{"id":6396,"date":"2011-04-25T13:55:56","date_gmt":"2011-04-25T21:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=6396"},"modified":"2021-02-15T10:51:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T18:51:01","slug":"meet-2-million-mike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/meet-2-million-mike\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet $2 Million Mike; The Big Easier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Casino podcasts (MGM Resorts International<\/strong>‘s in particular) have been razzed in the past for a lack of content. No such gripes about Las Vegas Sands<\/strong>‘ latest offering, 10 minutes in the company of COO Michael Leven<\/strong> (who derives his nickname from being paid a higher base salary than Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> CEO Gary Loveman<\/strong> and as much as MGM CEO Jim Murren<\/strong>). The generic-sounding — and distracting — background noise sounds like it was either piped in afterward or the interview was conducted at Tao Beach<\/strong><\/a>, probably the former<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bullet points include a new wait-and-see attitude toward Japan<\/strong> and higher-priority status for Hanoi<\/strong> and South Korea<\/strong>. The COO also offers the rationale for Sands’ proposed $21 billion investment in Spain<\/strong>, particularly in Barcelona<\/strong>. Leven takes a more conciliatory line toward the current Spanish government, previously dissed by CEO Sheldon Adelson<\/strong>. Leven seems to have given up on replicating Venelazzo<\/strong>‘s convention success in Asia (by which he surely means Macao<\/strong>, not Singapore<\/strong>). Despite much-improved numbers<\/a>, Pennsylvania<\/strong> is not discussed, nor is there any speculation on Florida<\/strong> — or even on when the St(ump) Regis<\/strong> will be resumed. Taking a swipe at his customer base, he ends with kvetch monologue about how awful social media are, that we live in “the highest-complaining society, unsatisfied society in the history of mankind, perhaps since the cavemen<\/em>,” and patrons who Tweet their displeasure give him hurty feelings and jeopardize his company.<\/p>\n

Random customer complaints on the Internet<\/strong> are going to topple Adelson Inc.? Have a little faith, Mike!<\/p>\n

Speaking of conventions<\/strong>, in early 2011 meeting attendance in Las Vegas<\/strong> is up 11%. That, in turn, is projected by J.P. Morga<\/strong>n analysts to drive approximately a 1% net gain in airline capacity coming into Sin City (last year saw almost a 3% decline). It would still leave McCarran International Airport<\/strong> a long way down — 10%+, by my reckoning — from 2008 levels but we’re not going to get out of such a deep hole in one or two great leaps. Slow and steady wins this race. Besides, Vegas has finally learned to love conventioneers, a change of heart that should be applauded.<\/p>\n

\"\"Morgan analysts are<\/strong> also liking what they see in advance of Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s earnings call. CEO Anthony Sanfilippo<\/strong>‘s ship-trimming regime is producing better-than-expected cash flow, partly through reduced comping and partly via greater stability in Pinnacle’s mid-American markets. If there’s any downside, it’s that the cities in which Pinnacle wishes to liquidate — Reno<\/strong> and Atlantic City<\/strong> — aren’t ones where buyers are knocking down your door with high-value offers. However, there’s still that nascent marketing alliance with Wynn Resorts<\/strong>, something which should solidify Pinnacle’s reputation as the creme de la creme<\/em> of riverboat operators.<\/p>\n

Pinnacle’s prime market<\/strong>, of course, is Louisiana<\/strong> (57% of property-level cash flow) and the news is good down there. Pelican State casinos were up 4% last month (five months of growth out of the last six), with New Orleans<\/strong> (+11%) and Baton Rouge<\/strong> (+7%) taking the lead. Pinnacle’s L’Auberge du Lac<\/strong> held steady while Boomtown New Orleans<\/em> (+10%) and Boomtown Bossier<\/em> (+3%) drove company growth statewide. Boyd Gaming<\/strong>, by contrast, is having a flat 2011, meeting and exceeding expectations only on its Treasure Chest<\/em> riverboat.<\/p>\n

Returns at Isle of Capri Casinos<\/strong>‘ eponymous Lake Charles<\/strong> riverboat are so negligible ($4 million in the first quarter, +10.5%), you have to wonder why Isle bothers, compared to nearby Isle Grand Palais<\/em>‘ $31 million (-2%) over the same period. The state’s dollar and percentage-gain leader was Harrah’s New Orleans<\/strong>, whose $34 million (+14%) outweighed weak performance at other Caesars-owned properties. The Bossier City<\/strong> market was flat, with Penn National Gaming<\/strong>‘s Hollywood<\/strong>-branded boat (+12%) eating almost everyone else’s lunch. On the whole, a good month to be in Louisiana and an especially good month to be Pinnacle, revenue-growth leader in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casino podcasts (MGM Resorts International‘s in particular) have been razzed in the past for a lack of content. No such gripes about Las Vegas Sands‘ latest offering, 10 minutes in the company of COO Michael Leven (who derives his nickname … 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":[60,28,14,36,7,22,85,84,62,11,69,95,30,12,108,8,9,19,100,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396"}],"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=6396"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29272,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396\/revisions\/29272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}