Grim and Grimmer

[Chump and BG]

Grim and Grimmer

The LVRJ ran an article yesterday on the 2008 fiscal year report (6/30/07-6/30/08) from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Most of the grim news was attributable to the first half of calendar year 2008. Net income was down substantially everywhere in Nevada.

- The Strip was down 57%
- Reno was down 50%
- Lake Tahoe was down 173%, their first loss in 22 years
- Downtown was down 52%
- Clark County actually went into the red by $146MM

The statewide results saw a decrease in net profit of 69%. Gaming accounts for just 48.2% of the industry’s revenue. At the same time, expenses (including comps) were up by 16.2%, the largest single increase being the interest paid on loans.

The grimmer news is that the first five months of the 2009 fiscal year (6/30/08-6/30/09) are tracking worse! More lay offs, contraction, foreclosures and possibly bankruptcies are becoming a real possibility writes the paper.

[sonntex]

Yeah, we did kind of hi-jack it.

But the interest and loan thing DOES relate to Vegas. That's hurting the construction out there. Interest is eating them up IF they can even get a loan. AND these small businesses that can't get the loans they need to buy inventory or meet payroll - I know several Vegas junkies who lost their jobs recently. Their gambling trips will be fewer and farer betweener - if at all. And if they do go, they won't be dropping the coins like they used to. With less and less visitors coming in, that doesn't bode well for increasing the bottom lines for any of the casinos any time soon.

Until the economy starts coming back, Vegas won't either.

On second thought - this not might be a bad thing for those us who can make a trip this year. Maybe we will be seeing some better odds and looser machines????? We're already seeing lots of good deals on rooms.

[sonntex]

But turning this thread back to Vegas....


Many of the small family owned businesses in Vegas are struggling just to stay alive while the big corporations on the strip are still generating dollars and paying their debts(for the time being) and will probably survive.
They have made cut backs in the work force - many are on part-time or 'we'll call you if we need you'. Harrahs is preparing for another cut back.
One casino chain dropped their 401K match.
The Venetian/Palazzo is handing out free rooms and free play right and left to just about anyone who has ever entered their doors just to fill their rooms. And at the same cutting back on their work force.
We'll be seeing some more casino sales - if there is anyone who can afford to buy.

Look at some of the reports and comments from the locals on this board and you get a good picture of what is happening in Vegas. Why? Because it's economy relies on US - the tourists. And if we're not doing so great - Vegas doesn't either and neither do other tourist reliant economies.

It may take a few months or several years for everything to get back to what we can consider normal. Until then.....

I'm doing my part to keep it alive. T-5.

VIVA LAS VEGAS

[Chump and BG]

My thought in reading this article and in posting it is that we will see some dramatic changes occurring to our favorite place in the coming months. I think we will see resorts closing entire wings or perhaps their bottom 12 floors as they simply won’t be able to fill them nor even staff them as they lay off more and more workers. Restaurants and shows will close. There will be some resorts which will go dark altogether. I think Vegas will survive to be a different place. MGM and HET may go down as they are so incredibly extended that they would have only eked by in the best of times. There will be no financial help nor government bailouts for the gaming industry. Vegas would have been a world entertainment destination. I will be happy if it survives as it began, a gambling mecca. Viva Las Vegas.

[Steve]

Ok,,this post is going to make like David Copperfield and disappear

This is the best reason I can show for not opening an off-topic Forum. I am very disappointed to see some of the nasty comments that have been posted. I deleted more posts in this thread then all other off-topic posts that were made here since i opened the Forums !!!

I removed most of the OFF TOPIC (I won't call them distastefull even though some were) Please keep to original topic.

Steve

[vegasbabe]

.......from my night out both on the strip, and downtown last night. (and "One Six" of course.)

If this is supposed to be a slow time of year out here, why couldn't I find a place to park in the parking garages? Is everyone driving instead of flying? Or finally realizing it's cheaper to get a rental car than to take a cab? This was both on the strip and downtown. I ended up on the roof at Binions. Thank God they finally fixed the elevator that was broken for about a year!

Everyone downtown was flocking to the cheap places. A lot of folks were just hangin' out on the street waiting for the next light show, and enjoying the free entertainment in between. Carl "safe sax" Ferris was a big draw. I can remember back when I thought he was just a homeless guy playing for tips. Now he has his picture in lights on the canopy, 3 or more saxes, and at least 2 albums for sale. He says he's been on Fremont St. for 9 years, and he loves every minute of it. There were also a lot of people huddled around the spray paint artists. The mototcycle sphere was so crowded, I could barely see the cycles.

So, everyone's looking for a bargain.

On the upside, the nightclubs were packed! My boyfriend had to turn people away at Rok Vegas, shortly after midnight, as they were filled to capacity.

Also, the abandonned, bankrupt property beside my store, "Manhattan West," supposedly has 3 different investment groups, planning on starting a bidding war on the property. This is according to the security guard who has been working to keep the vandals from destroying it over the past few weeks.

So, Vegas is not dead yet!

Oh yeah--as for "One Six" ---excellent half priced martinis. I went back to the cinnamon one first, then I tried the grape cosmo. So, good I had 2 of those. The view hasn't changed, other than the clientel. It was warmer, about 55, so it was already more crowded. All ages, but everyone on the dance floor was over 50. Finally a place for the mature folks to go???

[vegasbabe]

I think I may have answered at least one of my own questions tonight. The malls are empty, the strip mall stores are closed on a sunday night, the night clubs are now only open 3 to 4 nights a week, and there were a lot of NV plates in the Binions parking garage tonight. (I had some unfinished business to do with a spin poker machine)

So, one might assume a lot more locals are headed to the strip and downtown for free entertainment. The question now is, how long will it be there, and how long will it be free?

[AnnPedi614]

Vegasbabe it is also a holiday weekend which could be why places were so packed. I am wondering what the strip is like during the week. I have gotten tons of offers for superbowl weekend. Mostly deeply discounted rates including the Mirage at $77 a night for the weekend. I guess I will see for myself before too long, but I can't imagine people having the disposable income they had even 2 years ago.

[GREGRIO]

It's been a different place my last 3 trips. The casinos are
pretty empty in the mornings and don't pick up til late in the
afternoons into the evening and even then...real lite.
Last week after JERSEY BOYS (good crowd in the theatre) I walked
into the Venetian. It was PACKED, BUSY, LOUD just like the old days.

If you can afford to go and find a reasonable flight, the deals are there.
I noticed NO change in the slot or VP machines. Properties aren't going to
spend the time and money to replace tighter chips...folks are still winning,
(and loosing) the same as always...

Nothing would surprise me in near future in re. to how the properties will
'do what they have to do' to survive. Cafes are closing right and left.
Staff is cut way down and floors being closed is becoming the norm...BUT...
we'll still go if we can. The escape factor is still there and folks seem to
need it more than ever now.

[Chump and BG]

While visiting Vegas last month, I can recall any number of comments made by casino staff indicating genuine concern over their jobs and these people had 20+ years of seniority. These are exceptional people at risk. The revenue numbers simply are not there to support the status quo or even the downsized version which has taken shape over the course of the past year. Rumor persisted that some of the floors in TI's tower have been temporary closed in order to cut expenses. There are only a couple of hosts left at Treasure Island, all the others have been laid off including the two that we had worked with for the past twelve years. The Breeze which has always comped most any drink within reason to players is now limited to only those which retail for less than $9, no more Grey Goose Bloody Mary's. Nightclubs have a short shelf life to begin with but some like TI’s, Christian Audigier, was DOA. Even the bouncers are quitting their jobs there. The restaurants which were open six nights a week are now cut back to five. These circumstances are not unique to TI. A local told us that he was shocked to have heard the actual occupancy numbers at Mandalay Bay and to have found $5 minimums on all but one of their crap tables there on a Sunday night. The bottom line seems to be that Vegas still shows a good occupancy on the weekends and holiday's but it drops off significantly during the weekdays. I think Vegas can thank California for that. Perhaps the percentage of the amount spent per visitor has dropped even more than the number of visitors itself. Both have contributed to a 69% decline of net income to the industry in Nevada.

MGM and HET are clearly trying to cut expenses as well as cut back on comps. MGM requires more play than in the past for equivalent comps. HET intends to cut its maintenance expense by 90%. Both have a huge debt burden to carry. Steve Wynn on the other hand had told the LVRJ recently that his solution to the recession is to keep his namesake and Encore full whatever it takes. In fact, many folks are receiving offers they had not in the past from the Wynn. The Sands seems to be following this line as well but not to such as great of extent. We have numerous offers from MGM's Players Club , really the same as last year including invitations to the Super Bowl parties. What is different now however is like that which we just received this morning that Ann referred to, an on line advertisement outside of casino marketing showing Mirage rooms available for $69/night for the weekend during the Super Bowl. WHAT? This is a really big event in Vegas and I haven't seen ANY $69 weekend deals sent out to the general public before at any time of year for the Mirage. The Encore and the Palazzo came on line this year adding 5,000 new luxury rooms. By the end of 2009, City Center and Fontainebleau will also open adding an additional 8600 luxury rooms. I think we are in for a roller coaster ride in Vegas. Will it be better or worse for us as visitors and players remains to be seen. The two Strip giants are under duress to survive the storm and many jobs for some very fine people are dangling. The only visible domestic buyer at present is Penn National Gaming and they may have their eye on the Rio.