No intro today…just straight to the news!
What’s Up With Wynn?
I always read the New York Post with a little hesitation. Calling this newspaper sensational is being kind. My man, John Mulaney probably explains it better here. So, when I read that “MGM Resorts may roll the dice and buy Wynn Resorts” it was with a little hesitation. This is only a rumor from an unnamed source.
There are a lot of roadblocks in the way of MGM Resorts purchasing Wynn Resorts. Skift does a good job skimming through some of the positives and negatives about the potential deal. The anonymous source told the New York Post that there’s a 50% chance this is true. There’s also a 50% chance that a coin lands on heads when it’s flipped.
As the week came to a close Bloomberg reported that Wynn might be looking to sell the Massachusetts casino. Wynn Everett is under construction and scheduled to open in 2019. MGM Resorts would probably not be the buyer since they already have MGM Springfield scheduled to open later this year. The report notes that Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Mohegan Sun both bid to build a casino in that part of the state. Perhaps one of both is sniffing around.
So, what’s happening with Wynn? I’m not sure what will happen. When there’s smoke there’s usually fire. It seems as though something is afoot with Wynn Resorts. The next quarterly earnings call should be interesting.
MGM Making Moves Outside Of Las Vegas
MGM Growth Properties purchased the Hard Rock Rocksino in Northfield, OH for just over $1 billion. This casino will not become MGM Ohio. MGM Growth Properties is a real estate company and will likely have a third-party operator take over the casino. The deal will close in the second half of the year before undergoing regulatory approval. We should hear more about this deal means later this year.
It’s a while off but MGM Resorts is holding a stockholder meeting on May 2 if you want to keep up on MGM Resorts news.
We Have Info About The Virgin Hotel Deal
Last week we welcomed Virgin Hotels to Las Vegas. There wasn’t much information about the deal to buy the Hard Rock since the new owners wanted to focus on the new hotel brand. The Las Vegas Review-Journal did some digging and found out that the purchase price of the Hard Rock was about $500 million. As we mentioned last week the investors would add “hundreds of millions” in upgrades to the property. The total investment should be somewhere around $700,000 or more.
The article doesn’t have any new information about the project. However, they did uncover that the majority of the new owners of the Hard Rock are from Canada. The article ends with a chuckle about some of the new owners. “Canadians may have piled in to buy the hotel, but in case you’re wondering, there’s no word on whether the Hard Rock will get a Tim Hortons anytime soon.”
Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic is still working on flying tourists to space. I wonder how many players club points a complimentary flight to space will be. Read more about the recent Virgin Galactic flight here.
Quick Hits
Just passing on as much news as possible today. There was a lot of it!
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- Paul Hobson is the new senior vice president and general manager at SLS Las Vegas. Everyone’s friend, @vitalvegas caught him walking the casino floor the on Friday night. Hobson was most recently the GM at the Stratosphere. Read more here.
- PokerGo is opening a live studio at Aria. The new space will host poker and esports events when it opens in May. PokerNews.com says the first event will be a Poker After Dark episode taking place from May 16-18. Up to 120 people can watch the events. Read more here.
- The NHL Playoffs begin this week and will end sometime when the temperatures are around 120 in Las Vegas. I don’t follow hockey but the Vegas Golden Knights appear to have a good chance to win the Stanley Cup. Read more here.
- Good news: Ellis Island is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Bad news: There’s no opening date for the Front Yard expansion to open. Good news: Construction is finally underway!
- Marilyn! The New Musical will be opening at Paris Las Vegas on May 23. The show about Marilyn Monroe isn’t the only throwback show being planned for Las Vegas. The company putting the show together tells the Las Vegas Weekly that they have plans for six shows including James Dean, Bettie Page and an EDM musical with Steve Aoki. Read more here.
- Jeff Dunham is doing monthly shows at Caesars Palace this summer. He’ll be performing at The Colosseum on June 20, July 11, Aug. 29 and Sept. 12. Read more here.
- Here’s a fun promotion. If your name is Hannah, Michael or Sarah you can drink for free on April 10 at Park on Fremont. Unfortunately, the promotion doesn’t include the flights of bourbon they recently introduced. This is for draft beer and well drinks only. See the flyer here.
- The average Las Vegas show ticket last year was $94.49. That’s a $2.56 increase from 2016. The release of this information is usually a precursor to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority releasing their annual visitor profile. Read more about show tickets here.
- The Artificial Intelligence chatbot at the Cosmopolitan knows everything about guests at the casino. Be warned, there could be a mobile phone uprising on your next visit. Read more here.
Rumor of the week: Chick Fil A coming to Vegas Strip and will be open on Sunday
You should be stoked to hear this new rumor if you’re the kind of person that gets excited about fast food chain restaurants. Vital Vegas is rumoring that not only will Chick Fil A open their first restaurant on the Vegas Strip. Additionally, they say this restaurant will be open on Sunday. This hasn’t been confirmed by Chick Fil A yet but it seems like a fit for The Linq or Bally’s Grand Bazaar Shops. Party on.
[Casino Comp Talk]
Eric Rosenthal interviewed by Frank Morano, Morano In The Morning WNYM AM970 The Answer
ZorkFest – Memorial Day Weekend
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Marc grew up on the mean streets of the South Bronx. He's the rare combination of Yankees and Jets fan which explains his often contrarian point of view. He learned about gambling at a young age working down the street from a bookie who took action on anything from the mainstream sports to the last three digits of the purse for certain horse races. Yeah, that's a thing. Today Marc is a freelance writer and social media consultant which allows him to work anywhere there's a wifi signal. This allows him to work from the sportsbook at Red Rock Resort or the food court at The Venetian where you’ll find fast and free wifi. Writing about steak, booze, gambling and Las Vegas is a tough job but somebody has to do it.
