“While there will be some revenue coming in from online sources, the cessation of live casino gaming caused numbers to sharply plummet, and they will take some time to increase, even after the shutdowns end.”
—David Schwartz, gaming historian, University of Nevada Las Vegas, on the 44 percent decline in gaming revenues in New Jersey last month
“There are a range of risk factors in place at the moment: social isolation, boredom, stress, financial and job insecurity and the opportunity to gamble online.”
—Matthew Gaskell, clinician, U.K. National Health Service, who expects a spike in problem online gambling during the Covid-19 shutdown
“As a city, we are now moving toward a decision, and we cannot move the schedule because we need to meet the country’s schedule. We cannot stop now.”
—Fumiko Hayashi, mayor, Yokohama, Japan, who says the city will not delay its plans to bid on an integrated resort, despite the Covid-19 emergency
“It doesn’t cost me a dime. The private community has stepped up, and that really warms my heart.”
—Domenic Sarno, mayor, Springfield, Massachusetts, on a donation of medical supplies for triage facilities from MGM Springfield
“If you want to lose more than £500 a month, you will have to go and prove to your gambling operator all about your sanity, your wealth, your source of wealth, probably the size of your feet and what you like to eat on a Tuesday.”
—Steve Donoughue, U.K. gaming consultant, who is concerned that increased regulation of legal gaming will drive bettors to the black market
“With all the problems in the country and in Atlantic City, it is a sad commentary that the mayor is wasting taxpayer money, as well as valuable time for absolutely no reason other than a self-promotional PR stunt.”
—Hunter Gary, Icahn Enterprises, insisting a plan is under way to demolish the old Trump Plaza on the AC Boardwalk. The city government has threatened to sue Icahn to hasten the demolition
“It’s easy now, with hindsight being 20/20, to claim that demolition was under way and we didn’t need to waste taxpayers’ money … I’m responsible for the health, welfare and safety of Atlantic City residents and visitors. It’s clear that the safety of Atlantic City residents is compromised by that structure.”
—Marty Small, Atlantic City mayor, on accusations by Icahn Enterprises that legal action to force the demolition of Trump Plaza is a PR stunt
“I am grateful we can leverage our resources to get these donations to the front lines, and we send them with the best wishes of our company and team members.”
—Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands Corp., on the firm’s donation of 1 million face masks to first responders in the U.S.
“More important are the concerns of the people, feeding the people. The concerns of the business community are secondary at this point.”
—Enrique Razon Jr., owner of Philippine gaming operator Bloomberry Resorts, who is using his shipping business to deliver medical supplies and food
“We want to keep our community healthy and do our part to fight this pandemic with a warrior mentality.”
—John Krueger, MD, Chickasaw Nation chief medical officer, on the tribe’s outreach to the communities near its reservation in Oklahoma
“By donating rooms to frontline workers, we hope these heroes can rest, stay strong and protect their families from potential exposure.”
—Las Vegas Hilton, in a statement on its program to give up to 1 million free hotel room nights to medical personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic
“We’re moving forward now as if football is going to be there when we get to the fall. We’re certainly not holding our breath, but first things first, and that’s looking at things that might start up in mid-summer or late summer.”
—Jay Kornegay, Las Vegas Hotel & Casino SuperBook, on the uncertain future of sports in the U.S.
“The casinos are sitting on a pile of money and watching the chaos around them. There is absolutely no excuse for an industry that has done quite well to turn their backs on these workers.”
—Bob McDevitt, president, Unite Here Local 54, the Atlantic City casino workers’ union, who says the casinos have put workers “in the poorhouse”
“If you look at the economic numbers that are going start coming out in the coming weeks, this portends to be a worse economic downturn than we even saw in the Great Recession. That means some casinos won’t survive.”
—Clyde Barrow, professor and gaming analyst, University of Texas, who predicts some Atlantic City’s casinos will not survive the current economic crisis
“Many of these small businesses already operate leanly, with tight profit margins and just enough people on staff to keep things running. Like any other small business, small gaming and betting establishments are in desperate need of assistance in order to rebound from this crisis.”
—Dina Titus, Nevada lawmaker, arguing for the inclusion of gaming support businesses in relief funding from the Small Business Administration
“I’ve been antsy from the minute all this started.”
—Don Logan, president and COO, Las Vegas Aviators minor league team, on his desire to see the baseball season get under way
“We just screwed up. I didn’t have the authority to do it, it should have never happened and I apologize to everyone.”
—John Myers, director, West Virginia Lottery, taking the blame for letting bettors wager on the elections, if only for a couple of hours
“They put a casino in my basketball game.”
—Joey Vargas, media commentator and YouTube star, complaining about gambling components in NBA 2K20
