MGM Grand Revenues Up, Employees Laid Off

In some interesting news which appears to highlight the enormous expectations MGM Grand had for its Detroit location, the casino laid off "under 100" employees between January and early April, 2008, even as its revenues continued to increase.

In fact, revenues for March 2008 at MGM Grand were up 5.94% over March 2007, to $50.2 million. This compared to decreases of 3.7% at MotorCity Casino compared to March 2007, with March 2008 revenues of $41.3 million. Revenues at at Greektown Casino were down 3.58% to $33.2 million in March 2008. Greektown appears to be relegated to third place, even with its new parking structure.

The Las Vegas executives at MGM Grand must have had enormously high expectations for non-gaming revenues from the Detroit property, if revenue increases of 5.94% lead to 100 layoffs. At some point, I will crunch the numbers to see if I am correct on my theory: Although MGM Grand Detroit is first in absolute revenues, I believe it may be last in terms of revenues as a percentage of overall capital investment to open a permanent casino.

The layoffs were identified as coming in the casino's "food and beverage" employee base. This just solidifies for me that MGM Grand vastly overestimated its expected occupancy at the hotel portion of the new casino resort.

Windsor Casino Being Renamed Effective June 19

As of June 19, 2008, the Windsor Casino will be renamed Caesars Windsor. Caesars Windsor will also open a 5,000 seat venue, named the Colosseum.

Scheduled performers at the Colosseum in Summer 2008 include: Billy Joel, Patti LaBelle, Michael Bolton, Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, Reba McEntire and Donna Summer.

Caesars Windsor will feature a new 369 room hotel tower, the Augustus Tower. The adorably named Augustus Tower will complement the casino's existing 389 hotel rooms, for a total capacity of 758 hotel rooms. It will also feature 100,000 square feet of convention space.

February 2008 Revenues for Detroit Casinos

MGM Grand Detroit: $47 million in February 2008, up 27.9% from February 2007.

MotorCity: $38.3 million in February 2008, down 2.25% from February 2007.

Greektown: $27 million in February 2008, down 6.89% from February 2007.

It should be noted that 2008 is a leap year, so revenues would be up 3.5% even if daily revenue remained constant. Put another way, MotorCity was actually down closer to 5% on a comparable day basis, and Greektown was down closer to 10%. Not a good showing at all.

Soaring Eagle and Saganing Eagle's Landing Allow Saginaw Tribe To Make Payments To Members

Although the actual numbers are not confirmed, it appears that the successful operations of the Soaring Eagle Casino, as well as the recently-opened Saganing Eagle's Landing Casino are allowing the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe to make annual payments to its members of between $25,000 and $70,000 per member, as well as an annual payment of $8,000 to a family for each child in the family. Whether that number will increase will likely depend upon the success of the expansion plans at Soaring Eagle Casino, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and the succesful operations at Saganing Eagle's Landing Casino, near Standish, Michigan.

On Again, Off Again Casino Legislation Is Back On Again

The on again, off again legislation to authorize the opening of two new casinos, in Port Huron and Romulus, Michigan, in accordance with a compact entered into by former Michigan Governor John Engler, is apparently back on again.

The bill still awaits action on the entire House floor.

Second Media Report That Firekeepers Casino Will Not Begin Construction Until 2009

Although the Nottawaseppi Huron Band has consistently stated that the construction of the new Firekeepers Casino will begin in the Spring of 2008, with an opening in 2009, we now have the second media report that construction will not begin until 2009. This new report follows another report that construction has been delayed.

Soaring Eagle Casino's Housekeeping Employees Turn Down Teamsters By Wide Margin

The housekeeping employees at the Soaring Eagle Casino voted against representation by the Teamsters union by a wide margin. The vote was 192-88 against Teamsters representation. The election, held on December 21, 2007, was held after the National Labor Relations Board ruled that it had jurisdiction over organizing efforts at Native American casinos.