With Las Vegas waking up from its frantic slumber, Governor Steve Sisolak and businesses in the Silver State are trying to keep it together. The latest step towards some form of normalcy comes from The Mirage, the iconic MGM Resorts International property, which is planning to restart operations on August 27.
The hotel and casino will reopen and comply with state-mandated policies for employee screening, temperature checks, as well as provide training to employees related to COVID-19.
All guests and employees will have to wear masks with complimentary masks available to patrons. The casino will observe social distancing policies and install physical barriers to facilitate the enforcement of the measure. Gov. Sisolak cautioned earlier this week that his office and relevant authorities will seek to punish non-compliant venues.
Mobile gaming and cashless payments have become a common tenet in Las Vegas, with more venues seeking their successful implementation. Meanwhile, MGM Resorts president and CEO Bill Hornbuckle had this to say as part of the official announcement:
“As we have slowly and thoughtfully reintroduced our properties across the country, we have placed the health and safety of our guests and employees first at all times.”
Hornbuckle said that he was pleased with the reopening, as it would allow the company to bring many employees back to work. However, the company continues to suffer in China, as Macau remains a ghost town.
Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania continued to grow in July and it actually ended beating July 2019’s. Admittedly, the lead was slim with some 0.6% in favor of 2020, which posted a total of $281.5 million in revenue proceedings.
However, the number meant almost double revenue increase from June to July, marking the return of brick-and-mortar casino operations as well as online operations. The monthly revenue was boosted by the return of physical venues which, combined with Internet gaming, lead a strong month for Pennsylvania.
In fact, Pennsylvania managed to beat Nevada in terms of sports betting handle, too, a shocking milestone, but understandable given Nevada’s reliance on travel to Las Vegas, the very heart of the gambling world in the United States.
Online casinos contributed some $54.4 million of the overall revenue, or roughly 1/5. Most properties posted close results, with Rivers Casino and Harrah’s Philadelphia both reporting over $25 million in revenue.
Mount Airy Casino Resort and Hollywood Casino at Penn National posted $27 million each, and Wind Creek Bethlehem came second in the the chart with $28,040,019 in July. Parx Casino, on the other hand, earned more than double the amount posted by Wind Creek, with some $59,850,558 last month.
Adding to 350 employees who will be laid off due to redundancies, Penn M Resort has announced that 58 more staff members will have to go. The operator sent a letter to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on August 6, as requested by law.
In the letter, M Resort explained that due to the unfortunate events pertaining to COVID-19, the business would not be able to continue employing the affected people. However, the union representing those employees might be able to use collective bargaining rights and displace employees instead of laying them off point blank.
With casinos limiting their facility operations to only 50% of capacity, many employees have become redundant. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the only company that has vowed to support its employees and pay them through at least end of October.
Commenting on the decision to let employees go, M Resort released an official statement in which the company said:
“We simply could not foresee that the initial closures of our properties, that were issued by one or two states for a limited period of time, ultimately spread throughout all the states in which we operate and eventually be extended, interrupting almost all business and travel temporarily.”
While in Nevada, Gov. Steve Sisolak passed legislation that would protect casinos from frivolous lawsuits, Jamul Casino near San Diego, California, has filed a lawsuit against Lexington Insurance Company, a firm owned by American International Group.
The lawsuit seeks damages from the insurer which failed to provide coverage for losses related to COVID-19. Filed with the Intertribal Court of Southern California, Jamul Casino outlines three specific reasons for seeking compensation, including causes of action for declaratory relief, breach of contract, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Commenting on these developments, Jamul Casino chairwoman Erica M. Pinto had this to say:
“Jamul believes that Lexington didn’t interpret our policy correctly and has wrongly denied coverage. We have an ‘all-risk’ policy, which was intended to cover any and all risks. We believe that includes losses related to the pandemic.”
Jamul also argued that the insurer had wrongly requested “physical damage” to the property for the agreed-upon insurer clauses to trigger. While some insurers made sure to include exclusions from their policies, especially after the SARS outbreak in 2003, Lexington wasn’t one of those companies.
Without such provision in the policy, Jamul Casino is entitled to seek compensation from the insurer, Pinto said.
While casinos have been affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, the Golden Nugget Online Gaming operation reached new heights, registering $28.2 million for the period between April and June. The online revenue constituted an 85% increase in online gaming revenue year-over-year.
Tilman J. Fertitta, owner of the online brand, said that the company was immense happy with the continuous growth in New Jersey and the ongoing profitability. Golden Nugget Online Gaming SVP and GM Thomas Winter mentioned that the second-quarter results were bolstered by a record number of players and more importantly engagement.
Following these results, the company feels confident to expand in other markets, including Michigan and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania posted record-high numbers in July, improving 2019’s results despite the pandemic.
Kevin was raised on sports since a young teen and following a (fortunate) injury pursued new hobbies in table games such as Blackjack and Poker. Since 2009 Kevin has been writing for casino sites for various big names in the industry and CasinoSites.us is but one of his latest passion projects.
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