{"id":27857,"date":"2020-08-28T08:29:43","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T16:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27857"},"modified":"2020-10-16T06:56:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T14:56:35","slug":"bad-news-and-more-bad-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/bad-news-and-more-bad-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news and more bad news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Strip gaming revenue, ‘meh’ though it was, actually looks good<\/em> in the context of Las Vegas<\/strong> visitation in July, which plummeted 61%. There hasn’t been a convention since April, which certainly hurts. Air travel was horrible, down 64%, while drive-in traffic wasn’t quite so bad, off 10% overall (thanks, Utah<\/strong>) but 17% down at the California<\/strong> border. (Not so good for Primm<\/strong>.) Strip room rates were an average of $116\/night, so the news wasn’t all bad for the resort industry but revenue per available room was a paltry $48\/night. Hotel occupancy was 42.5%, down 48.5% on a 17% lower room base. The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority<\/strong> will have to crawl pretty far up the ass of these numbers to find a positive spin. Maybe they can derive it from the news that Downtown Project<\/strong> mogul Tony Hsieh has bought three restaurants<\/a>, a vote of confidence in Sin City. We wish we knew what Hsieh intends to do with his Tamares Group<\/strong> legacy, the ex-Western Hotel<\/strong> but nothing has been heard from Hsiehville on that front for a long, long time. There was some loose talk of making it an e-sports stadium but, thanks to the Downtown Grand<\/strong> and Luxor<\/strong>, that ship may have already sailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s too soon to know what the handle on NBA<\/strong> playoff games is but, in terms of viewer interest, the player walkouts initiated by the Milwaukee Bucks<\/strong> may be a moot point. Viewership for the first week was down 20% overall and 28% lower in the prized 18-49 demographic. Then again, the games are competing for viewership with One Life to Live<\/em>: Sports Illustrated<\/em> reports that the games, in addition to being played out of season are often shoehorned into daytime viewing slots, ones more closely associated with game shows and soaps. Bettors who have money on canceled games are more wont to be irked than people who can’t watch because they’re working nine to five. This not only puts activist players on a semi-vacant platform, it weakens the NBA’s bargaining position going into the next TV contract, which could have been worth more than $2.6 billion<\/a>\u2014but probably won’t be. No wonder some players are saying they should placate The Man and let the games continue. (The Las Vegas Aces<\/strong> did not play yesterday, although it’s unclear whether the postponement<\/a> was initiated by the team or the WNBA<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As prospects for The Drew<\/strong> continue to fade, Vital Vegas<\/em> has obtained a cache of renderings of what it would have looked like had Steven Witkoff<\/strong> seen his dream realized. And what would that be? In two words, butt ugly<\/a>. Witkoff needs $3.1 billion (and a new executive team) to finish his dream project, an incredible hulk that’s been looming unfinished over the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> since before The Great Recession (that’s how antiquated it’s becoming). Would someone please put us all out of our misery and implode the wretched thing? Besides, does Las Vegas really need another 3,780 high-priced hotel rooms? Witkoff apologists insist he’ll have The Drew open by October 2023 and is already taking bookings. And if you believe that will happen, boy do I have a splendid bridge in Brooklyn<\/strong> to sell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Over in Atlantic City<\/strong>, relative newbie Hard Rock International<\/strong> is seeing newer, younger customers. Supposedly casinos were so yesterday for the under-40 set but when you can’t go to a movie or visit your favorite restaurants it’s literally a different game. Even Atlantic City abstainee Penn National Gaming<\/strong> says it is enjoying a greening of its player base, putting some of the credit on its contact-less and cashless gambling options. \u201cThe days of going to ATMs and getting cash to buy in at a blackjack table are over,\u201d said CEO Jay Snowden<\/strong> (pictured<\/em>). With elderly players staying home, Hard Rock Atlantic City<\/strong> President Joe Lupo<\/strong> thinks it will be a slow recovery. “With Covid, there will be a much longer time period before volumes get back to where they were. I think you’re going to see declines in casino revenue probably until next spring. We\u2019re hoping, obviously, to get a reprieve from that indoor-dining ban. It\u2019s not just about us. It\u2019s about the entire New Jersey<\/strong> restaurant industry.\u201d Yes, when you have 12 restaurants in one casino, Gov. Phil Murphy<\/strong>‘s crackdown is going to hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is the Trump administration complicit with Oklahoma<\/strong> Gov. Kevin Stitt<\/strong> (R) in trying to drive a wedge between the Five Civilized Tribes<\/strong> and their smaller brethren? The generally anti-gaming Interior Department<\/strong> allowed two new Stitt compacts to be gazetted, validating them through doing nothing. The compacts with Kialegee Tribal Town<\/strong> and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians<\/strong> are unlikely to fare any better with the Oklahoma Supreme Court<\/strong> than previous Stitt-negotiated ones did but the guv is like a dog with a bone where this issue is concerned. Prophesied Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association<\/strong> Chairman Matthew Morgan<\/strong>, \u201cThe inaction is disappointing and will lead to more costly, time-consuming and needless litigation.\u201d You can bet on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There Goes the Neighborhood Dept<\/strong>.: A large-scale Olive Garden<\/strong> (ruining Italian food since time immemorial) is planned opposite<\/a> Park MGM<\/strong>. Well, Park MGM’s cool factor was nice while it lasted but nothing says “lowest common denominator” like an Olive Garden. The offending restaurant will sit where Smith & Wollensky’s<\/strong> once stood. Sniff!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strip gaming revenue, ‘meh’ though it was, actually looks good in the context of Las Vegas visitation in July, which plummeted 61%. There hasn’t been a convention since April, which certainly hurts. Air travel was horrible, down 64%, while drive-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":[23,18,51,220,14,290,165,245,115,69,33,243,225,8,9,20,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27857"}],"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=27857"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28214,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27857\/revisions\/28214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Phil Ruffin<\/strong>, take note: Jamul Indian Village of California<\/strong>‘s casino’s fight with its insurer is a preview of what you’ll be up against. The insurance company for Jamul says the casino (seen above, during its brief Penn National era) must have suffered physical damage or property destruction for it to qualify for coverage under the “Interruption by Civil Authority” clause. Carrier Lexington Insurance Company<\/strong> is also alleged to be relying on a “pollution exclusion” to disqualify contagions as a cause for payout<\/a>. For once, we understand where the insurance companies are coming from. Were they to have to shell out for every business that suffered losses due to the Great Shutdown, they’d<\/em> be the next industry up on Capitol Hill<\/strong>, supplicating for a bailout. Responds Jamul Chairwoman Erica Pinto<\/strong>, “We have an ‘all risk’ policy, which was intended to cover any and all risks. We believe that includes losses related to the pandemic. There are no virus or other remotely related exclusions in our policy. In fact, Lexington added language when our policy renewed this July for ‘communicable diseases,’ so, clearly, they know they are wrong but still don’t want to compensate us for our losses.” Good point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n