“Banning smoking in casinos where the activity has long been allowed is not simple. In Las Vegas, it would need to be implemented in phases. A plan to eliminate smoking in casinos nationwide—including Indian casinos—needs to be discussed. Casino operators owe it to their customers and their employees.”
—Columnist Howard Stutz, noting in a Las Vegas Review-Journal piece that the issue of casino smoking bans was not on the agenda for discussion at last week’s G2E trade show
“At this stage, the Street consensus is that they will likely get 150 tables. However, given the large non-gaming features offered at Studio City, it has the potential to surprise on the upside if it receives more than 150 tables.
—Vitaly Umansky, gaming analyst, on Melco Crown’s hopes for more than 150 gaming tables at its Studio City resort in Macau
“We therefore estimate that the average male will spend 6.2 percent of his time smoking while the average female will spend 0.2 percent of her time smoking… We estimate that a total of 5.3 percent of total customer time will be ‘lost’ while smoking.
—Grant Govertsen, Union Gaming analyst, on the potential for lost revenue if a full smoking ban is implemented in Macau’s casinos
“The economic slowdown is a good thing. Over the past decade or so, the expansion has been extremely fast, so it has to slow. The Chinese economy is turning a corner. It is changing direction. You can’t be accelerating at the same time. They have to figure out a new direction. If they succeed, the future would be incredible.
—Lui Che Woo, chairman and founder, Galaxy Entertainment Group
“We’re gonna be competing vigorously in that segment of the market. It’s sort of your bread-and-butter market. We’re watching City of Dreams to see how much organic growth there is versus cannibalization… Long-term, really, to support the properties in Entertainment City, we need to develop the international market, and that means promoting Entertainment City as the destination together, cooperating as licensed holders.”
—Matt Hurst, executive VP for casino operations, Tiger Resort, on Manila Bay Resorts’ upcoming Philippines casino, expected to open in 2016
“You can’t look at Macau in one-month periods. You have to look at Macau in the long-term. And when you do that, I think Macau has a very bright future.
— Kevin Kelley, COO, Galaxy Entertainment, on interpretations of Macau’s prospects based on short-term figures
“This truly is a moment for all of Indian Country to revel as the actions of Mashpee exemplify perseverance and will. Through your example, the Mashpee have once again demonstrated that Indian Country can achieve anything.”
—Brian Patterson, president of the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. (USET) congratulating the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe on the federal government’s decision to put land into trust in Taunton, Massachusetts so that the tribe can build a casino resort
“We don’t think a trailer park owner from Thailand, who has no affiliation to racing, should get to change the rules in the middle of the game by trying to add a slots parlor at a racetrack.”
—Eric Schippers, spokesman for Penn National Gaming, reacting to a proposal by Thai developer Eugene McCain to qualify an initiative that would allow a second slots parlor in Massachusetts
“With casinos expanding not just in Massachusetts, but in Rhode Island and Connecticut, here’s also concern over market saturation. This page has long argued that should worry the casino investors, not the state, but it’s hard to see casinos in both Brockton and Taunton thriving.”
—Editorial, Metro West Daily News, expressing concern over the possibility of a saturated gaming market in New England
“If the commission concludes there is now a strong chance that the tribe will really be able to open its Taunton casino in the near future, it should hold back on granting a casino license to a rival plan for Brockton.”
—Editorial, Boston Globe, commenting on the possibility of saturating the southeastern Massachusetts gaming market and whether the Massachusetts Gaming Commission should issue a commercial license even if the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe goes forward with a Taunton casino
“We’ve been denigrated, called every name but our name, the Mashpee Wampanoags, land taken from us. We’ve been doubted and denied, yet we still live here.”
—Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe reacting to the federal decision to put land into trust in Taunton, Massachusetts for the tribe
