The analyst also suggested there could be some gaming-industry mergers and acquisitions on the horizon.
Despite a six-month trend of declining gaming revenue to close out 2024, annual financial results for casino operators on the Las Vegas Strip will be on par with some Wall Street projections, according to one financial firm.
Chad Beynon, senior gaming, lodging and theatres analyst at Macquarie Capital, was encouraged by December’s gambling revenue numbers posted by Strip casinos. Even though the total was down year over year, the monthly figure bested estimates.
“We view the monthly results quite positively considering December included two fewer weekend days (versus) last year in addition to facing a tough comp with December 2024 representing the highest-ever monthly (gross gaming revenue) achieved on the Strip,” Beynon and his team wrote in an investor’s note on Monday.
Analysts and industry experts provided context for the Strip’s half-year dip in gaming revenue, including difficult comparisons to 2023, which set multiple monthly records, and high variances in baccarat.
“Based on (2024 fourth-quarter) market data, we estimate Vegas Strip segments are set to report in-line (fourth-quarter) earnings,” Beynon wrote, later adding, “Overall, we think Vegas looks less attractive than this time last year given negative industry/company growth in 2024 and our expectations for this to continue in 2025, particularly (in the first quarter).”
The team at Macquarie also suggested there could be some gaming-industry mergers and acquisitions on the horizon “given subdued (real estate investment trust) activity in 2024.”
Below is a roundup of gaming news.
Florida Hard Rock upgrade
Hard Rock International, the company that is transforming The Mirage into Hard Rock Las Vegas, recently completed a $65 million upgrade to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa.
The Florida resort, owned by the Seminole Indian Tribe, unveiled a new gaming area with 350 new slot machines from IGT and Las Vegas-based Light & Wonder at the casino, renovated 240 of the resort’s 802 smoke-free guest rooms and reopened its Fresh Harvest Buffet.
The reopening of the buffet created 200 new jobs and brought the total number of employees to 4,293.
Year of the Snake
Macao is setting tourism records with the kickoff of the Lunar New Year’s “Year of the Snake.”
In the first six days of the eight-day holiday period observed in China, Macao welcomed more than 1 million visitors. The Macao Government Tourism Office reported 219,092 visitors on the first day of what is called the “Golden Week” holiday, a post-COVID record for the Chinese gaming enclave.
Kentucky casinos
With a declining interest in horse racing in Kentucky, a state legislator there has introduced a bill to legalize casinos in the state.
Rep. Thomas Huff, R-Shepherdsville, introduced legislation in January to allow land-based casinos and gambling on riverboats in the state starting July 1.
The measure faces stiff opposition from Family Foundation of Kentucky, which opposes all forms of gambling.
If the bill advances, Huff said election results would determine which counties would host casinos. The Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corp. would license and operate each casino in the state.
Atlantic City casinos employees want action on smoking ban bill
Casino employees in Atlantic City are demanding action after a year of inactivity on the part of New Jersey lawmakers to ban smoking inside their workplaces.
In January 2023, a state Senate health committee voted in favor of a proposed bill that would close the legal loophole that exempts Atlantic City casinos from the N.J.’s smoke-free air law. Since then, the bill has not advanced despite assurances from lawmakers that action would be taken.
“It’s been a year since the Senate Health Committee voted to protect us from secondhand smoke, and yet we’re still waiting for action from Senate leadership,” said Pete Naccarelli, a table games dealer at the Borgata casino-hotel and co-founder of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, or C.E.A.S.E. “Casino employees have waited long enough. How many more workers have to get sick despite never smoking a day in their lives before lawmakers in Trenton will make good on their promises?
More than two-thirds of the New Jersey Legislature is either a sponsor or co-sponsor of companion bills that would permanently ban smoking in Atlantic City casinos. The state’s governor has said he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.
“The votes are here, the support is here, and it’s time for our legislators to pass (the bill) now. We’ve waited long enough — it’s time to close this loophole and protect our health,” Naccarelli said.
