Indy Gaming: San Manuel will be Las Vegas’ only tribal casino operator — for now

No, you didn’t get caught in a time warp. We pushed Indy Gaming back a day to give the Indy Elections team an extra day to publish its newsletter with the data from campaign finance reports. We’ll be back in our familiar spot next week.

This week, I spoke with the San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority about the Palms Casino Resort. Also, one gaming analyst said Reno-based Monarch Casinos is the market leader in Black Hawk, Colorado.

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Southern California’s San Manuel Indian Tribe is one of three Native American groups currently operating a Las Vegas casino. By the end of the year, San Manuel will be a party of one.

The tribe, through its San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority, has operated the off-Strip Palms Casino Resort for more than two years.

On Wednesday, Hard Rock International, which is owned by Florida’s Seminole Indian Tribe, closed The Mirage Wednesday ahead of a nearly three-year renovation that will transform the Strip resort into Hard Rock Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Connecticut’s Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment will be replaced as the casino operator for Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in December.

San Manuel acquired the Palms from Red Rock Resorts for $650 million in December 2021 — becoming the first tribal gaming operator in Las Vegas. The resort never reopened following the state’s 78-day closure due to the pandemic because Red Rock wanted to sell the property.

Latisha Prieto, the chairperson of the San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority, said in an interview Monday the tribe was hopeful its entry into Las Vegas “would create a pathway for more tribes to want to be in Las Vegas.”

She said San Manuel displayed a large “congratulations” message to the Seminoles on the giant LED screen on the east side of the Palms hotel tower after the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved The Mirage purchase in December 2022.

“We were super excited there was going to be more tribal presence in Las Vegas,” Prieto said.

San Manuel operates one of the largest casinos in California through its flagship Yaamava' Resort & Casino in Highland, which is roughly 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The property has 432 hotel rooms compared to the Palms’ 766 rooms, but it has a much larger gaming floor with more than 7,200 slot machines and 150 table games. The Palms has 1,500 slots and 50 table games.

Prieto said the Palms customer base is 40 percent locals, 40 percent visitors from California with the remaining 20 percent from other markets.

“Las Vegas is different than tribal gaming, but in a very, very positive way,” Prieto said, saying the San Manuel customer loyalty has been successful in driving business between both resorts. Anyone making the drive along Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Southern California can’t miss the numerous billboards advertising the two properties.

Prieto said the tribe, which has 316 members, hoped to recreate Yaamava’s “family work environment” at the Palms, which she said has several “day one” employees from the resort’s opening in 2001.

“It’s been one of the biggest positives at the property,” she said.

Prieto said the tribe “continues to look” at other opportunities to expand its business, potentially into Northern Nevada. The authority would also consider an opportunity to manage a casino in another state owned by another tribe — similar to how Hard Rock serves as the management partner for tribal casinos in Northern California and Oklahoma.

“That’s something that we're interested in,” she said. “However, we're focused on Palms and Yaamava’. But we’re always open to how we can help other tribes understand and learn.”

In June, Palms General Manager Cynthia Kiser Murphey stepped down after leading the reopening in April 2022. Prieto said the departure wasn’t a surprise.

“She helped us create this historic opening,” Prieto said.

Prieto said an “interim structure” has been created between the tribe and a management committee while the authority seeks a new general manager.

“We want to make sure that the team is still supported and they continue to see that support from us as we're going through this process,” she said.

Monarch casts big shadow over Black Hawk

Reno-based Monarch Casinos “overshadows its competitors” in the Colorado gaming market of Black Hawk, according to one analyst who recently visited the community.

Jefferies Financial gaming analyst David Katz said the Monarch Black Hawk accounts for roughly 30 percent of the community’s monthly gaming revenue, beating out other large casinos operated by Caesars Entertainment, Penn Entertainment and Bally’s Entertainment.

Company representatives told Katz that the community, 34 miles from downtown Denver, is drawing increased business from the state’s largest metropolitan area after favorable gaming law changes and numerous property enhancements.

“We believe capital investments should generate stronger returns,” Katz wrote in a research note last week.

Monarch, which also operates the Atlantis in Reno, bought the small Rivera Black Hawk in 2012 and proceeded to spend $442 million during the next decade to renovate the casino into a full-scale resort with a 64,000-square-foot casino, 516 hotel rooms, new restaurants, a rooftop pool, spa and other amenities.

Katz told investors Monarch’s prominent location along Highway 119 makes the property the first casino encountered by visitors arriving from the Denver region.

Colorado banned smoking in casinos in 2008 but increased the original $5 limit on what a player could wager on a single bet to $100. In 2021, Colorado removed the betting limits entirely — a change Katz said “provides for greater return opportunities, notably for Monarch.”

He called Black Hawk “one of the few growing markets for regional casinos” in the U.S. Two years ago, Caesars rebranded its casino as Horseshoe Black Hawk.

Monarch, Katz predicted, would see almost $286 million in revenue in 2024 from its Black Hawk property, roughly $66 million more than the company would see from the Atlantis.

What I'm reading

Betting app owned by former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo shuts down after team's demise — Corina Vanek, Arizona Republic

SaharaBets was one of the smaller sports betting platforms in Arizona, taking in (a relatively small) $900,000 in wagers during April. That same month, FanDuel wagers in Arizona totaled $230 million while DraftKings saw $210 million in sports bets.

New York Yankees find home away from home courtesy of new partnership with MGM Resorts — Grant Lucas, PlayNY

MGM Resort’s Empire City Casino is less than 2 miles from the Bronx, home of Yankee Stadium. The casino will host Yankees-themed fan activities and experiences featuring players and team alumni.

More people than ever expected to bet on Summer Olympics after U.S. legal gambling boom — Ece Yildirim and Lillian Rizzo, CNBC

With sports betting legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., operators said the expected wagering increase will come from men’s and women’s basketball, soccer and tennis.

Supporters of the High Line aim to block plan to build a casino nearby — Stefanos Chen, The New York Times

The CEO of the Rio Las Vegas proposed bringing a version of the High Line to Las Vegas that would connect the property to the Strip with a walkway over Interstate 15.

State spending $350 million to bolster Liberty Bowl and FedEx Forum in Memphis — Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee is spending a combined $850 million in taxpayer money toward sports venue development in two cities. As a comparison, Nevada provided $750 million in private money for Allegiant Stadium and will contribute $380 million in taxpayer funds toward a planned $1.5 billion Major League ballpark on the Strip.

Quotable

The haves and have-nots of sports betting

“We estimate 74 companies have entered the legal U.S. online gambling market since 2018. Of the 74, 43, or 58 percent, are still operational; 18 (24 percent) have shut down operations, 10 (14 percent) have significantly pulled back or are shutting down. To put this into perspective, the top seven companies control roughly 98 percent of sports betting revenue … with the remaining 36 active operators competing for a small pool of players.”

• From a research note written by JMP Securities gaming analyst Jordan Bender

Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts shows off its $300M Colorado resort

“We were impressed during our visit and believe Chamonix Casino Resort is clearly a cut above the local competition. [Cripple Creek] is located roughly an hour's drive from its main feeder market of Colorado Springs, although management noted that since opening Denver comprises 21 percent of new registrations to Chamonix's loyalty program.”

• From a research note written by Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon