Ho taunts Adelson; Turnover at Wynn

Both Sheldon Adelson and Jim Murren have anted up $10 billion for a Japanese megaresort.  The fever is catching. Melco Crown International CEO Lawrence Ho went completely off his rocker and vowed to spend any amount whatsoever for a casino concession in Japan. One wonders how parliamentarians are reacting to their legalization of casinos being treating as an auction. Like Adelson, he covets Osaka and would prefer to be the majority partner, which could be a serious sticking point. (Japanese companies are likely to be juiced in as majority stakeholders.) Ho took a hard shot at Adelson, saying, “If you put up some of the tacky buildings that you have in Las Vegas or Macao here it would look out of place. Can you imagine the Venetian here?”

Japan has some catching up to do. It might surprise you to learn that it draws only two-thirds as many tourists (20 million) as Macao. There’s definitely a growth opportunity to be had.

* Heads are rolling at Wynn Resorts. First, Gamal Aziz was out at Wynn Palace. Now company CFO Stephen Cootey is stepping down, effective March 1, news that Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli said could be “somewhat disconcerting.” Of Cootey’s replacement, Craig Billings, Santarelli wrote, “We believe the familiarity of Mr. Billings in the investment community will serve as a distinct positive, despite the sudden and somewhat startling departure of Mr. Cootey following a positive tone on the recent 4Q16 earnings call.”

(Macao casinos claim a high mortality rate among executive careers. Earlier this month, Sands China CFO Stephen Law quit after four months on the job. The South China Morning Post speculated that “His resignation came days after – but is not known to be connected to – an agreement made by Sands China’s parent company, Las Vegas Sands Corporation” to pay the U.S. government $7 million for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Then again, four months working for Sheldon Adelson must be like a lifetime sentence.

* Three-buck admission fees will soon be a thing of the past at Indiana casinos. The tax break, which would go into effect in August of 2018, has been passed and now goes to the state Senate. In place of the per-attendance levy (which most casinos ate rather than pass on to the customer), a 3.5% wagering tax will be imposed. Local governments are expected to feel a bit of a nip: a $4.5 million revenue reduction over the first four years of the new regime. They’re not out of the woods yet. The Lege is expected to consider eliminating $48 million in subsidies to casino host communities. With brilliant understatement, state Rep. Todd Huston (R) said, “This bill will continue, I’m sure, to evolve as the session continues, and I will continue to have lots of conversations with interested stakeholders.” Indeed they will.

* Congratulations to Scientific Games on being contracted to provide entertainment product to Norsk Tipping. Although the latter sounds like something Scandinavians do with cows, it is in fact the Norwegian national lottery.

* If you’ve got a $20 gold piece, Mandarin Oriental has a champagne split for you. It’s another way in which the hotel separates itself from the pack on the Strip.

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