{"id":27957,"date":"2020-09-14T08:46:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T16:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27957"},"modified":"2020-09-17T07:11:32","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T15:11:32","slug":"park-mgm-reopens-early-power-play-at-scientific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/park-mgm-reopens-early-power-play-at-scientific\/","title":{"rendered":"Park MGM reopens early; Power play at Scientific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Park-MGM-Exterior-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MGM Resorts International<\/strong> had mooted as late as an end-of-the-year target for resuming business at <strong>Park MGM<\/strong>. However, the date has been advanced to Sept. 30 and, yes, Park MGM will be smoke-free. In a subplot, <strong>Four Seasons<\/strong> reopens five days earlier. MGM is neither making heavy weather of the smokeless-casino novelty nor playing coy about it. Says <strong>Anton Nikodemus<\/strong>, prexy of the company&#8217;s <strong>Las Vegas<\/strong> casinos, \u201cAs we looked toward our reopening, we identified an opportunity to be responsive to recurring guest demand for a fully non-smoking casino resort on The Strip.&#8221; We don&#8217;t know how heavy the demand was but reckon it must have been substantial for MGM to respond in this fashion. It also gives Park MGM a truly unique market niche, an appealing one for many of us. The proof won&#8217;t be in the pudding for a few quarters but we&#8217;re keeping our fingers crossed and wishing Park MGM the best in its new incarnation. No word on the <strong>Park Theater<\/strong> yet but casino executives are probably having the existential discussion of whether to bring back entertainment as a loss-leader or not at all &#8230; until <strong>Covid-19<\/strong> is vanquished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\n\n\n<p>The news broke so late it didn&#8217;t make the &#8220;MGM Minute&#8221; &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/74Ag6hg0tik\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re seeking a <strong>Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> bargain, better hurry, albeit in time for a Park MGM reintroduction. A <strong>JP Morgan<\/strong> survey of Strip hotel rooms shows rates shallowing for the period of October 4-10. They&#8217;re down 34% (making for an average $110\/night room rate) but improving for weekdays to -31%. Weekends are close behind at -34%. Even with a larger compliment on rooms on line during weekends, <strong>Venelazzo<\/strong> is only 6% off last year&#8217;s pace, compared to -27% weekdays, when <strong>Palazzo<\/strong> is dark. <strong>Wynncore<\/strong> fares best (-18%) midweek and not at all badly (-25%) on weekends. MGM is 26% off the midweek pace but takes a -42% lump on weekends while the Roman Empire brings up the rear, averaging -34.5% across the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In a sort of palace coup, a consortium of institutional investors headed by <strong>Caledonia<\/strong> has announced the acquisition of 35% of <strong>Scientific Games<\/strong> at $28\/share from <strong>MacAndrews &amp; Forbes<\/strong>. This marks the end of the <strong>Ronald Perelman<\/strong> era at SGMS, as he gets the boot, along with two other directors. The new executive chairman is <strong>Jamie Odell<\/strong>, late of <strong>Aristocrat Technologies<\/strong>, joined by sidekick <strong>Toni Korsanos<\/strong>, former Aristocrat CFO. The stated goal of the takeover was to make Scientific more attractive to other institutional investors. While we wait to see how that is made manifest, company President <strong>Barry Cottle<\/strong> assures the market that \u00a0&#8220;Scientific Games is well-positioned for future success given our industry leading portfolio of products and technologies, loyal customer base and talented leadership team. We are pleased to have the support of our refreshed Board and new investor base as we continue to execute on our strategy to drive meaningful long-term growth and shareholder value creation.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1862\" height=\"916\" class=\"wp-image-10418\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/scientific-games-corp-logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/scientific-games-corp-logo.jpg 1862w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/scientific-games-corp-logo-150x73.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/scientific-games-corp-logo-300x147.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/scientific-games-corp-logo-1024x503.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1862px) 100vw, 1862px\" \/> Odell made no bones about Job One. &#8220;We will be highly focused on rapidly de-leveraging the balance sheet and creating a flexible, agile company that is poised to capitalize on evolving industry and macroeconomic trends to deliver outsized returns to investors.&#8221; Sounds like a radical diet may be on the horizon. The official announcement gave some further hints as to what goals might lie ahead, by pointing to Odell and Korsanos&#8217; exponential increase of market capitalization at Aristocrat. It also implicitly dinged the outgoing board members, saying the new directorship would bring &#8220;a deep and diverse mix of gaming industry, financial, strategic and operational experience.&#8221; Nothing wrong with that. Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>Disney<\/strong> is tipping even deeper into gambling. Its <strong>ESPN<\/strong> mega-subsidiary has inked a deal with <strong>William Hill<\/strong> and <strong>Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> for Hill to provide sports-betting services to the TV network. &#8220;Link integrations to William Hill&#8217;s sports betting apps, geo-targeted to legalized sports betting states, will appear on <strong>ESPN.com<\/strong> web and mobile web and the ESPN Fantasy app. As part of the new agreement, Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill will also become a sponsor of ESPN&#8217;s Fantasy products, deepening an existing relationship as ESPN&#8217;s exclusive odds provider,&#8221; explains the official announcement, which just dropped. ESPN already has a studio at <strong>The Linq<\/strong>. Executives from the three companies were chary with further specifics, opting for PR blather but expect the new Caesars logo to become a familiar sight on ESPN streams, perhaps as early as next week&#8217;s <strong>Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong> home opener, carried on <em>Monday Night Football<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jottings<\/strong>: Nothing comes easily for the nascent <strong>Virgin Hotel<\/strong> chain. A <strong>Palm Springs<\/strong> project has been postponed, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.desertsun.com\/story\/money\/business\/2020\/09\/10\/palm-springs-virgin-hotel-postponed-due-covid-19-could-replaced-condos-city-says\/5753354002\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">at minimum<\/a>, thanks to Coronavirus-related delays. Now there&#8217;s talk of a 62-unit condo project in its stead &#8230; <strong>PointsBet<\/strong> will be the mobile sports-betting provider for <strong>Hawthorne Race Course<\/strong> in <strong>Illinois<\/strong>. It will also operate OTBs in <strong>Prospect Heights<\/strong>, <strong>Oakbrook Terrace<\/strong> and <strong>Crestwood<\/strong> in Chicagoland. PointsBet is also the official partner of <strong>NBC Sports<\/strong>, giving it access to the Latino community through <strong>Telemundo<\/strong> and <strong>Telemundo Deportes<\/strong> &#8230; For those of you following the election, the Covid-19 pandemic <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/cookpolitical.com\/analysis\/national\/national-politics\/electoral-college-rating-changes-florida-and-nevada-shift-right\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">seems to have paralyzed<\/a>\u2014if not neutered\u2014the <strong>Culinary Union<\/strong>&#8216;s political machine in <strong>Nevada<\/strong>. Just ask <strong>Jon Ralston<\/strong> &#8230; Wynncore <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/news3lv.com\/news\/local\/wynn-las-vegas-to-file-lawsuit-over-fight-that-broke-out-in-encore?fbclid=IwAR2hc-gyS2AdLEmmXEtuw9OyzUNsSHSLaykhjcFy3JbrPSu0wdVJ_NxVStg\" target=\"_blank\">is filing suit<\/a> over a weekend brawl that broke when somebody &#8216;made it rain&#8217; in the lobby. As you might expect, &#8220;chaos ensues.&#8221; <strong>Wynn Resorts<\/strong>&#8216; imposed a guests-only admission policy and jacked up room rates to pre-Covid levels. Labor Day weekend saw dozens of violence-related arrests and citations, and <a href=\"https:\/\/news3lv.com\/news\/local\/lvmpd-violent-labor-day-weekend-ends-with-dozens-of-arrests-on-las-vegas-strip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the video footage<\/a> is not to be believed. As in <strong>Boston<\/strong>, Wynn seems to have a magic talent for bringing in the riffraff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MGM Resorts International had mooted as late as an end-of-the-year target for resuming business at Park MGM. However, the date has been advanced to Sept. 30 and, yes, Park MGM will be smoke-free. In a subplot, Four Seasons reopens five &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/park-mgm-reopens-early-power-play-at-scientific\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106,244,241,53,245,160,9,17,38,252,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27957"}],"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=27957"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27974,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27957\/revisions\/27974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}