This week’s casino news focuses in on news from three separate casinos in three different parts of the country. Let’s start off in Las Vegas where Caesars Entertainment has partnered with ESPN on a brand new deal:
Caesars Entertainment, ESPN Ink New Deal For ESPN-Branded Studio
Caesars Entertainment and ESPN have reached an agreement to collaborate on a new ESPN-branded studio that will be built at The LINQ Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The new deal will provide fans around the world with both sports betting news and entertainment content on-site in Las Vegas, and the ESPN broadcasts will throw to it at various times throughout the day.
According to the official press release for the venture, the new build will result in the creation of sports betting-themed content as well as segments for Daily Wager, which is the leading multinational multimedia sports entertainment company’s first gambling-related series. We’ve seen Bleacher Report set up a similar type of shop, so it will be interesting to see if CBS and FOX Sports also put something in the works.
Wynn Resorts Set To Sell $2.6 Billion Massachusetts To MGM
Just when you thought the story of the Wynn in Massachusetts had come to close, we find out there’s another chapter.
It looks Wynn Resorts wants out of the state after a long, grueling grind of an investigation with the gaming commission. It looks like they could be on the verge of being sold to MGM as they are interested in the nearly finished $2.6 billion casino outside of Boston.
Wynn Resorts, which is based in Las Vegas, received its Massachusetts licence back in 2013. However, the 671-room Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, Massachusetts still isn’t officially complete. The casino is expected to open in June. According to recent reports, talks of a potential sale have been on for several weeks but the two sides are still in the preliminary stages. One of the biggest potential red flags that the two sides are dealing with is the fact that MGM already owns a casino in Springfield. According to the state’s gaming commission, Massachusetts forbids companies from holding more than one casino licence in the state. In order to complete any deal with Wynn, MGM would need to figure out how to deal with the state rules forbidding them from owning two casinos in Massachusetts at the same time.
Resorts World Catskills Casino Owner Reports $37.54 Million Loss For First Quarter
In a bit of a surprising report, Empire Resorts recorded a first-quarter 2019 loss of $37.54 million at its Resorts World Catskills casino. This comes according to new financial filings by the company.
Resorts World Catskills averaged $12.5 million in monthly losses over the three-month period that ends on March 31st. The losses indicate there has been no financial improvement for the casino over the months leading up to March 31st.
Since it first opened in February of 2018, Empire Resorts has averaged over $10 million in monthly losses. Gaming revenues, which provide the bulk of the earnings, were the biggest disappointment that the company has had to deal with. While the resort itself has received rave reviews, it’s also not located in a very densely populated area. Customers from New York have to drive out to the Catskills if they want to play.
Gaming experts consider daily earnings of $1,500 per table to be healthy. However, Resorts World Catskills Casino still lost money while earning $1,718 per day in April after averaging $1,547 per day in March.
With so much money just bleeding out, it will be very interesting to see what Empire Resorts has planned in their effort to get projected revenues back on track in the upcoming months.