strong>. CHDN CEO Bill Carstanjen<\/strong> is keeping his own counsel on the matter but it would solidify his hold on the Louisville<\/strong> market, giving CHDN fortresses in both Indiana<\/strong> and Kentucky<\/strong>. “Churchill can protect its backyard, add to its Indiana customer base, and obtain a missing link between its Chicagoland<\/strong> properties and Louisville,” wrote Ed Feigenbaum<\/strong> in Indiana Gaming Insight<\/em>, noting that it is already licensed<\/a> as a sports-betting partner upriver at Rising Star<\/strong>. For its part, Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> has committed to have a sales agreement in place by the end of the year. (Ditto two other CZR-owned casinos or racinos.) Caesars S.I. has been a hit with customers ever since it opened its new, land-based casino, a phenomenon that has surely not passed notice by would-be buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson<\/strong> has been spouting a lot of triumphalist rhetoric about Britannia conquering Coronavirus<\/strong>. Health statistics rather loudly say otherwise<\/a>, forcing Johnson to backpedal. Among the economic casualties are U.K. casinos, whose reopening got pushed back by two weeks. According to Bloomberg<\/em>, “Johnson also extended rules on face coverings, making them compulsory in more indoor settings, including museums and cinemas, and said police will enforce compliance from Aug. 8.” At least, unlike some politicians in the former Colonies, Johnson is not blind to scientific evidence, which shows prevalence rates escalating to one in 1,500 last month, up from 1 in 2,000. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to ignore this evidence,\u201d the PM said. \u201cUnless people follow the rules and behave safely, we may need to go further.\u201d Added Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty<\/strong>, \u201cThe idea that we can open up everything and keep the virus under control is clearly wrong. We are at the outer edge of what we can do.\u201d We expect more British casinos to expire before this is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember “integrity fees” on sports betting? Just when you thought they were dead, here comes the Massachusetts House of Representatives<\/strong>, reviving this insidious concept<\/a>. Some blame the New England Patriots<\/strong> for being behind this chicanery but the Pats insist they’re innocent. (That’d be a first.) The Democratic-controlled Lege would rip off sports books to the tune of 1% of gross revenue and giving to the team being bet upon (within the Bay State, that is). Writes NBC<\/strong>‘s Mike Florio<\/strong>, “As it stands, sports leagues and teams will make billions from increased interest generally and from business arrangements that specifically create partnership and endorsement opportunities with those who want to leverage an official link to the leagues and teams as a way to lure customers. There\u2019s simply no reason to get one or more points off the top.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Illinois<\/strong> Gov. J.B. Pritzker<\/strong> (D) has intervened in that state’s sports-betting rules to require that punters sign up in person before having a flutter on any games. Newly baptized<\/a> Hawthorne Race Course<\/strong>, which has an equity partnership<\/a> with PointsBet<\/strong>, is seen as the primary beneficiary. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tioga Downs owner Jeff Gural was able to get some face time with Global Gaming Business … which is more than he’s been able to do with New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), much to Gural’s chagrin. He’s chafing … 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":[244,176,14,198,120,283,58,68,22,116,241,112,245,101,33,242,243,9,20,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27682"}],"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=27682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28209,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27682\/revisions\/28209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}