STATESIDE
Vegas and Boston. Wynn’s top executives and board members will forego 33-100 per cent of their salaries, receiving Wynn stock in exchange, for all of 2020. MGM had already cut staff, but still employs more than
70,000 in the US. Daily expenses are $14.4 million, but MGM’s assets will pay the bills for 10 months. Their two Macau properties, closed for two weeks in February, are MGM’s sole income source. However, few can sustain indefinite payments. Landry’s
owner Tillman Fertitta operates Golden Nugget casinos and 500-plus restaurants under dozens of name brands. He has already furloughed 40,000 associates. My questions are unanswerable. How will gaming recoup
its losses? Will states enact higher income and/or corporate taxes to meet their own obligations? Many states with no income taxes, like Nevada and Florida, attract retirees who enjoy gambling. New Jersey is already losing more than $700,000 a day
in taxes. That could increase to $1 million daily without a turnaround by Atlantic City’s peak summer season. Other states face similar scenarios. How long will this pandemic last before a cure/vaccine is found and distributed? Will there be immediate and lasting financial and psychological impacts to our lifestyles and culture? How will we relate to even our best friends if our social niceties disappear?
Gaming is a social experience and no one must visit a
casino. With that in mind, will consumers again feel comfortable sitting at a table or slot machine, only inches from someone else? How far apart will the restaurants have to place their tables, which may force them to raise their prices? Before this, sitting so close was only annoying when we had to hear other conversations. Will consumers return to gyms, spas, saunas or steam
rooms? How will the concerts/entertainment venues fare if attendees are so close to one another? We must plan since gaming properties often offer all these experiences under one roof. Or, it may never recover in the same way, as people decide to dine and gamble differently – thank goodness for online and sports betting – and stream more events. Consumers may adjust what they once considered so pleasurable because of finances or acceptance of “social distancing” guidelines, which have been extended to April 30. That means casinos will remain closed into at least May. No one knows, which is in itself scary. Economists,
government people and corporate leaders can only speculate. I’m a half-full kind of person. I can’t wait to go out to dinner again with friends, sit at a theater, go to my hair/nail salon, work out at my gym and shop at my favorite stores. Let’s hope we can all do that sooner than later. Stay safe.
APRIL 2020 11
Roman Babakin/Adobe Stock
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