“We don’t believe in trickle-down. We believe in bottom up, and we need the American worker to be the top priority in this recovery. If we don’t get people pay, security on housing, security on health care, security on sick leave, we will prolong the agony of America and the American worker.”
—D. Taylor, president, UNITE HERE International, which represents casino industry workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak
“Our impression, from our discussions across the industry, is that all of the parties involved remain steadfast in their expectation that the deal will close and the value opportunity remains.”
—David Katz, analyst, Jefferies Gaming, on expectations that the Eldorado-Caesars merger will complete as planned, despite rumblings due to the coronavirus
“Ordering them to close, even for two weeks, will have a disastrous effect not just on our economy, but on thousands of hourly wage earners and small business owners.”
—Carrie Ruud, Minnesota state senator, who opposed the order to close all the state’s casinos
“Unilateral decisions rule out options for businesses and owners to make satisfactory adjustments on their own. The legislature should have bipartisan input into executive decisions when they impact the lives of so many people.”
—Andrew Mathews, Minnesota state senator, who agrees with colleague Carrie Ruud that casino operators should decide if and when they should shut down
“Investors who buy now will be rewarded with eye-watering high dividend yields of 10 percent p.a. while waiting for operations to recover.”
—Maybank Investment Bank, which has slashed full-year earnings for Genting by 33 percent, but is bullish on the Malaysian firm’s long-term promise
“From an operational standpoint, the sooner we shut down, the sooner we let this thing blow over, the sooner we can get back on track and get back to normal business operations.”
—Joseph Talachy, governor of the Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico, announcing that his tribe’s casinos would be closing temporarily due to the coronavirus
“Betway could not provide evidence of any social responsibility interactions being carried out with this customer.”
—UK Gambling Commission, on the iGaming operator’s acceptance of almost £500,000 from a customer with 11 accounts who had signed up to self-exclude
“Betway takes full responsibility for the small number of historic cases which have led to this settlement. We have fully cooperated with the investigation and will take further proactive steps to ensure all recommendations and findings are implemented.”
—Anthony Werkman, Betway CEO, on offenses that earned his company the U.K. Gambling Commission’s highest ever fine of £11.6 million
“It was unanimous that making the decision to cancel was the only sensible approach … and everybody did it with, as you can imagine, deep regret. I told the board when we finished, I’ve never been so disappointed at having a unanimous vote before.”
—Michael Drake, chairman, NCAA board of governors, on the decision to end the season before March Madness began
“As a result of this, people are more likely to die from coronavirus. Welcome to Selfishville.”
—Luke “Ming” Flanagan, Irish politician, who said the 60,000-plus people who turned out to the Cheltenham race festival were “gambling with our lives”
“Do the right thing: temporarily pause operations at your facilities and ensure that the health and safety of our members is protected.”
—Corey Dalton, president, Unifor Local 1090, challenging Casino Rama in Ontario to close its doors
“The pachinko industry has been asked to not advertise with the intent of encouraging more people to visit the parlors, and for some locations to impose closure days to contain the spread of the virus.”
—Yoshihide Suga, Japan cabinet secretary, urging the country’s popular gaming parlors to voluntarily close and refrain from promoting their services
“Only if the virus crisis gets more serious in Japan would it pose a threat to the IR plans.”
—Daniel Cheng, gaming analyst, who doesn’t expect the coronavirus to disrupt Japan’s developing integrated resort (IR) industry
“A lot of people were betting it. So it’s kind of funny in some ways, but sad in others. This is all we have to bet on, but people are betting it.’’
—Chris Andrews, sportsbook director, South Point Las Vegas, pushing bets on Mexican soccer, Brazilian UFC and other exotic competitions
“Let’s be honest: Winning the Kentucky Derby is the be-all and end-all in thoroughbred horse racing.”
—Jack Knowlton, stable owner, on moving the Kentucky Derby from May to September
“I can sterilize your chips in the ovens today, somebody comes in tomorrow and sneezes on your chips, and guess what? You’ve got a viral outbreak.”
—Clay Dubois, owner, Elite Chip Care of Las Vegas, who saw a spike in business cleaning casino chips, until casinos suddenly closed
“We should not be fearful. We’re going to win and we’re going to beat this bad, bad disease.”
—Jim Justice, governor of West Virginia, on the Covid-19 pandemic
