An analyst for the gaming industry says that Striprum prices are stable when the industry enters this year’s second quarter.
Barry Jonas from Atlanta-based Truist Securities, said after a tough comparison in February one year after Las Vegas hosted Super Bowl 58, higher prices have returned to April, based on a survey by the company. This is good news for MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, which has the most room on the strip.
“While the recession has risen in recent weeks, our survey does not yet show any fundamental change,” Jonas said in a Friday report to investors. “This suggests for us that recently under-performance of purchase ratings MGM (stock on a 2½-year low) and CZR (layer on a five-year low) can exaggerate if we monitor for all meaningful consumer shifts.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority last month said that January -Straphotell prices were an average of $ 208.23, an increase of 2 percent from January 2024.
Regulator pension
Nevada Gaming Control Board loses two high -profile leaders to retire this month.
Carl Hoffman, head of the Board’s investigation department, submitted the Board this week after 32 years of surveillance of the agency department, which investigates all gaming license and important employees to determine their life force, business integrity and suitability for license or approval.
Later this week, Michael Lawton, who has spent the last 15 years as the financial analyst’s financial analyst, leaves his role as the person who crushes and explains gaming revenue every month.
Hoffman has been succeeded by Deputy Investigation Division Manager he trained, Luke Rippee, while Lawton’s shoes will be filled by Shelley Newell, a CPA and a long -term board that is currently a supervisor in the board’s audit department.
“His work product has been outstanding,” said Board chairman Kirk Hendrick at Hoffman’s last board meeting Wednesday. “He has only a huge amount of institutional knowledge and experience that I could trust to trust.
In an interview with Review-Journal, Hoffman said that what he will miss most in retirement is his interaction with colleagues, which he says are the best in the industry.
He will not miss the trip that much. His job has demanded him often fly to Las Vegas from his Carson City office, but job trips have enabled him to see places he probably would never have seen, such as Dubai and Punta del Este in Uruguay, during some of his gaming investigations.
“The people I work with, the people who work for me, they basically start as colleagues, but they become family, especially after all these years and we have gone through so much together and there is only a fantastic friendship that I will miss,” he said.
Hendrick, who last month announced his own plan to leave at the end of the current legislative session, also had kind words for Lawton.
“I also want to take a moment and recognize Mike Lawton, who will also retire next week after many years with Gaming Control Board as a senior economic analyst,” Hendrick said last week. “Mike’s steady hand and calm behavior have been a lot of impact on the state and for the game control board and what he does to provide figures and statistics on behalf of the Board.”
Previously a table career at The Mirage and Bellagio after graduation from UNLV’s William F. Harrah School of Hotel Administration, Lawton received an estimate of how the volatility in Baccarat can affect the monthly gaming win and has often commented on how some hands from high -rollers can affect if Casinos had a good or bad month.
Online Casino Outpaces Atlantic City Casino, again, in New Jersey
For the second month in a row and the third time ever, gross revenue from online casinos in New Jersey was higher than personal revenue reported by Atlantic City’s nine casinos.
NJ’s 30 licensed online casino sites generated $ 207.8 million in February, according to data from the state department for gaming operations. Atlantic City Casinos generated collectively $ 203.5 million last month.
Both segments were down the year before in February.
Internet game websites exceeded Atlantic City’s brick and mortar operators in January as well, $ 221.6 million to $ 210.1 million.
In October 2024, casino revenue surpassed online Atlantic City GGR for the first time (excluding the industry closure due to Covid-19 orders).
Atlantic City Casinos reported annual revenue of almost $ 2.82 billion in 2024, a reduction of 1.1 percent from the previous year. Online casinos published $ 2.39 billion last year, an increase of more than 24 percent from 2023.
Entertainment Exec joins MGM Resorts Board
Donna Langley, chairman of NBCuniversal Entertainment & Studios, has joined MGM Resort International’s Board of Directors. She is the 13th member of the company’s board that monitors the Las Vegas-based gaming and hospitality giant.
Langley’s list of awards includes being named one of the “100 most influential people” by Time magazine and Fortune Magazine “100 most powerful women in business” 2024.
“MGM Resorts is the global leader of games, hospitality and live entertainment,” Langley said in a press release that announced the appointment. “Join their board as they continue to ideate and renew the best-in-class experiences for several generations of audiences is an exciting challenge that I am happy to take on my colleagues and the incredible management team.”
The release stated that Langley “is leading Greenlight decisions on NBCuniversal with full monitoring of all entertainment programming and marketing over peacock, Bravo and NBC, including PrimeTime and late in the evening.
Paul Salem, chairman of MGM’s Board of Directors, said that Langley’s “entertainment background and experience, especially in areas such as content strategy, programming, distribution and marketing, will be invaluable.”
