{"id":29089,"date":"2021-01-13T09:54:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T17:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=29089"},"modified":"2021-01-20T10:55:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T18:55:59","slug":"covid-cramps-casino-revenues-trop-lv-in-play-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/covid-cramps-casino-revenues-trop-lv-in-play-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid cramps casino revenues; Trop LV in play … again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Now that the smartest man in the room has left the building permanently, we continue to wait for Wall Street<\/strong>‘s reaction to Sheldon Adelson<\/strong>‘s demise<\/a>. Hearing none, we move on to varying degrees of decline in regional gaming, once thought impervious to the Covid-19<\/strong> pandemic. It wasn’t so bad in Missouri<\/strong>, where revenues slipped 8.5%. Boyd Gaming<\/strong> properties held serve, flat year\/year but Penn National Gaming<\/strong> took a 24% tumble, while Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> edged 3.5% down. The statewide gross was $134 million, with slots ($116 million) down 7.5% and table games ($18 million) off 13%. Statewide champ was Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong>, up 8.5% to $24 million. Neighboring Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> plunged 25% to $15 million. Caesars did well at Lumiere Place<\/strong>, up 8% to $14 million. River City<\/strong> (Penn) crashed 29% to $14 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over in Kansas City<\/strong>, only Bally Corp<\/strong>. was revenue-positive at Isle of Capri Kansas City<\/strong>, leaping 18% to $6.5 million. Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> fell 10% to $14 million and Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong> was off 11.5% to $13 million. Penn was slightly more fortunate than in St. Louis<\/strong>, taking in $12.5 million at Argosy Riverside<\/strong> a -14.5% drop. Caesars slipped 8% at Isle of Capri Boonsville<\/strong>, to $6 million, and Century Casinos<\/strong> was 2% down in Caruthersville<\/strong> ($3.5 million) but 14.5% up in Cape Girardeau<\/strong> ($6 million). Independent St. Jo Frontier<\/strong> had an unfortunate month, falling 20.5% to $3 million but Mark Twain Casino<\/strong> jumped 19% to $3 million. Such are the vagaries of small-market gaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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What to say about Indiana<\/strong>? Let’s start with the good news. Sports books generated $313 million in handle and kept $24 million. 84% of the handle\u2014$263 million\u2014was online. DraftKings<\/strong>\/Ameristar East Chicago<\/strong> was in front with $113 million, followed by FanDuel<\/strong>\/Blue Chip<\/strong>‘s $78 million, BetMGM<\/strong>\/Belterra Resort<\/strong>‘s $41 million, then at a considerable distance PointsBet<\/strong>\/Hollywood Lawrenceburg<\/strong> with $11.5 million and BetRivers<\/strong>\/French Lick Resort<\/strong> with $10.5 million. Also in the picture was William Hill<\/strong>\/Tropicana Evansville<\/strong> with $4 million in handle, with a quartet of also-rans that included two Horseshoe Hammond<\/strong> skins that generated $2 million-plus between them. Horseshoe was more fortunate with walk-up betting, getting $7 million in action, behind Hollywood Lawrenceburg<\/strong> ($12 million) and Ameristar ($9.5 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observed PlayUSA<\/strong> analyst Dustin Gouker<\/strong>, \u201cThe first full year of operation for Indiana\u2019s sports betting industry was anything but normal, but ultimately it managed to steady itself and end the year on a roll. The state faced a pandemic that shuttered retail sportsbooks, a shutdown of major sports for four months, and a record-setting sports betting launch in neighboring Illinois<\/strong> that siphoned off a key market for the state. But sportsbooks were creative in their perseverance, and it paid enormous dividends as the year went on.\u201d They may have competition soon. State Sen. John Ford<\/strong> has introduced legislation to legalize i-poker and other Internet casino games, projecting that it could generate between $45 million and $60 million in annual tax revenue. Not only is this considered a more stable revenue stream but, Gouker says, \u201cThe states where both are legal, online casinos games tend to dwarf sports betting in terms of both revenue and the money wagered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for terrestrial casino gambling, the news was not so good. Revenues fell 20.5%, much like those in neighboring Ohio<\/strong>. Table games at two racinos added a $5 million boost, for a statewide gross of $148 million. Boyd had a catastrophic month, plummeting 41% at Blue Chip ($8 million) and 45.5% at Belterra ($4.5 million). Horseshoe Hammond was tops in the state with $33 million (-3.5%), followed by Ameristar East Chicago’s $17.5 million (-8%). The two Majestic Star<\/strong> boats grossed $7 million and $3 million respectively, down 2.5% and 35%, a strange disparity. In the southern tier all the results were pretty dire, with French Lick clocked 39% (to $5 million), Tropicana Evansville falling 30% (to $8.5 million) and Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong> suffering a 30% misfortune (for $16 million). Indiana Grand<\/strong> slid 16% to $18 million and Harrah’s Hoosier Park<\/strong> -23% to $12 million. Rising Star<\/strong> slipped 14% to $3 million and Hollywood Lawrenceburg was set back 18% to $12 million, closing out a year we would all prefer to forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Atlantic City<\/strong> bureau reports that the bidding on the rights to push the button to implode derelict Trump Plaza<\/strong> has reached $175,000. The size of the offer leads some to believe that a celebrity (Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/strong> maybe<\/a>?) is behind it. A push to get discarded Trump mistress Stormy Daniels<\/strong> to pull the trigger stalled out at $1,935. That’s a lot better than a GoFundMe <\/strong>drive to have Hillary Clinton<\/strong> do it. Only $100 were chipped in for HillRod. The implosion date has been pushed back from Jan. 29 to “sometime in February,” giving Mayor Marty Small<\/strong> a chance to raise even more moolah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copyright: John Patrick Ross\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: Penn National Gaming<\/strong>‘s era on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> will end in an ignominious retreat. It has put the operational rights to the Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong> on the market, as part of a larger effort to shop the venerable property. Owner Gaming & Leisure Properties<\/strong> must be desperate, as it hasn’t placed an asking price<\/a> on the Trop. Eighteen potential buyers have kicked the Trop’s tires, although some of those offers may not be very solid. Bally’s Corp<\/strong>. and Tilman Fertitta<\/strong> are mooted to be possible shoppers, although Tilman doesn’t have a pot to pass water in these days … Phoenix Magazine<\/em> has published a guide to area casinos<\/a>. The three that get top marks are Talking Stick Resort<\/strong>, Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino<\/strong> and Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino<\/strong> … Gaming expert Frank Legato<\/strong> has published a fascinating interview<\/a> with Barstool Sports<\/strong> CEO Erika Nardini<\/strong>. She provides many insights into how a blog evolved into a nascent sports-betting power and what lies ahead … Unaffordable living standards in California<\/strong> are spurring young and old to pull up stakes and move elsewhere. Among the cities benefiting from the exodus<\/a> are casino-rich Las Vegas<\/strong> and Scottsdale<\/strong> … Exacta Systems<\/strong> founder Ray Reid<\/strong> is leaving the CEO position, to be replaced by Jeremy Stein<\/strong>. The latter has been second-in-command at Exacta since 2015. The turnover occurs shortly after Exacta’s ‘historical racing machines’ were deemed unconstitutional in Kentucky<\/strong>. The company is working on a fix … Global Gaming Business<\/em> has republished an interview<\/a> with the late Sheldon Adelson<\/strong>. In it, he talks about “synergistically” marrying Sands Expo Center<\/strong> with the casino business, why he found Singapore<\/strong> so attractive, why he passed on home status Massachusetts<\/strong> (“rife with opportunity for corruption”) and reveals\u2014this was 2013, after all\u2014his hypocritical opposition on online gambling, although he was right-on in his prediction that i-poker would be “peanuts.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that the smartest man in the room has left the building permanently, we continue to wait for Wall Street‘s reaction to Sheldon Adelson‘s demise. Hearing none, we move on to varying degrees of decline in regional gaming, once thought … 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":[109,23,293,291,60,244,34,82,281,274,277,14,278,198,190,283,68,116,112,245,39,69,33,242,12,108,265,243,9,129,20,252],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29089"}],"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=29089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29091,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29089\/revisions\/29091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}