“We don’t expect anything happening in ’15, but we’ve been encouraged by the hearings that we’ve participated in, in and around the state of Pennsylvania, that there’s more of an appetite to consider these options than there ever has been.”
—Tim Wilmott, CEO of Pennsylvania casino operator Penn National during a recent earnings call on the dwindling chances that legalized online gambling will be passed in the state to plug budget holes in 2015
“This special law prevents everyone else from competing or even from making an alternative proposal that could be of greater benefit to the state. We believe that everyone should be given an equal opportunity to compete.”
—MGM Resorts International President Bill Hornbuckle, commenting on his company’s lawsuit challenging the Connecticut law that would allow its two gaming tribes to have exclusive rights to open a satellite casino in the state
“With these mergers, you now have companies that are in lottery, VLT and slot markets here and around the world. As to whether these mergers are good or not, I think that remains to be seen. But I do think we all need it to be good. If not… it puts a strain on the operators, which is bad for the industry and bad for all of us.”
—Aruze Gaming Sales Director Paul Luquet, on the recent mergers in the slot sector
“The slot floors that you see today are not going to be in existence 10 years from now.”
—MGM Resorts International CEO James Murren, commenting that slot floors will have to adapt with interactive games to accommodate millennials, who outnumber baby boomers and who do not like to play today’s slot machines
“Our new brand will provide us with the unique identity that conveys our intention to be a full-service supplier of casino gaming equipment and payment solutions.”
—Global Cash Access CEO Ram Chary, on a conference call, commenting on the new brand of the company formed by GCA’s acquisition of Texas-based Multimedia Games, which will be announced at this fall’s G2E show
“New Bedford may be disappointed at the moment, but it perhaps has dodged a bullet. Rhode Island, meanwhile, should hope
that Twin River holds its own, while placing more of its chips on other forms of economic development.”
—Editorial, Providence Journal, commenting that the town of New Bedford might be better off that its bid for a casino resort collapsed when the developer dropped out due to worries about too much competition
“The welcome mat seemed to be out. We just haven’t found the welcome mat yet, but I’m the eternal optimist, and . . . hoping it’ll feel good when they stop hitting us.”
—Steve Wynn, expressing frustration to stockholders over delays that have hit his Wynn Everett project in Massachusetts, as well as a lawsuit by the city of Boston to stop it
“You have to make sure as you move forward in this process that the people of Charlestown have a voice in this. For them, it’s not necessarily about money. It’s about infrastructure, fixing up the infrastructure around there.”
—Martin Walsh, mayor of Boston, who is suing the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to force allowing the residents of Charlestown to vote on the Wynn Everett casino proposal
“The BIA’s uncharacteristic solicitude for tribal prerogatives makes it hard not to notice that the interests of tribal government greed-heads converge nicely with the interests of the U.S. government in the disappearance of American Indians.”
—Steve Russell, writing in Indian Country Today, noting the convergence in the interests of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and some tribes who want to cut membership rolls
“I’ve never played one lottery ticket. So I win every time.”
—Bill Robson, Chimney Rock, North Carolina resident, when asked if he would participate in North Carolina’s new “Play at the Pump” gas station lottery program
“I come here with my wife to play the casinos—no kids. I take my kids to (the beach).”
—Simon Chan, Macau tourist, who will not be bringing the family, despite more mainstream attractions
“Macau will probably never be a destination by itself for more than one day… The risks are going to be huge, because the mass market is far more fickle.”
—Leonardo Dioko, Institute for Tourism Studies, Macau on efforts to bring more mass-market gamblers to town
“We’re pretty sanguine at the moment, although anything is subject to change.”
—Steve Wynn, on the scheduled March 2016 opening of the Wynn Palace on Macau’s Cotai Strip
