{"id":28181,"date":"2020-10-16T08:26:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T16:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=28181"},"modified":"2020-10-22T08:26:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T16:26:34","slug":"sports-internet-buoy-atlantic-city-detroit-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/sports-internet-buoy-atlantic-city-detroit-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports, Internet buoy Atlantic City; Detroit struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Leaning tower of baccarat.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As we predicted, Atlantic City<\/strong> is coming back faster than Las Vegas<\/strong>. It doesn’t hurt that it is not A) primarily a destination market; B) dependent upon conventions; C) reliant upon international travel; or D) at the mercy of the airlines. All that being said, a 15% decline in September for a gross of $190.5 million isn’t that bad. Sports betting netted $45 million and Internet gaming another $87.5 million. Wrote JP Morgan<\/strong> analyst Joseph Greff<\/strong>, “Casino revenues were pressured by capacity limits and restrictions on F&B offerings.” Table revenues collapsed, it is true, -25.5% while slots were down 9.5%. Borgata<\/strong> was hit hard, falling 31% as table win cratered -49% and slots tumbled -19%. The megaresort is tracking well behind Greff’s projections for last quarter. The Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> quartet slipped 17%, with 16% less slot win and a 20% plunge at the tables. In contrast to Borgata, the CZR foursome is tracking considerably ahead of JP Morgan’s forecast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only revenue-positive property was Ocean Casino Resort<\/strong>, rising 27% to $26 million. (And to think that its predecessor, Revel<\/strong>, was such a butt of mockery.) Borgata held onto first place with almost $40 million, Hard Rock Atlantic City<\/strong> ceded little ground (-3.5%), holding onto $28.5 million and second place. Other than Ocean, the steadiest performer was Caesars Atlantic City<\/strong>, down only 2% to $19 million. Harrah’s Resort<\/strong> won $19.5 million but slid 26.5% while Tropicana<\/strong> grossed $20 million on a 22.5% decline. Bally’s<\/strong>, which faces an uncertain future (see below<\/em>), won $13 million, down 12.5%. Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong> edged ahead of Bally’s with $14 million and a 7% dip while Golden Nugget<\/strong> slid into last place with a 29.5% declivity and $11.5 million gross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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The Nugget, with its multiplicity of skins, was the market share leader in Internet gambling, however, with 30% ($26 million). Resorts Digital<\/strong> and Borgata ($20 million) were almost as dominant, each garnering 23%. Sports betting generated $748.5 million in handle, what with an unprecedented four major leagues in play at once. The previous betting record of $668 million was crushed, thanks to the NFL<\/strong>. \u201cThe growth seen over the last two months will likely level off once the sports schedule returns to normal. But it\u2019s clear New Jersey<\/strong>\u2019s sports betting industry is setting a new floor,\u201d said analyst Dustin Gouker<\/strong>. Online wagering represented $679 million (91%) of the action. FanDuel<\/strong>\/PointsBet<\/strong> was foremost with $25 million, five times as much as the next-closest competitor, Resorts Digital\/DraftKings<\/strong>\/Fox Bet<\/strong>. Retail sports books divvied up $70 million, led by FanDuel’s Meadowlands<\/strong> book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something fishy is going on at Bally’s Atlantic City. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission<\/strong> scrubbed its Oct. 18 meeting because there were no “actionable” items on the agenda. That means they won’t be holding the scheduled vote<\/a> on the sale of Bally’s to Twin River Holdings<\/strong>. Executives for the latter claim they’re moving ahead with the deal, which will entail paying Caesars $25 million, building a new sports book and “refurbished rooms and additional suites, new restaurant brands, more gaming options, renovated meeting and convention space, and an ‘enhanced’ spa and pool area.” However, we suspect that Caesars\u2014having been taken to the cleaners by Twin River\u2014is trying to run out the clock so that it can retain four casinos in Atlantic City and have an oligopoly on the marketplace. We’ll presumably know for sure when the NJCCC reconvenes on Nov. 18. In other news, Borgata reopens its poker room next week. Deal up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Detroit<\/strong>, casinos remained restricted to a draconian 15% occupancy quota. They managed to gross $88 million, still a 22% shortfall (we’re surprised it wasn’t worse). Greektown<\/strong> fell 27% to $19.5 million, MotorCity<\/strong> was off 17% to $32 million, while MGM Grand Detroit<\/strong> slid 22% but retained top-dog status with $36 million. Get well soon, guys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we predicted, Atlantic City is coming back faster than Las Vegas. It doesn’t hurt that it is not A) primarily a destination market; B) dependent upon conventions; C) reliant upon international travel; or D) at the mercy of the … 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":[23,244,44,277,278,287,165,37,245,167,248,257,69,25,157,243,269,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28181"}],"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=28181"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28427,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28181\/revisions\/28427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}