Jim Murren, Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson may find themselves held hostage to the temper of Sino-American relationships, if chatter from Chinese sources holds true. It’s being put about that casino concessions could be shortened to five years. Stocks of U.S. casino companies with Macao operations suffered from the report in the Hong Kong Economic Journal. “License holders may also be required to invest more in the non-gaming business to help diversify Macau’s economy during the interim review,” the report ran. When reached for comment, Secretary for Economy & Finance Francis Tam was mum, other than saying that caps on table-game growth would remain in place at 3% per year.
I don’t put much stock (pun unintended) in this report. The glacial pace of project approval in Macao means that it takes the better part of five years to develop a casino there. City Hall also had the habit of putting out rumors of this ilk. Macanese authorities like to give Adelson, etc., a yank on the chain periodically, a reminder who’s boss. I’d say read no more into it than that. (MGM Resorts International denied the veracity of the report in yesterday’s analyst call.)
Iowa is taking a step against parimutuels and toward animal rights. House and Senate committees have voted to release a pair of dog tracks from the compulsory annual subsidies they must pay to keep the sport running. One of these ovals belongs to Caesars Entertainment. Both its Horseshoe Council Bluffs and independent Mystique Casino would have to pony up $70 million over the next six years, to give the greyhound industry a soft landing. (Why?) “We’re on a downward path at our casino, and that’s not going to change,” said one track executive.
Spooked by the Las Vegas Sands mega-hack, columnist Ken Adams is mega-spooked. His prescription amounts to curling up in the fetal position until the trouble passes — or better yet, advancing into the 19th century. “The casino industry might be ready for the internet, but the internet is not yet ready for the industry,” he concludes.
