Liz Benston

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Blog Post Archive

Follow the money: Dubai to Vegas to Miami Beach

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Football bettors, 7; Strip casinos, 0

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Dubai World files for Nevada gaming license

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Golden Gate as a boutique property

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

In the future, Golden Gate casino owner Mark Brandenburg sees his 107-room property attracting Strip customers who are increasingly frustrated and exhausted by the size and scope of the Strip's ever-growing megaresort empire.

What price performance?

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

For Boyd Gaming Corp., one of a few companies building ambitious developments on the Strip, having locked up at least $3 billion in long-term financing before the mortgage crisis hit is probably worth a nod or two from shareholders.

Conventioneers' place in Vegas on the rise

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Las Vegas' booming convention business has bouyed a town where gambling is fast becoming a side show to other forms of luxury entertainment. The extent of Las Vegas' dependence on conventioneers – a different class of pleasure-seekers – is among the revelations in Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's 2007 visitor poll.

Herbst Gaming's troubles deepening

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Last month Herbst said it had hired Goldman Sachs to develop a plan to appease lenders and keep the company, which has suffered in the economic slowdown, out of bankruptcy. Herbst, closely monitoring its
sliding performance, had already received a waiver to keep lenders at bay.

Robert Rozek leaving as Sands CFO

Monday, March 31, 2008

Las Vegas Sands Corp. today announced that Chief Financial Officer Robert Rozek will be leaving the company May 23.

Riviera CFO moves over to Fontainebleau

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Riviera Holdings Corp. Chief Financial Officer Mark Lefever need walk only a block north of the Riviera casino to his new job as CFO of the under-construction Fontainebleau Las Vegas, where he starts March 31.

Longtime exec helped transform gaming industry

Friday, March 21, 2008

John Gallaway, an Ivy League-educated hotel executive from New York City, seemed like an unlikely recruit to the casino industry in 1980. That's when he briefly ran Caesars Palace and Caesars Tahoe before joining Aztar Corp.'s Tropicana casinos and, later, Isle of Capri Casinos.

Plaza Las Vegas project moves forward (UPDATED)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Plaza Las Vegas developer Miki Naftali of El Ad Group has denied a report in the Israeli publication Yediot Ahronot that the $6 billion Strip resort has been put on hold because of the credit crisis.

Wynn Resorts executive leaving

Monday, March 17, 2008

Effective April 1, Wynn Resorts is losing President Ron Kramer to Griffon Corp., a New York-based manufacturer of garage doors, plastics for hygiene products and aeronautics circuitry.

Blame it on baccarat

Friday, March 7, 2008

Nevada casinos won 5 percent less from gamblers in January than a year ago and gaming revenue on the Strip was down 1 percent from last year.

Station Casinos reports flat revenue, drop in profit

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Station Casinos today reported fourth quarter revenue that was flat compared with last year and a 7 percent decline in operating profit – further evidence that the economic slowdown has customers spending less at locals casinos.

London’s Times looks at Wynn vs. Adelson, down and dirty

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Las Vegas watchers love a good fight. So it's no surprise that one of the most entertaining rivalries in corporate America, that of casino bosses Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, got top billing in this past week's London Sunday Times.

MGM Mirage lining up its ducks

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

MGM Mirage has its eye on someone to run Mandalay Bay. This could accelerate Mandalay Bay chief Bill Hornbuckle's transfer to Atlantic City, where the company plans to build a $5 billion MGM Grand megaresort by 2012.

IGT seeks to quickly get its hands on server-based technology (UPDATED)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

In a move that could accelerate the development of the next wave of high-tech slot machines, International Game Technology is in talks to acquire a small, technology-rich competitor, Cyberview Technology, for $70 million, according to merger documents obtained by the Sun.

Columbia Sussex found in default, but it still breathes a sigh of relief

Friday, Feb. 29, 2008

A Delaware court has determined that the owner of the Tropicana casino has defaulted on a $960 million loan, a move that bondholders say could force the company into bankruptcy court by ordering it to repay the loan.

Boyd's bad news, good news

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008

The slowdown in the locals casino market apparently hasn't hurt No. 2
operator Boyd Gaming Corp. much.

Cosmo dodges foreclosure; Hyatt to manage the hotel

Friday, Feb. 22, 2008

The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino, which was facing foreclosure while under
construction, has been saved.

Gaming company slapped for not registering employees with the state

Friday, Feb. 22, 2008

MGM Mirage: What economic downturn?

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008

After warning of slower business at its lower-end properties and higher costs at its $8 billion-plus CityCenter, MGM Mirage today reported a big profit on the $2.5 billion sale of its half-interest in CityCenter to Dubai investors, as well as improved room rates, hotel revenue, gaming revenue and food and beverage revenue on the Strip in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Executive changes at MGM Mirage

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008

MGM Mirage says it cultivates its top executives by promoting them into jobs they want a simple enough task that has become more complicated as the company grows.

Another Vegas influence on Dubai

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008

40,000 new rooms in Las Vegas? Maybe not

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008

Wynn shares plummet after boss's warning

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008

Wynn Resorts shares lost more than 7 percent of their value while most other
gaming stocks traded higher today.

CityCenter, budget buster

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008

About that $7.8 billion, multi-resort CityCenter project, the most expensive in U.S. history? Turns out it's going to cost more than $8 billion, maybe more like $8.4 billion.

Casinos lost $2.6 mil on Super Bowl betting but somehow the industry will recover

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008

News flash: Nevada casinos can actually lose money.

For only the second time since the state started reporting Super Bowl figures in 1992, Nevada sports books posted a net loss on their biggest single betting day of the year.

The Sands: What slowdown?

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008

Las Vegas Sands on Monday became the first major Las Vegas casino company to report quarterly earnings since the nation became swept up in fears of an economic recession.

How Station Casinos shows its approval

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008

Kelley, Station Casinos’ recently-installed Chief Operating Officer, is
getting a one-time bonus of $500,000, Station reported to the Securities and
Exchange Commission today

Putting on a happy face