Areas of Expertise
8021 stories by Devin O'Connor
Casino Rumor Mill: Las Vegas Sands Considering Wynn Resorts Takeover
Las Vegas Sands is admittedly a buyer in the current economic gaming market. Billionaire founder and Chairman Sheldon Adelson revealed that acquisitions are being considered during the company's first-quarter earnings call last month. Union Gaming analyst John DeCree feels Sands rival Wynn...
Macau Government Halves Forecast Casino Gaming Tax Receipts in 2020 Budget
The Macau Financial Services Bureau has slashed its projected tax revenue from casino gaming in half for 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The enclave's chief tax agency has reduced its forecast for receipts from gaming revenue from MOP98.228 billion ($12.31...
President Donald Trump Allies in Las Vegas Handling Coronavirus Impact Differently
The coronavirus has resulted in US unemployment swelling to 14.7 percent, a rate not seen since the Depression, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office. For several of current President Donald Trump's closest allies who themselves employ thousands of people, the...
Hard Rock Loses Athens Casino Appeal, Greek Court Allows Mohegan Gaming to Proceed with IR
Hard Rock International has been dealt another setback in its quest to win licensing rights to operate an integrated casino resort in Athens, Greece. On Thursday, the top administrative court in Greece rejected Hard Rock's appeal that it was wrongly denied the...
Atlantic City Casino Profits Surged 79 Percent in 2019 Q4, Then Pandemic Struck
Atlantic City casinos reported a nearly 79 percent surge in gross operating profit (GOP) in the final quarter of 2019. But then the coronavirus struck and resulted in the nine gaming properties suspending their operations. There's no good time for a pandemic,...
Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning Favored Against Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady in Charity Golf Match
Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning are the betting favorites in their golf match against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady. The match is set to be played May 24 at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida. The front nine will be four-ball...
Macau Folds on Levying Entrance Fee on Tourists, Casinos Rejoice
Officials in Macau are ending their considerations of imposing an entrance tax on tourists arriving in the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR). Following a record year in 2019 where more than 39.4 million visitors ventured into the enclave, the Macau Government Tourism...
Foxwoods Casino Details Reopening Plans, Will Clean Chips and Swap Out Playing Cards More Frequently
Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, is revealing some of the health protection measures it's implementing that will allow the property to safely reopen once deemed appropriate. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Chairman Rodney Butler took ABC's Nightline through the massive resort this week....
Atlantic City Casinos Could Miss Out on Busy Summer Months, as New Jersey Extends Emergency Order
Atlantic City casinos will remain closed through at least June 6 after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) extended his public health emergency. The first-term Democratic governor says the extension does not mean the data is showing that the stay-at-home mandate and...
Closed Maryland Casinos Costs State $60M in April, Education Loses $45M
Maryland casinos won $145.23 million in April of 2019, but $0 last month, as all six gaming properties were closed by COVID-19. It might take many years to fully evaluate the total economic damage caused by the coronavirus. But the shuttering of...