Vegas News October 31, 2022

We’re going to flip Vegas News around today. Instead of starting with the big news of the week, we’re going to begin with Quick Hits. 

Not coincidentally, the first story is what should be one of the biggest events in Las Vegas next year.

Las Vegas Quick Hits

F1 Tickets Las Vegas

Let’s get to the Vegas News, starting with something that might be slightly out of date when depending on when you read this.

• Las Vegas Grand Prix (LVGP) F1 tickets for the race next year are on sale for American Express customers on Nov. 1. Those who spent $7.77 to get on the early list can purchase on Nov. 3. The public can buy on Nov. 5. 3-Day passes will start at $500. You can see all the different ticket options and locations here.   
• Here’s a sim of what the LVGP circuit could be like.

• Most hotels haven’t released rates for LVGP weekend yet. Resorts World is offering players club members different room rates above $1,000. Station Casinos has hotel rooms available on Expedia for somewhere around $1,000 per night. You can see the rates for a couple of hotels on Friday night here.  
• The President of Plaza, Jonathan Jossel, is a good guy and a useful follow on Twitter if you’re a fan of the property. He dropped an update on renovations to the property. The most important part of the updates is the outdoor carousel bar that will open around March next year. You can see info about other parts of the property here.  
• Domonique Ansel at Caesars Palace Las Vegas is officially open. The lines the first week were as long as NYC lines. Read more here. ​​
• Ken Block kept me up one night when I was staying at The Cosmopolitan, recording part of this Audi promo in Las Vegas. Read more here. See the video below.

• Kevin Hart is performing at Resorts World on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Read more here. 
• The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority released its Executive Summary for September. My takeaway was that the Average Daily Room (ADR) rate for the month was $187.18. That’s up 20.1% from last year and 36.5% from 2019. You can see the full report here.
• Evidently, this was the highest ADR in Las Vegas since the NFL Draft in April. It was also the highest ADR ever in Las Vegas during the month of September. Read more here.  
• Bruno Mars will be back at Park MGM next year. See dates and more here.  
• Someone tweeted an image that appears to be a partial screen from MGM Resorts that The Mirage will have a new name in December. See the image here.
• Sugar Ray, Bush and Tag Team are playing the Fremont Street Experience on New Years Eve. Read more here.  
• I hope Tag Team plays their hit “Scoop There It Is”

---

---

Quick Hits – Bacon and Baseball

• Tilman Fertitta isn’t wasting time getting construction for his new Vegas Strip property started. He’s already pulled demolition permits to remove some of the structures on his land. Read more here.   
• The President said something stopping about the resort and similar fees. I’ll believe it when I see it Read and see more here.
• Westgate has a deal to offer guests electronic vehicles. Read more here.
• The MLB commissioner is publicly negotiating with Oakland about the team moving to Las Vegas again. Read more here.

• Bacon Nation at The D is open to the public. I look forward to checking it out. Read more here.
• Las Vegas will have a Flag football franchise someday. Read more here.  
• The people that say they’re going to build All Net Arena say they’re going to fund a Moulin Rogue project. Like the arena, I’ll believe it when I see it. Read more here.
• Mohegan dropped “Sun” from the name of its Las Vegas casino at Virgin. Read more here.  
• Unlike other locations with legal sports betting, Mohegan Casino in Las Vegas still doesn’t have an operational sportsbook.
• Katy Perry will be back at Resorts World for more shows next year. Read more here.
• Palms has a suite deal. Read more here.

Boyd And Red Rock/Station Earnings

Quarterly casino earnings season started last week with Boyd Gaming. Overall, business seems steady but may have leveled off a little from the record-breaking quarters from the past year. You can see the press release and financials here.  

There was only one bit of Las Vegas non-financial news from Boyd this quarter. The expansion at Fremont Casino should be done by the end of the year. You may remember that this includes a new food court and FanDuel (retail-only) sportsbook. 

Here are a couple of financial notes that stood out to me.

1. Boyd customers don’t seem to be affected by inflation.

2. The company is holding onto the (higher) profit margins it was able to create during Covid.

High Prices Likely To Continue

The casino corporations started to share similar profit information during the last round of earnings calls. It seems like the high prices at casinos will likely continue in the future. This isn’t a surprise but it’s helpful to hear confirmation from the business so we know what to expect when visiting casinos.

Red Rock Resorts (Station Casinos) also reported earnings last week. You can see the press release and financials here. You can download the easier-to-read and more useful investor presentation here.  

Red Rock Financials

The financials for Red Rock were similar to Boyd Gaming, which is fairly normal. During the call, the company said it’s always focused on creating greater profits for its stockholders. This isn’t anything new but it’s a reminder that everything a casino does is to support its bottom line.

Despite an analyst saying the opening of Durango will be pushed back to 2024 a couple of weeks ago, Red Rock says it’s on schedule to open in the Fall of 2023. The company says it won’t start construction on other projects until Durango is completed. 

The Wildfire casino in downtown Las Vegas should be open by the Super Bowl next year. The casino-only property will have just 200 slot machines and ETGs. It will have two restaurants as well.

Red Rock plans to sell off 321 acres of land in Las Vegas and another 8 acres in Reno. Interesting to note that the company is looking to sell some of the land at the Durango and Viva projects.

It’s currently marketing 188 acres of that land. Red Rock says it has interested buyers for everything the company is looking to sell at this time.