Rumor Has It
Sometimes those rumors that usually have a 50% chance of happening in Las Vegas actually occur. Last week a rumor began to circulate that Boyd Gaming would buy Cannery Casinos. That rumor sounded likely until Boyd Gaming announced the purchase of Aliante Casino for $380 million (see Sunday News for more info). The thinking among some onlookers is that this may have been the money that was allocated to purchase Cannery Casinos.
Nope, the rumors were actually true on this one. Boyd announced that they did purchase Cannery Casinos for $230 million on their quarterly earnings call this week. The Cannery Casinos purchase includes two properties – Cannery Casino and Eastside Cannery. This acquisition of two casinos cost less than the price of $380 million paid for Aliante Casino.
Boyd Gaming Did Some Serious Shopping
In less than a week, Boyd Gaming almost doubled their Las Vegas locals casinos from four to seven. Boyd Gaming has seven Las Vegas properties but considers Gold Coast, Orleans, Suncoast and Sam’s Town to be their “Las Vegas locals” casinos. Boyd Gaming considers the California, Fremont and Main Street Station to be their “downtown Las Vegas” properties. The deals for Aliante, Cannery and Eastside Cannery are expected to close in the third quarter of 2016. Once the deal is finalized Boyd Gaming will have ten casinos throughout Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas locals market has been good for Boyd Gaming in the past year or so. Their year over year earning for the quarter has shown a substantial 14% (EBITA) growth for locals market. They expect that the growth will continue with the addition of the new properties. While the existing properties have shown an increase of customers thanks to new restaurants, it doesn’t seem as though the new properties will see many new additions right away.
Much like Penn National Gaming taking over Tropicana, Boyd Gaming is more focused on creating synergy between their existing and new properties through the B-Connected players club. This might be a good time to learn more about Boyd Gaming’s players club. When you visit Las Vegas often you’ll sometimes look for new ways and new places to spend your time.
When these deals are completed, Boyd Gaming will have five properties away from traditional tourist areas of the Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas. Aliante, Cannery, Eastside Cannery, Suncoast and Sam’s Town will give you very different Las Vegas experiences than you may be used to.
You’re probably not familiar with the new Boyd casinos unless you live in Las Vegas. While Cannery feels like a perfect fit for what people expect from a Boyd Gaming property, Eastside Cannery and Aliante look downright modern having opened less than 10 years ago.
Cannery Casino
This is the most traditional locals casino of the new acquisitions by Boyd Gaming. It’s nice but not flashy. Check out this slideshow to get an idea of what Cannery Casino has to offer.
Eastside Cannery
This property is stunning inside and out and would probably appeal to a younger customer than neighboring Boyd Gaming property Sam’s Town. There’s so much room with campgrounds between the two properties that it’s easy to imagine some kind of development in the future but that’s getting way ahead of things. The video below is a useful slideshow of the property but this drone video of the exterior is stunning.
Aliante
Aliante is probably the nicest of the 3 properties. It makes sense that Boyd Gaming paid more for it than the two other casinos combined. This video of Aliante that I shared on Sunday is so good that I’m using it again.
Boyd Gaming really increased their value proposition to tourists and locals alike by adding these three casinos. They each offer a different experience in a new location than other Boyd Gaming properties in Las Vegas offer. If you’re looking for a new experience away from the tourists in Las Vegas these will make some good options when the deals with Boyd are finished later this year.
