A gaming industry analyst says Strip room rates are stable as the industry enters the second quarter of the year.
Barry Jonas of Atlanta-based Truist Securities, said following a tough comparison in February a year after Las Vegas hosted Super Bowl 58, higher rates have returned heading into April, based on a survey by the company. That’s good news for MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, which have the most rooms on the Strip.
“While recession fears have risen in the past few weeks, our survey is not yet showing any fundamental change,” Jonas said in a Friday report to investors. “This suggests to us that recent underperformance of Buy-rated MGM (stock at a 2½-year low) and CZR (stock at a five-year low) may be overdone – though we are monitoring for any meaningful consumer shifts. Our survey should be viewed as more of a directional than exact indicator for room trends with just one facet of the market.”
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority last month said January Strip hotel rates averaged $208.23, up 2 percent from January 2024.
Regulator retirements
The Nevada Gaming Control Board is losing two high-profile leaders to retirement this month.
Carl Hoffman, chief of the board’s Investigations Division left the board this week after 32 years overseeing the agency division that investigates all gaming license and key employee applicants to determine their viability, business integrity and suitability for licensure or approval.
Later this week, Michael Lawton, who has spent the last 15 years as the Control Board’s senior economic analyst, is leaving his role as the person who crunches and explains gaming revenue numbers every month.
Hoffman has been succeeded by the deputy Investigations Division chief he trained, Luke Rippee, while Lawton’s shoes will be filled by Shelley Newell, a CPA and longtime board employee who currently is a supervisor in the Control Board’s Audit Division.
“His work product has been outstanding,” Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick said at Hoffman’s final board meeting Wednesday. “He has just a vast amount of institutional knowledge and experience that I was able to rely on. And I speak for everybody, my colleagues on the board, as well as everybody at the Gaming Control Board staff, he’s just going to be terribly missed. He’s just been an outstanding person. He’s been a splendid chief for the investigative division, and he’s even a better human being.”
In an interview with the Review-Journal, Hoffman said what he’ll miss most in retirement is his interactions with colleagues, who he says are the best in the business.
He won’t miss the travel so much. His job has required him to fly frequently to Las Vegas from his Carson City office, but job travel has enabled him to see places he probably would have never gotten to see, such as Dubai and Punta del Este in Uruguay, during the course of some of his gaming investigations.
“The people I work with, the people that work for me, they basically start as colleagues, but they become family, especially after all these years and we’ve been through so much together and there’s just an amazing camaraderie that I will miss,” he said.
Hendrick, who last month announced his own plan to exit at the conclusion 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 be retiring next week after many years with the Gaming Control Board as a senior economic analyst,” Hendrick said last week. “Mike’s steady hand and calm demeanor has meant a lot for the state and for the Gaming Control Board and what he does to provide numbers and statistics on behalf of the board.”
Formerly a table games dealer at The Mirage and Bellagio after graduating from UNLV’s William F. Harrah School of Hotel Administration, Lawton got an appreciation for how the volatility of baccarat can influence the monthly gaming win figures and has often commented on how a few hands from high-roller players can influence whether casinos had a good or bad month.
Online casino outpaces Atlantic City casinos, again, in New Jersey
For the second consecutive month and third time ever, gross gambling revenue from online casinos in New Jersey was higher than in-person revenue reported by Atlantic City’s nine casinos.
N.J.’s 30 licensed online casino sites generated $207.8 million in February, according to data from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement. Atlantic City casinos collectively generated $203.5 million last month.
Both segments were down year-over-year in February.
Internet gaming sites outperformed Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar operators in January as well, $221.6 million to $210.1 million.
In October 2024, online casino revenue surpassed Atlantic City GGR for the first time (excluding the industry shutdown due to COVID-19 orders).
Atlantic City casinos reported annual revenue of nearly $2.82 billion in 2024, down 1.1 percent from the previous year. Online casinos posted $2.39 billion last year, up 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 corporate board overseeing the Las Vegas-based gaming and hospitality giant.
Langley’s list of accolades includes being named one of the “100 Most Influential People” by Time magazine and Fortune magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Business,” in 2024.
“MGM Resorts is the global leader across gaming, hospitality and live entertainment,” Langley said in a press release announcing the appointment. “Joining their board as they continue to ideate and innovate on best-in-class experiences for multi-generational audiences is an exciting challenge I’m delighted to take on with my fellow board members and the incredible management team.”
The release stated Langley “leads greenlight decisions across NBCUniversal with full oversight of all entertainment programming and marketing across Peacock, Bravo and NBC, including primetime and late night. She continues to spearhead global creative strategy, business operations, production, acquisitions and distribution for the portfolio of award-winning film and television studios.”
Paul Salem, chair of MGM’s board, said Langley’s “entertainment background and experience, especially in areas like content strategy, programming, distribution and marketing, will be invaluable.”
