Bally's AC Bad Hand Article NY Post

New York Post Article -
Bally’s bad hand: Caesars-Eldorado deal might doom casino


https://nypost.com/2019/06/25/ballys-bad-hand-caesars-eldorado-deal-might-doom-casino/

 

Yeah, this is no surprise. They've spent a lot upgrading Harrahs AC over the past few years while keeping Bally's pretty much on life support only.

 

I usually stay at Caesars AC. My host now works out of Bally's. He's been my for about 8 years when I used to stay at Showboat. Back then you had a host at every casino you stayed at. I'll check in with him soon to find out if he's heard anything yet. It's interesting, they spent quite a bit of money to create sports betting area at Bally's. I wonder what they'll do about that.

 

My prediction is that if they must close Bally’s, Caesars will keep the former Wild Wild West area of Bally’s.

The WWW area houses the poker area, the new sports book and the pretty popular low limit/cheap drinks party area.

Another question I have is could they just brand both properties as Caesars and just dump the Bally’s name? It’s already one huge connected property.

 

It wasn't that long ago that CET had 4 casinos in AC, and probably a bigger market share than this merged entity would have.

 

That to me would be THE solution! Problem is, the cost of refurbishing that property would be GREAT! And, as we're seeing from the revenue of HR and Ocean's, the boardwalk isn't much of an attraction. UGH. Why can't people go to AC it's a lovely beach town with amazing food and weekend entertainment.

 

I think someone should buy Bally’s and change the name to Wally’s.

 

I think joining all 3 makes the most sense. As far as I know, when CET (Park Place Entertainment) cropped WWW and Ballys together, and later Claridge, they all worked as "towers" and "Gambling pits" to the registry of Bally's. That way, its once casino, one resort and one license. All 3 are physically connected right now. Slap one name on the place, Caesars World, and you skirt around all the laws, and save some money to boot. It would just suck having to check in at C, to get over to your room at B. I guess adding kiosks would work around it.

I LOVED the old Wild Wild West. And it made me sad to see it sitting there, no buffet, no tables, no stores, removed slots ETC. Just rotting away. When they announced they would be bringing it back to life years ago, I lost my mind! Turns out, all they did was rip out the cool themed stuff I liked, and paint the area black. Garbage. I dont even go in there now, it has no soul. But the club kids seem to like it

 

This makes sense. One major problem for the properties is that Caesar's best tower, the Centurion Tower is built on top of Bally's property. Very f*cked up. The WWW is working for the club kids and they just put in a big sports book (haven't seen it yet) so I can see them keeping WWW open as part of Caesars and keeping Bally's parking garage and hotel open for rooms.

 

I have to say, I did a quick walk through of the new sports book and I was a little underwhelmed. The room is a cave with enormous ceilings and a vast space to fill. Much of the speculation regarding Bally’s closing is based upon NJ regulators having an issue with 4 licenses. But if I recall correctly, Bally’s is still not profitable. The other twist is that CET sold the property to VICI and is leasing it back. So CET will still need to pay rent on an empty building and maintain it. Would those costs be less than the loss of operating the property as a Casino?

I’m looking forward to taking a look at the new Borgata book.

 

The new Borg Book is nice. Just small.

 

I am going to check out Bally's this weekend. Honestly, with how strangely Bally's is designed, I can never see them creating a massive property. It would literally be a maze.

 

Did you just sneak in for a hit and run?

 

I also walked through the new Bally's AC sports book and it immediately reminded me of the book at Caesars Palace in Vegas. The biggest difference is that while the one in Caesars LV is right in the middle of things with restaurants, the poker room, nightclub, etc. within sight - in AC it's surrounded by empty space and closed off escalators that still have the signs for the Virginia City Buffet...

 

Ive been taking advantage of their Fly Borgata! Not much to report when I do AC for my Blog, unlike Vegas. AC never really changes, at least the way I do it. Doesn't mean I haven't been hitting and running. Just dont tell the wife, she thinks I'm dropping a couple hundred at our locals with a buddy. Not that I'm flying to AC with more than that!

 

I have to completely agree. with the sentiment that they will find a way to keep most of this up and running. A merger of the 2 properties makes the most sense. Giving up that valuable summer boardwalk frontage is highly illogical, and simply closing it, given it's connectedness to Caesars would also be complicated.

Going against the grain here, selling Harrah's off makes way more sense. It is standalone self sufficient, and not next door to you for competition. That would leave el dorado with 3 Boardwalk casinos in Trop, Caesars, and Ballys. They could take some of the revenue from Harrah's to do some updates to Ballys, but keep the long connected properties together. They could change the shuttle from Harrah's to trop, effectively driving business down the boardwalk. Keep the 2 brands separate to give you a "cheaper" property (Bally's) and 2 upscale properties (Caesars and Trop).

Also, the regulators were already fine with a company having 4 casinos, so I don't think it would be a regulatory issue.