“For those 300 plus among us that still navigate the ship daily at Baha Mar, we see the creativity, the loyalty, the professionalism. For those 2,000 trained and equipped colleagues waiting on the sidelines to be called back to the game, we see dedication, belief, faith, commitment and pride.”
—A statement by former Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian and former president, Tom Dunlap, on their continued optimism that the Bahamian resort would open even though Easter Sunday marked one year of delay for the project
“For the past 35 years, slots have been the casinos’ top moneymaker, but it’s possible that 35 years from now, the slots that now dominate casinos will occupy the space that craps tables do now, and eSports, skill games or something we haven’t yet seen will be the main attraction.”
—UNLV Professor David G. Schwartz, in his blog on the Vegas Seven website, noting Nevada’s efforts to serve the millennial generation with new kinds of games
“In relevance to future opportunity for Nevada gaming, eSports is a sleeping giant compared to the diminutive pool of fantasy sports.”
—The Analyst, an anonymous gaming executive who pens a column on the gamingtoday.com website, noting that the popularity of eSports around the world dwarfs the potential wagering pool in daily fantasy sports
“And I’ll say to Massachusetts: Be careful what you wish for because there’s problems that come with casinos, as well as some profit.”
—Dannel P. Malloy, governor of Connecticut speaking in Massachusetts and commenting about the brewing casino “war” between the two states
“A new casino would bring new construction jobs to Connecticut, but it is not a long-term solution to job growth. Connecticut needs to work harder to mine innovative solutions to its economic woes, not nurture businesses that exploit vices.”
—Editorial, the Stamford Advocate, warning against a third Indian casino in Connecticut
“Our job here is to work ourselves out of a job and to make this the most stable and sustainable facility of its kind in this nation.”
— Kevin Jones of Genting Massachusetts, describing how his company will first build and operate and then teach the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Taunton, Massachusetts how to run their First Light Casino
“Takeaways from our recent field trip and comments from our industry contacts both suggest that the mass gaming segment… has been slowing of late, which supports our view that Macau is about to see a moderate recovery but not a ‘V-shape’ rebound.”
—Nomura Group, in a note on Macau’s slow emergence from recession
“We do not believe that a foreigners-only casino will accomplish the goals of the Korean people. Korea already has 16 of them. It will neither warrant the type of investments we intend to make nor achieve the economic impact that the Korean government wants to achieve. We believe a restricted-entry casino that allows Koreans, subject to social safeguards and barriers to entry in place—no bigger than 5 percent of the total integrated resort footprint, will do so.”
—George Tanasijevich, CEO, Marina Bay Sands, on why MBS is uninterested in a casino that bars locals
“VIP is where you make the millions.”
—Mark Brown, CEO, Best Sunshine, which plans to work with junkets at its upcoming casino on Saipan
