Rio Casino Resort, the last Caesars Entertainment property to remain closed as a result of Covid-19, will probably reopen in December, according to CEO Tom Reeg. Caesars operates the property under a management agreement for a New York investment company.
Reeg is optimistic about his company’s prospects as it just completed the third quarter finalizing its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts Inc. and its purchase of the sportsbook operator William Hill.
Reeg expects Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s proposal to allow conventions will also help the company’s bottom line early next year.
The company has already started to schedule small group meetings for the last three months of 2020.
Speaking to an investors Q&A conference call, Reeg said, “If you look at the Caesars Forum convention center, which was open for about a day-and-a-half before everything shut down from COVID, Caesars Forum has 172 events, 1.6 million room nights contracted worth over $600 million in rooms and banquet revenue and 78 percent of that business is new to Las Vegas.”
Currently Las Vegas occupancy is just shy of 60 percent and in the mid 50’s during the weekdays and 90 percent and up on weekends.
Caesars won’t be imitating other gaming companies in Las Vegas that are shutting their hotels during the week to save costs, he said.
Caesars reopened its last closed Strip property, the Cromwell, last week, which had been shuttered since March.
The CEO is predicting that pent-up demand from Covid-19 will fuel a Las Vegas revival, especially from the over-55 customer who will feel comfortable returning once a Covid-19 vaccine is nearly universally available. “The flow-through that you’re going to see in the sector is unlike anything that has happened,” he said. That doesn’t just include Las Vegas, it includes all gaming.
He said the company will brand all Caesars sports betting with the Caesars Brand, although the William Hill brand will be used in third-party properties in the United States.
Reeg also explained why the company began charging for parking on its reopened properties: “Our best drive-in customers were having difficulty finding parking at our structures. so what we wanted to do is bring back parking fees as kind of a hurdle so our best customers could get to the properties.”
