During its crusade to drive Stockton University out of the Showboat, the CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Robert Griffin airily informed Stockton 
representatives that they should buy Trump Plaza instead — puncturing TER’s public posture that college kids should be kept far away from its casinos. Turns out that Showboat wasn’t Stockton’s first choice on the Boardwalk: It tried to buy the Atlantic Club from TJM Properties at a steep markup. Stockton would have paid $23 million for what TJM got for $13.5 million.
Fortunately, someone at Stockton was minding the mint. Numbers were run and it was concluded that — even at the TJM price — buying Showboat was a better real estate play than pursuing the Atlantic Club. It was also cheaper than building a new dorm and parking garage on its main campus in Galloway Township, a $75 million proposition. Since Caesars Entertainment didn’t keep its verbal commitment to Stockton to remove a covenant with TER that restricted the Showboat to casino use (creating what The Press of Atlantic City calls “an absurd scenario”), the university is in limbo, leaving new Showboat owner Glenn Straub to try and find an employment for the empty resort.
* Speaking of defunct casinos, Assemblyman Chris Brown (R) continues to pursue litigation that would void Caesars’ ability to remove the gaming entitlement from closed 
properties, as it has done at the Claridge, Atlantic Club and Showboat. The overarching goal of the bill is to stimulate competition on the Boardwalk. Brown maintains that if the Division of Gaming Enforcement had listened to him, “we would have a ruling and would not be dealing with the restrictive covenant currently being asserted by the [Trump] Taj Mahal.”
Brown also wants closer regulatory scrutiny applied to Caesars, lest its properties — especially Bally’s Wild Wild West — aren’t dragged down by their owner’s bankruptcy. He wrote to the DGE that a “hearing can determine if Caesars has the financial ability to invest in Bally’s to maintain the high standards set by the Casino Control Act, so it does not end up like Trump Plaza – out of date, out of time, and out of business.” The Press ominously adds that incoming Caesars CEO Mark Frissora‘s reputation is built upon “sweeping cost-cutting campaigns.” That’s not what Atlantic City wants to hear.
* In its first full quarter of operating The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, new owner 
Blackstone Group has managed to increase revenues 4% and narrow a 1Q14 loss of $13 million to $5 million and change. The Cosmo improved the most in the area where it had the most need to improve: the casino. Gambling revenues jumped 19%, including a 28% escalation in slot winnings. Management says it’s not content to stop there. A previous tower of strength, food and beverage, actually slipped 4%. Despite lower occupancy, the Cosmo was able to drive hotel rates to $332/night, resulting in a 6% revenue gain. Management attributed a small slippage in retail and entertainment monies to having fewer guests on-property. Win some, lose some. Meanwhile, a settlement of litigation over new-wave vaudeville Vegas Nocturne hovers on the verge of resolution.
* An attempt by Steve Wynn to chill free speech in Nevada appears to have been asphyxiated in the state Assembly. I won’t believe it’s dead until the Lege adjourns but, in the meantime, we all owe Assemblyman Ira Hansen (R) a vote of thanks.
