Consolidation in the Vegas locals casino market

Some major changes in the ownership of Vegas-area locals casinos have been announced in the past few months. The two major owners of locals casinos, Stations (whose official corporate name is now
Red Rock Casinos) and Boyd Gaming, are about to expand their empires. Stations has bought the Palms, just west of the center of the Las Vegas Strip. Boyd, which owns the Coast chain of locals casinos, has bought Aliante, the northeast part of the valley; the Cannery, in the northwest, and the Eastside Cannery, on Boulder Highway.

The first effect of these transactions is likely to be a strengthening of Boyd's position in relation to Stations, its main competitor. Boyd now operates four casinos in the locals market -- Sam's Town, the Gold Coast, the Orleans and the Suncoast. The recent acquisitions will give Boyd a total of seven, compared with Stations' 10, including the Palms and the two Fiesta-branded properties. It will also expand Boyd's reach to the northern part of the valley, from which it has been absent.

Aliante has been struggling since it was built because the recession nearly halted development in its vicinity. But a huge electric car plant is planned for the area, which should eventually spur development and increase that casino's customer base.

The original Cannery is well-located, without a lot of competition in the area. I'm sure it's the main reason Boyd bought Cannery Resorts. The Eastside Cannery is in a less desirable area and has a lot more competitors nearby -- including Boyd's flagship locals property, Sam's Town, which is right across the street.

It will be interesting to see how Boyd positions and markets these two properties. There's a precedent, provided by Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho, across the street from each other and both owned by Stations. The Fiesta brand is aimed at a little bit lower demographic, with, for example, less-expensive restaurants and lower table game limits. Sam's Town and the Eastside Cannery appear to have a similar customer base but the properties are somewhat complementary in their facilities. Sam's Town has movie theaters, a bowling center, a poker room and a food court; the Eastside Cannery does not. But there's also some overlap -- both have large Bingo rooms.

The restautant situation at the two casinos appears to offer opportunities for synergy. Sam's Town is replacing its steakhouse, Billy Bob's, with a barbeque restaurant, and opening a new restaurnt called the Angry Butcher in the space formerly occupied by Willy & Jose's. The Eastside Cannery had a Mexican restaurant when it opened; the closing of Willy & Jose's would seem to all but require the reopening of a Mexican eatery in the Eastside Cannery, given the population of the neighborhood. The Eastside Cannery also has a steakhouse, which might fill some of the void left by the closing of Billy Bob's.

The big question is whether Boyd will fold any or all of its new properties into its Coast chain. I haven't heard or read anything about this. It might make sense for Boyd to reorganize its locals casinos under two brands, as Stations has done. This might help differentiate two of its properties that are very close together, the Orleans and the Gold Coast, as well as Sam's Town and the Eastside Cannery. Boyd also has three downtown properties, Main Street Station, the California and the Fremont. These serve mostly tourists, including the Hawaiian market, but one or more of them might be marketed at least in a limited way with another division of reorganized Boyd properties in Vegas.

Stations' acquisition of the Palms raises the question of how that casino will fit in to the existing Stations lineup. There seems to be general agreement that Stations will market the Palms as part of its luxury properties, Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch, and that the Palms will become part of the Stations brand for players club and marketing purposes.

But the Palms, when it was owned by George Maloof, occupied a unique niche in the locals market. Its nightclubs, high-end restaurants and loose video poker drew customers from a larger area than the typical Stations property could. Presumably, Stations acquired the Palms marketing database.

The question in my mind is how, if at all, Stations will market the Palms to players who live closer to and play at other Station casinos. My guess is that Stations will not to to get these players to continue playing at the Palms as well as their nearby Station property; to do so would require duplicate offers. There is precedent, however; Stations and Fiesta send separate offers to customers of both. But the problem is that the Palms no longer has games that are likely to draw customers from, say, Summerlin or Henderson. My guess is that Stations will not try to compete with itself for play, but will tout the Palms as a new place to use points for dining, entertainment and other options not available at the company's other properties. If successful, this would increase the value of playing at Station casinos in general, though not specifically at the Palms.

Another question is whether and how quickly Stations will be able to change certain things at the Palms. For example, the Palms has a Cantor Gaming sportsbook; I'm sure Stations wants to install its own book, there must be a contract that gives CG the right to operate a book at the Palms for some specified period. Similarly, Stations might want to replace the world's largest Hooters with something more suitable for a high-end property, but how long will it have to wait?

Something I'll be interested in watching is the effect of Station's takoever of the Palms on the Gold Coast, which has benefitted from mismanagement at the Palms in recent years. I expect the Palms to be a much more formidable rival to the Gold Coast under the control of Stations, which already competes for the same Asian players with its Palace Station casino. The Gold Coast (and Palms and Palace Station) also will soon face compeitition from a new casino on Sahara Avenue, the Lucky Dragon.

As a player, I have to believe that all this consolidation will shrink opportunities for customers overall, although competition in some ways will be increased. Since almost all of the changes are yet to come, I can still hope I'll be pleasantly surprised.