Good morning. On today’s agenda:

• Marina Bay Sands is set to become a high-end jewel for LVS.

• Betsson confirms pre-announced earnings bounce.

• Seven out of eight tribal regions show 2022 revenues on the up.

• MGM Resorts signs a loyalty program deal with Marriott.

• Roth says DraftKings has enjoyed a high-luck factor in Q2.

This a big watch, diamond drippin' off of the clock.

Luxury good

Macau made its return, but LVS also talked up the prospects for a renovated Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Handbags and glad rags: The finalization of the renovations at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, including the re-opening of 200 high-end suites, will allow Las Vegas Sands to significantly pump up its prices, according to CEO Robert Goldstein.

• “In every business, hospitality or retail, when you have got an exemplary product that people want, you’ve got pricing power,” he told analysts during the company’s Q2 earnings call.

• Bling, bling: “You see this all over the map: why do Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton get these ridiculously high-priced margins? They’ve got the product people want.”

• “When this building is done, our pricing power is going to go to another level,” Goldstein boasted.

• Despite operating with “ripped-up buildings”, Marina Bay saw revenues climb 36% to $925m while property-level EBITDAR was up 35% to $432m. 

• Patrick Dumont, COO, said “airlift from China” into Singapore has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels; he noted negotiations were continuing with the Singaporean government over expansion plans.

The special one: Singapore was eclipsed by the continued return in Macau where revenues more than quadrupled to $1.6bn, helping to raise total revenues up 140% to $2.54bn. The return has enabled LVS to resume paying a dividend.

• Goldstein noted that six months previously LVS “had a basically closed business” in Macau. “Here we are in summer 2023 looking at a $2.4bn run-rate,” he added.

• “We’re firm believers in Macau, always have been. That market is just special.”

• Kwan Chum, COO in Macau, noted the efforts LVS has made into its non-gaming program as per the recently renewed concession.

• “It speaks volumes to the new direction that the government is pursuing and I think is a great start to the new concession.”

• In related news, it was announced yesterday that all six concessionaires would stump up $2.5m to sponsor the Macau F1 Grand Prix in mid-November.

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Betsson’s boost 

Not Dutch: Betsson said it had withdrawn its license application in the Netherlands as it saw revenues from the central and eastern Europe and central Asia region rise to 43% of the total. 

• As pre-announced, Betsson’s revenues rose 27% YoY to €237m while EBITDA shot up 72% to €68m in Q2. The region accounted for 43% of revenues, said Betsson. 

• Over the quarter, Betsson completed the acquisition of the Belgian group betFIRST and a strategic partnership with the French casino operator Groupe Partouche.

• It also signed a €7.5m deal to be the shirt sponsor of Argentinian football giants Boca Juniors for the next 18 months. 

Note: E+M will have the comments from Betsson’s analyst call in tomorrow’s Weekender. 

Tribal re-emergence

Tribal gaming enjoyed a good 2022 as it continued its return from the pandemic period.

Show of strength: Figures from the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) show tribal gaming operations displayed resiliency and “continued to rebound and remain strong” last year, according to chair E. Sequoyah Simermeyer.

• GGR rose to $40.9m, with seven out of eight regions seeing a YoY rise.

• The one region to buck the positive trend was Sacramento, where revenue fell back 1.4% to $11.8bn.

• The biggest YoY rise came in the Phoenix region, where GGR rose nearly 16% to $3.72bn.

• The figures were drawn from 519 gaming operations owned by 244 federally recognized tribes operational in 29 states.

• NIGC vice-chair Jeannie Hovland noted that more than half the properties generated revenues of less than $25m a year.

MGM/Marriott link up  

Loyalty rewarded: MGM Resorts and the Marriott International hotel group have signed an exclusive licensing agreement to create the ‘MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy’ loyalty and rewards program, set to go live at the end of September.

• The program will enable MGM Rewards’ 40m+ members and Marriot Bonvoy’s 180m+ members to link their accounts across the groups’ platforms.  

• Analysts at Truist said the partnership should drive longer-term, sustainable growth and “even greater levels of occupancy, importantly with a better mix of higher-quality customers”.

• CBRE said the agreement was a win-win for both companies and will reduce MGM’s share of online travel agency custom, thus raising margins. 

• For CBRE, the drivers for MGM were yield optimization, lower customer acquisition costs and stronger customer mix.

PlayUp in pieces

The Australian-based operator is set to give up on the US as it attempts to raise cash to survive.

Of concern: PlayUp is seeking A$10m via a trust called BetClub as it continues to seek a buyer for its US business, according to the Australian Financial Review. “The capital raise is because we need going concern [for] 12 months,” CEO Daniel Simic told the paper.

• The convoluted raise structure, and the A$10m limit, is due to complications arising from the involvement of failed crypto exchange FTX in PlayUp.

• Raising more than A$10m would trigger a clause that would increase FTX’s stake in the business.

Analyst takes 

DraftKings: The recent share price surge has been driven by investor expectation that the group will announce a Q2 beat or raise next week, and the Roth MKM team noted the higher Q2 hold the group has enjoyed has been “meaningfully luck driven”. 

• Q2 hold is expected to closely follow H2 hold of 8.8%, with Roth MKM suggesting that results and “favorable luck” boosted Q1 hold levels to 8.5% and revenue/EBITDA by $20m/$15m. 

• Recall, in May, DraftKings upped FY23 guidance from $2.85bn-$3.05bn to $3.13bn-$3.23bn.

• Forecasts are bullish on the group’s 45% growth guidance for 2023, but “less impactful” state launches, difficult hold comps and a rise in promo spend in several mature states will limit tailwinds from NGR/GGR expansion. 

Earnings in brief

Monarch: Market share gains in Black Hawk, Colorado, and an improved operating performance in Reno, Nevada, helped push revenue and EBITDA to all-time highs of $124m and $42m respectively in Q2.

• Analysts remained cautious, however, as management said acquisition opportunities depend on an uncertain economic prognosis.

• The team at Truist noted “some surprise” at the resiliency shown by Monarch’s customer base.

Datalines

Ontario: GGR for Q1 FY23-24 came in at C$545m on handle of C$14bn shared among 71 online offerings from 46 operators. iCasino was the largest segment with GGR of C$392m, followed by OSB at C$138m and P2P poker at C$15m.

• Active players stood at ~920k, with average monthly spend per active player at C$197.

M&A in brief

PlaySynergy: The Empire Technological-owned games provider has lodged a bid for Aruze Gaming’s US-based slot machine operations. The value of the deal, which is expected to close within 30 days, was not disclosed.

• Aruze previously announced it would close its Las Vegas HQ next month, resulting in 100 layoffs.

• The company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in January, following a $27.4m judgment against founder and sole shareholder Kazuo Okada.

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Newslines

The name of this brand is: Hard Rock Sportsbook is now Hard Rock Bet, according to LegalSportsReport.com.

NeoGames shareholders have approved the $1.2bn takeover by Aristocrat. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this fiscal year.

EveryMatrix is providing WynnBet with content from its in-house studios, including Armadillo Studios, initially in New Jersey with further US state launches planned.

Elys Game Technology closed a private placement of up to 3,000 units and entered into a subscription agreement with Gold Street Capital and Braydon Capital.

Playtech has launched its live dealer product in New Jersey and plans to open a dedicated studio in the state.

Calendar

• Jul 21: Evolution

• Jul 25: Kindred

• Jul 26: Kambi, BetMGM, Churchill Downs (e), VICI (e)

• Jul 27: Churchill Downs (call), VICI (call), Boyd Gaming, GLP (e)

• Jul 28: PointsBet, GLP (call)

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For sponsorship inquiries email scott@andmore.media.