Given its high profile, MGM National Harbor had to hit a home run for MGM Resorts International and, judging by the numbers, it’s done just that. Last month it grossed $49 million, which — when the numbers are adjusted to account for National Harbor’s not 
having been open the first week of December — is a 12% sequential improvement. Casino management has to be happy that revenue was split almost 50/50 between slots and table games. National Harbor had 39% of Maryland‘s casino market last month, followed by Maryland Live ($44 million) with 35% and Horseshoe Baltimore, way behind at 16% ($20 million). Year/year, Maryland Live was down 16% and Horseshoe was off 14.5%, which (if memory serves) is in line with projections. An unlikely beneficiary was Penn National Gaming/GLPI‘s Hollywood Perryville, ($6 million) up 5%. Golden Entertainment‘s Rocky Gap Resort had an exceptionally good month, up 12% to $4 million.
Out in West Virginia, where National Harbor was expected to wreak real havoc, it’s not playing out according to the script. Gross gaming revenues for January were up 15%, mostly at the slots. Hollywood Charles Town took an early hit but was back to business in January, up 13%, helped with an easy comparison to early 2016, which had been plagued with bad weather. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff was a little disappointed with the National Harbor grosses, having projected $51 million for January. But he conceded that the heavy table play was a positive, given the Maryland taxes the bejesus out of slots but is much more lenient on table-game revenues. He also noted that win/slot/day was $242, well above industry average. (Maryland Live did $229 win/slot/day.) Given the early impact on Maryland and lack of it in West Virginia, it appears National Harbor is making good on its promise to grow the gaming market in the area.
* With Sheldon Adelson out of the picture, the Fertitta Brothers are now being tipped as potential financiers of Sandoval’s Folly, the $1.9 billion, NFL-class stadium on the south Las Vegas Strip. However, that raises problems of its own. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (roundly booed at the Super Bowl) has made his feelings on the matter crystal clear: “I 
don’t see an ownership position in a team from a casino. That is not something consistent with our policies. Not likely a stadium either.” Adelson had been reportedly pursuing a side deal with [your city here] Raiders owner Mark Davis to get a piece of the team. If being involved with the stadium itself sat badly with Goodell, you can imagine the lead balloon that would have fallen had Adelson emerged as a minority owner of the Raiders. (Besides, when things don’t go Sheldon’s way, they are apt not to go at all: financing from Goldman Sachs evaporated when El Bombastico noisily pulled out of the stadium agreement.) There’s speculation that Davis approached the Clark County Commission unilaterally with a lease proposal as a means of getting Adelson out of the picture. If that was the case, it worked. Now the state is on the hook to build *some* form of stadium, any stadium (it’s the law) and hope that somebody comes through with the missing $650 million. Without Adelson, the question of who will cover cost overruns is left begging. Speaking of begging, Clark County may now have to do a lot of that, too.
* Chalk up another win for slot routes in Illinois, where casino revenues were down 5.5% last month, also attributable to one less weekend of play than 2016. (Penn has been expanding its slot routes in the Land of Lincoln, something other operators — coughBoyd Gamingcough — would be well-advised to do.) As usual, Rivers Casino dominated the market with $34 million, despite a 3.5% dip. Of the Penn-managed properties, it was more good than bad, with Hollywood Aurora up 2% to $10 million, Empress Joliet down 4% to $9.5 million and — praise be! — Argosy Belle up 5% to $4 million (a shadow of that casino’s halcyon days but we’ll take good news in Illinois where we can find it). Boyd’s Par-A-Dice continues to roll snake eyes, plunging 14% to $6 million,
Jumer’s Casino Rock Island had a rough month, down 11%. (I haven’t been there but am reliably told it has an absolutely sensational location, unavoidable to interstate travelers.) Harrah’s Joliet was also in the tank, down 13.5% to $15 million. Harrah’s Metropolis was flat — a win in light of the truncated calendar — at $6.5 million. MGM was 5% down at Grand Victoria, good for $13 million.
* If Georgia legalizes casinos, look for Golden Nugget to be a serious contender. Certainly, given its track record of success under CEO Tilman Fertitta, any gaming commission would be crazy not to consider it. Fertitta’s got brass balls, planning to go up against MGM 
for the Atlanta market. He even thinks Georgia casinos should be more regulated than those in Mississippi, where operators aren’t required to maintain first-class facilities and, according to Fertitta, disrepair flourishes. (Fertitta walks the walk: His Las Vegas Golden Nugget is absolutely pristine.) “Louisiana was smart in keeping a limited number of licenses and making people do deferred maintenance,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He’s even OK with the proposed 20% tax rate, provided the number of licensees is kept to a minimum. “If you open it up then you better not have a high tax rate.” He also argued the quantity was the enemy of quality, saying, “they’ll not be nice properties … You don’t need to have gaming everywhere.” If the current legislation, mandating two ‘destination resorts’ passes, Fertitta will get at least some of his wishes.
* Neil Bluhm‘s latest Rivers Casino, in Schenectady, is putting the finishing touches, in anticipation of tomorrow’s opening. Rush Street Gaming executives have bold expectations, predicting 20% to even 33% return on investment. They’ve got reason to be “It is ready to be booked, and my phone is ringing constantly,” Director of Sales Carney McGuire said of the casino’s events center, while fellow executive Mary Cheeks says she expects to see people lining up before dawn, hot to try their luck. We anticipate one of the first-day guests to be New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), father of the latest gaming expansion, but we don’t think he’ll be among the pre-dawn queue.
