A year ago, the gaming investment community didn’t pay much attention to Global Cash Access. Then, Global Cash Access stole the best little slot machine manufacturer in Texas.
Inside Gaming
Richard N. Velotta’s Inside Gaming column appears Sunday and Wednesday in Business.
rvelotta@reviewjournal.com … @RickVelotta on Twitter. 702-477-3893
Caesars Entertainment Corp. can’t seem to catch a break. Next month, New Orleans will ban smoking in most public venues within Orleans Parish, including bars, hotels, sports stadiums and restaurants (where the activity has been curtailed since 2007).
If we didn’t know better, one might believe the Chinese government is trying to sabotage Macau’s already sinking gaming market. Nine straight months of casino revenue declines, including a record 49 percent drop in February, are attributable to a government imposed crackdown on corruption. Apparently, more government restrictions are on the way.
The brewing proxy fight at Wynn Resorts Ltd. might be more entertaining than “Steve Wynn’s ShowStoppers,” the production of Broadway and movie songs now playing in the Encore Theater.
By next year, at least three casino companies will have traveled the path into the real estate investment trust market. A fourth is exploring the idea, and MGM Resorts International may join them on the trail.
GTECH Holdings is paying $6.4 billion to acquire International Game Technology, but the Italy-based lottery giant is taking on more than just “Wheel of Fortune” and the company’s other slot machine titles and products. GTECH wants the name IGT.
Blackstone Group executive Jonathan Gray doesn’t consider himself a gambler. But the New York City-based private equity fund is wagering $1.73 billion it can make The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas a shining jewel on the Strip.
There is no debate that Station Casinos had a strong finish to 2014, giving analysts hope that recovery in the Las Vegas locals gaming market is underway. Now, the investment community may want a piece of the action.
Legalizing sports betting in the U.S. would be bad news for local street-corner bookies and the Internet’s unregulated off-shore gambling market.
If California’s Internet poker debate was an actual card game, PokerStars just doubled up. But the European online gaming giant is still short-stacked against two of the state’s largest tribal casino operators in the company’s effort to gain a piece of California’s potentially lucrative — albeit nascent — Internet poker market.
Internet gambling supporters rejoiced when the Justice Department changed its opinion on the Federal Wire Act and opened the doors for online wagering expansion across the United States.
By numbers alone, the merger of Golden Gaming and Lakes Entertainment doesn’t equal any one of the combined $18.5 billion in gaming equipment manufacturing buyouts that have happened in the past 18 months.
Over the last 18 months, Scientific Games Corp. spent $7.6 billion to acquire the gaming industry’s No. 2 and No. 3 slot machine manufacturers. That makes Scientific Games Corp. the new International Game Technology — minus the baggage.
Out of the fire and into the furnace? After implementing a partial casino smoking ban in October, Macau is now contemplating a total prohibition on smoking in all areas of the region’s gaming market.
Falling gasoline prices and rising consumer confidence potentially add up to good news for regional casino operators. Whether or not this translates into more dollars in casino drop boxes is still up for debate.