{"id":29970,"date":"2021-08-17T10:30:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T18:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=29970"},"modified":"2021-08-30T05:48:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T13:48:55","slug":"atlantic-city-catches-up-mgm-confronts-covid-aaa-salutes-circa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/atlantic-city-catches-up-mgm-confronts-covid-aaa-salutes-circa\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlantic City catches up; MGM confronts Covid; AAA salutes Circa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"425\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Caesars-AC.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14094\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Caesars-AC.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Caesars-AC-150x106.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Caesars-AC-300x212.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\" style=\"font-size:18px\">It took a while but the Boardwalk is finally even with 2019 numbers. July saw a gambling gross of $277 million, flat with two years ago. Slot win was up 6% on 2% more coin-in but tables declined 14% on only 3% less wagering. Luck was not with the house. That was especially true of <strong>Borgata<\/strong> ($64 million), which absorbed a body blow in the form of a 21% decline, driven by a near-cataclysmic 46% plunge in table win on 27% less play. Tighter hold held Borgata slots to only a 6% dip despite 14% less coin-in. The <strong>Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> Cerberus was 1% up, with table win 4% higher on 7% greater wagering, while slots were flat (and <em>much<\/em> tighter) with coin-in down 2%. Individually, <strong>Caesars Atlantic City<\/strong> grossed $26 million, a 4.5% gain, <strong>Harrah&#8217;s Resort<\/strong> slipped 2% to $29 million and <strong>Tropicana Atlantic City<\/strong> gained 2% to $29.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>Bally&#8217;s Atlantic City<\/strong> was down 8.5% to $16 million and <strong>Golden Nugget<\/strong> fell 20% to $15.5 million. At the other end of the spectrum, <strong>Ocean Casino Resort<\/strong> shot up 58% to $30 million and <strong>Hard Rock Atlantic City<\/strong> solidified its hold on second place with $48 million (+23%). Also revenue-positive was <strong>Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong>, up 5.5% to $18.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">Sports betting yielded $55 million in revenue. <strong>FanDuel<\/strong> was the leader with $28.5 million, then <strong>DraftKings<\/strong> with $10.5 million, <strong>BetMGM<\/strong> ($6 million) and <strong>William Hill<\/strong> ($6 million). Internet gambling was more lucrative, engendering $118.5 million in win, dominated by BetMGM ($36.5 million), then Caesars\/<strong>WynnBet<\/strong> ($17 million), DraftKings at $15 million and <strong>Golden Nugget Online<\/strong> ($11 million). It&#8217;s obvious why DraftKings covets GNOG, as it would easily vault into second place in <strong>New Jersey<\/strong> (and other markets) were the two databases merged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"274\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Wynn-Everett.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Wynn-Everett.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Wynn-Everett-150x82.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Wynn-Everett-300x164.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\" style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>Massachusetts<\/strong>, meanwhile, grossed $96 million last month, a 17.5% leap over July 2019. <strong>Encore Boston Harbor<\/strong> devoured market share, accounting for 62%, distantly followed by <strong>MGM Springfield<\/strong> (25%) and <strong>Plainridge Park<\/strong> (14%). The latter grossed $13 million and was up 3%. MGM hopped 16% to $24 million, as slots won 11% more and tables gained an impressive 26% (they haven&#8217;t always been Springfield&#8217;s strength). Encore grossed $59 million, up 22%, as slots won $34 million and tables accounted for $25 million. Sports betting, meanwhile, remains mired in the bog that is the Massachusetts Lege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\" style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>Michigan<\/strong> continues to be the new powerhouse of Internet gambling, generating revenue of $92 million from i-casino play in July, while sports betting yielded only $21 million\u2014and that&#8217;s before promotional discounts ($7 million). Sports wagering was way down from June, with handle of $206 million, while i-gaming remained stable. FanDuel captured 40% of the revenue, then BetMGM (25%), DraftKings (16%) and underperforming <strong>Barstool Sports<\/strong> (7%). Internet casino play was the province of BetMGM, $34 million strong, followed by DraftKings ($15 million), FanDuel ($14.5 million), <strong>BetRivers<\/strong> ($7 million), Golden Nugget ($5 million), and <strong>Fox Bet<\/strong> and Barstool around $3 million apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\" style=\"font-size:18px\">Yesterday <strong>MGM Resorts International<\/strong> CEO <strong>Bill Hornbuckle<\/strong> confronted the elephant in the room (and bid strongly to be our man of the year) by ordering all employees, company-wide to be vaccinated\u2014or else. &#8220;MGM Resorts is now requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for employment for all salaried employees and new hires throughout the <strong>United States<\/strong>&#8221; read the boldfaced portion of an official communiqu\u00e9 obtained by <em>Vital Vegas<\/em>. Well, somebody had to be first and it might as well have been MGM. Vaccination is what stands between Sin City and a second vast shutdown\u2014and the first was <em>so<\/em> great for business, wasn&#8217;t it? We hope that other CEOs in Big Gaming will screw their courage to the sticking post and follow Hornbuckle&#8217;s lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circa_las_vegas18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circa_las_vegas18.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circa_las_vegas18-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circa_las_vegas18-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circa_las_vegas18-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong><em>Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: Congratulations to <strong>Circa<\/strong>, which just received the one and only four-diamond ranking in <strong>Downtown<\/strong> from <strong>AAA<\/strong>. The citation read, in part, &#8220;These establishments dedicate a significant amount of attention to detail that helps ensure a consistent and memorable guest experience. To uphold the exceptionally high standards required on a daily basis to attain this rating is an outstanding achievement.\u201d\u00a0&#8230; Has <strong>Tom Reeg<\/strong> thrown in the towel on <strong>Bally&#8217;s Las Vegas<\/strong>? The <a href=\"https:\/\/vitalvegas.com\/nobu-joins-list-of-closed-restaurants-at-ballys\/\">Great Restaurant Massacre continues<\/a> as <strong>Nobu<\/strong> follows <strong>Buca di Beppo<\/strong> and <strong>Tequila Taqueria<\/strong> onto the list of eateries consigned to oblivion, along with <strong>BLT Steak<\/strong> and the <strong>Sterling Brunch<\/strong>, one of the finest buffets in <strong>Las Vegas<\/strong>. There are even rumors that <strong>Bally&#8217;s Grand Bazaar Shops<\/strong> will be obliterated. Would anyone miss them? &#8230; You&#8217;d think sports betting will be a slam dunk at the <strong>California<\/strong> ballot box but <em>Global Gaming Business<\/em> columnist <strong>Richard Schuetz<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ggbnews.com\/article\/the-rest-of-the-story-insights-into-the-california-sports-betting-scene\/\">argues otherwise<\/a>. His contention (and it&#8217;s worth reading in full) is that the California Lege (&#8220;a parliament of whores&#8221;) will tank the implementation &#8230; Watch out for this, <strong>Las Vegas<\/strong> visitors: Some hotel chains are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/hotels-try-out-fees-for-using-the-pool-and-checking-in-early-11629192602?st=ylkti47cybgkkth&amp;reflink=share_mobilewebshare\">experimenting with new add-on fees<\/a>. For instance, it will cost you extra to check in early (arguably justifiable) or to use the pool (preposterous). Doubtless these &#8220;amenities&#8221; will be mandatory whether you use them or not, if widely adopted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It took a while but the Boardwalk is finally even with 2019 numbers. July saw a gambling gross of $277 million, flat with two years ago. Slot win was up 6% on 2% more coin-in but tables declined 14% on &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/atlantic-city-catches-up-mgm-confronts-covid-aaa-salutes-circa\/\">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":[23,293,291,300,244,34,155,18,51,277,278,297,287,165,283,37,112,245,259,167,248,257,69,234,242,243,9,252,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29970"}],"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=29970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29971,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29970\/revisions\/29971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}