Nov. Revenues Boost Year-Over-Year Performance of Detroit Casinos

Solid November boosts year-over-year revenues at MGM, MotorCity casinos

12.14.2011

By Jaclyn Trop

Detroit's two largest casinos continued to improve their revenue growth for the year with a solid November, leaving Greektown Casino and Hotel lagging, according to state statistics released Tuesday.

MotorCity Casino Hotel, the city's second-largest casino by market share, posted the largest year-over-year gain. The gaming hall posted revenues of $431.5 million from January through November of this year, a 5.8 percent gain over last year's $407.9 million, the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported.

Market share leader MGM Grand Detroit experienced a 2.8 percent rise in revenues to $547.4 million.

Revenues for Greektown Casino and Hotel, the smallest gaming hall, fell 0.9 percent to $321.7 million. (Complete Story)

Hawaii's Gambling Industry Lobbyists

Hawaii's known gambling lobbyists have numerous affiliations in common, plus intermingled business/financial interests and clients with likely conflicts of interest: (A) Boyd Gaming Company transports patrons from the Hawaiian Islands to its California casinos; (B) Casino Syndicate organized by MotorCity Casino interests wants to develop and operate a Las Vegas-style casino in Waikiki. While attempting to suggest their efforts aren't coordinated or known to one another, these amateurs have been sloppy with their fingerprints.

George A. Morris (aka G. A. Morris, G. A. Red Morris, George A. "Red" Morris, Red Morris), affiliated with Capitol Consultants of Hawaii (president) and G. A. Morris, Inc. (a partner in Capitol Consultants of Hawaii). Clients: Marketing Resource Group (MRG) for a Detroit casino syndicate organized by Michael J. Malik, Sr. and Mrs. Marian Ilitch (CCM Merger/Detroit Entertainment dba MotorCity Casino); and Boyd Gaming Company (NYSE: BYD).

John H. Radcliffe, affiliated with Capitol Consultants of Hawaii (vice president and partner) and Radcliffe & Associates. Clients: Marketing Resource Group (MRG) for a Detroit casino syndicate organized by Michael J. Malik, Sr. and Mrs. Marian Ilitch (CCM Merger/Detroit Entertainment dba MotorCity Casino). It's believed he conceived and controls Citizens for a Better Way, LLC.

Elizabeth Hata Watanabe (aka Liz Watanabe, Liz Hata Watanabe, Elizabeth C. Watanabe, Elizabeth C. Jimenez) affiliated with Citizens for a Better Way, LLC as its only member and its manage; and Hata Foundation. Previous affiliations EHW LLC, EHW-II LLC, Hawaii's Big Deal Poker Tournament. Clients: Radcliffe & Associates which represents and receives payments from MRG's Detroit casino syndicate.

Locals' Perception Local
The Detroiters know that generally, locals in most communities are likley to resist the legalization of gambling or the expansion of gambling opportunities if such proposals are championed by outsiders (Las Vegas Casino Lords, Detroit Casino Syndicates, etc.). Trust is a key factor in approving proposals and locals are less likely to trust Las Vegas or Detroit casino operators whose interests might conflict with Hawaii interests. Not to mention, Las Vegas and Detroit have reputations tied to organized crime, higher crime rates, illegal activities, corruption, etc.

Truth is Detroit and Las Vegas Gambling Interests Behind Hawaii Schemes
That MRG (a PR firm) has retained the lobbyists on behalf of its Detroit Casino Syndicate client (MotorCity Casino) is intended to bury the truth that Detroit gambling interests are bankrolling and pushing Waikiki casino development schemes -- not Hawaiians!  Further, the last time the Detroiters were successful pushing plans for casino development, they were fronting for Las Vegas Gambling Lords.  Of the many yet unanswered questions: are the Detroiters via their PR firm actually bankrolling the Waikiki casino schemes on behalf of Las Vegas partners like Boyd Gaming for instance?  You're not likely to get a straight answer from the lobbyists or the Detroiter's PR firm.

See for yourself, the lobbyists hired to push the legalization of gambling in Hawaii were engaged by and are being paid by Detroit gambling interests with ties to Las Vegas Casino Lords -- not locals!

Search lobbyist registrations via the Hawaii Ethics Commission or click on the links in the Scribd.com box below.

See also,

• Marketing Resource Group: the Tom Shields-owned Political/PR Firm is a Slave to Ilitch/Malik Affiliates
• Hawaii's newest lobbyist spent big, catapulting her into the company of 'Big Boys;' Won't reveal identities of those who bankrolled schemes
• Lobbyist John Radcliffe was the First Person to Contribute to Neil Abercrombie's Campaign for Governor of Hawaii
• Hawaii Governor's New Communications Director was Paid Lobbyist for Int'l Gambling Magnate Sol Kerzner
• Capitol Consulants of Hawaii: Double Dipping Gambling Conflicts, Resume Padding Lies or Harboring Secret Partners?
• Detroiters' Lobbyist Laying Groundwork for Waikiki Gambling
• Boyd Gaming establishing first-hand knowledge of and developing customer base in Hawaii, could prove valuable to Waikiki Gambling Hall Operator

Forbes Reports Ilitch-Owned Franchise one of NHL's Most Valuable

Detroit Red Wings Second  Most Profitable US Franchise;
 MotorCity Casino Workers Forced to Pay Own Healthcare Costs

Forbes' 2011 NHL Team Values

Forbes is out with its 2011 NHL Team Values: The Business of Hockey. Despite economic woes among other US sectors, Forbes reports the NHL valuations have hit an all-time high. The Detroit Red Wings, owned by Michael and Marian Ilitch, valued at $336 million, ranks #4 out of 30 NHL teams. That's up 7% over 2010.

Forbes Profile
Billionaire Michael Ilitch, through Olympia Entertainment, has a highly integrated and valuable entertainment empire. In sports, Olympia controls the Red Wings, Little Caesars AAA hockey club and baseball's Detroit Tigers, as well as their stadiums, Joe Louis Arena (hockey) and Comerica Park (baseball). Outside of sports, Olympia runs the Fox Theatre (over 4,800 seats), Cobo Arena and Hockeytown Cafe,voted the number two sports bar in the country week after week by ESPN2’s Cold Pizza. Olympia also owns food distribution businesses that Ilitch leverages at his stadiums and a casino in Detroit.

The Red Wings are a significant part of the annual marketing plan for the Ilitch-owned MotorCity Casino frequently making guest appearances and hosting star-studded poker tournaments. Unfortunately for the Ilitch bank the same isn't true for the Ilitch-owned Detroit Tigers baseball team. Given its history of scandals, Major League Baseball has specific regulations prohibiting the mingling of baseball and gambling interests.

The Ilitches realized a $16.3 million operating income from their NHL franchise this past season ranking it the #2 most profitable US franchise; and players and management continue to draw multi-million dollar paychecks. Ilitch continues to fuel up the Gulfstream Jet for the clan's personal travel and vacation in Boca Raton, FL. Their business partner paid $5.4 million cash for a New York Penthouse. Those aren't the circumstances for the hardworking staff at MotorCity Casino. In a labor negotiation that took place earlier this Fall, the Ilitch gambling hall workers were told to start paying some of their own healthcare costs or face job loses.

#Occupy Ilitch Holdings, Inc.

Detroit's Casinos Poised to Lose 20-30% of Their Business to new Hollywood Casino Toledo next year

Short-sighted infighting and competitive jealousy among Detroit's three casino operators 

could keep them from working together to collectively market Detroit as a destination 

with sports venues, theaters, concert halls and other attractions.

Penn National Gaming's Hollywood Casino Toledo

Matt Helm of the Detroit Free Press is reporting that Penn National Gaming is set to open Hollywood Casino Toledo in April.  The $300 million gambling palace will have 2,000 slot machines, 60 table games and 20 live poker tables; comparable in size to Detroit's three commercial casinos.  

For more than a decade, Toledo residents who had an urge to gamble got in their cars or on charter buses to make the one-hour drive north on I-75 where they could play at any Detroit's three Las Vegas-style casinos. However, with the opening of the Toledo casino, locals there hope to stem the steady traffic northward and keep that gambling money in Toledo.

Detroit casino operators won't talk in detail about where their customers live, so it's not clear how much of the $1.3 billion in revenues reported at Detroit's three casinos each year since 2006 comes from Ohio residents.

But Jake Miklojcik, a casino analyst and president of Lansing-based Michigan Consultants who is often used as a resource by Detroit's casino operators, said he has heard out-of-state gamblers -- primarily from Ohio and Ontario -- represent as much as 20% to 30% of the clientele who sign up for Detroit casino player loyalty cards.

That Detroit’s self-interested casinos now spend their efforts as Miklojcik explains, "fighting over the same patron, money Detroit is going to get anyway," may create even greater exposure for the Detroit gambling halls. "That fight over that person," Miklojcik explains, " is a zero-sum game for the industry as a whole."

Penn National is the nation's third largest gambling enterprise with vast marketing expertise and experience. Their newest casino will open with amenities including a top-notch steakhouse, live entertainment seven days a week, and plentiful parking -- nearly 2,900 spaces.  Penn National understands the importance of partnering with hotels in downtown Toledo and in nearby suburbs to offer entertainment packages with destinations such as the Huntington Center to lure visitors.  The company plans to market “over the border” in southeast Michigan as well, including billboards along I-75 and U.S.-23.

The Toledo casino will be the first of four casinos to open in Ohio since voters approved one for each of the State’s four biggest cities. Penn National will operate all four venues.  Read more

New Hollywood Casino Toledo just 1-hour for downtown Detroit

View Larger Map

Liar, Liar: Ilitch using MotorCity Casino Jackpots to Fund Gambling Habits Outside Michigan; Pay-Off Las Vegas Casino Lords and Wall Street Fat Cats

Promises, Promises: Failed!
Both Marian Ilitch (she owns Detroit's MotorCity Casino) and Michael Malik (he was a MotorCity partner until he failed to get a Michigan gaming license in 1999) were behind the campaigns in the 1990s that asked Detroit voters to approve three Las Vegas-style commercial gambling halls. They promised Detroiters that approving gambling in Detroit would result in an economic windfall and help turn Detroit around. They said that casinos in Detroit would mean Detroit would capture gaming revenue instead of loosing it to Windsor or Las Vegas or elsewere.

Ilitch/Malik and the Detroit-based founders of MotorCity Casino told Detroiters that giving their enterprise the right to develop and operate one of three commercial casinos in Detroit meant keeping gambling revenue in Detroit.

And when Marian Ilitch took control of MotorCity Casino from Las Vegas-based Mirage Resorts in 2005, Ilitch spokespersons and MotorCity ad campaigns implied that Detroit-owned meant MotorCity Casino would uniquely be inclined to keep casino money in Detroit; that somehow Marian Ilitch would see the money stayed in Detroit.

Rich Got Richer, Not Detroit
Really? Casino doors have been open for ten years and yet Forbes just ranked Detroit as the #1 Most Dangerous City in America. Last month MotorCity Casino workers were told to start paying their own health care costs or face job loses. And since opening MotorCity Casino, Ilitch and Malik have made a habit out of chasing failed casino schemes in New York, California and Hawaii funded by Detroit casino money.

So yeah, Detroit money stayed in Detroit. Some small part of it... in the bank accounts of people named Ilitch and Malik.  Forbes says Mike & Marian Ilitch are now worth $2 billion; and last year Mike Malik dropped $300,000 on a Las Vegas wedding that lasted one month and bought a $5.4 million New York City (Central Park West) Penthouse.  But last month they told MotorCity Casino workers to start paying their own health care costs.

Truth is, the millions people are leaving on the gaming table and in the bellies of slot machines at MotorCity Casino aren't even staying in Michigan.

Truth is MotorCity Casino Making Las Vegas, Foreign Banks & Walls Street Fat Cats Richer
First, Marian Ilitch's 2005 acquisition of MotorCity Casino's controlling shares and the subsequent casino renovation/expansion that followed, came at a big price; hundreds of millions in fact that Marian Ilitch borrowed from out of state banks and Wall Street. And right now it's costing Detroit.  She's financing MotorCity Casino on the backs of Detroit's taxpayers.

If MotorCity Casino wasn't so highly leveraged or had stayed true to its original financial projections and the economic studies they used to sell voters on gambling halls in the 1990s, maybe MotorCity Casino workers wouldn't have been told this last month to start paying their own health care costs or face losing their jobs.

Yes, Marian Ilitch did pony up some family cash to fund a small portion of the buyout and expansion, but in truth, she paid for her business decisions, in most part, with hundreds of millions borrowed by leveraging Ilitch assets and future MotorCity Casino earnings to attract investments from foreign banks and Wall Street. And because some of the investment "opportunities" were so risky they are rated as "junk bonds," Ilitch is paying higher interest terms.

Today, millions in cash Detroiters are leaving on the gaming tables and in the slot machines at MotorCity Casino flow directly to pay off Las Vegas casino interests, foreign banks and Wall Street fat cats.

If that wasn't bad enough, a big chunk of the millions Ilitch is raking in at MotorCity Casino have been spent attempting to expand the Ilitch gambling empire outside of Michigan -- to fund failed Ilitch/Malik ego projects.

MotorCity Casino Funding Failed Schemes to Expand Ilitch Gambling Empire Outside of Michigan
Yes, since opening the doors of MotorCity Casino, Ilitch and Malik have spent millions chasing prestige casino schemes outside of Detroit -- way outside, in New York, California and Hawaii.

As an example, here's a rough accounting of the millions the Detroiters have spent chasing just their New York City / Belmont Race Track casino dreams:

• $25 million to acquire the exclusive rights to develop, manage and operate a casino
• $5.4 million to purchase a NYC Penthouse
• $2.3 million to D.C. Lobbyists
• $1.5 million to Albany Lobbyists
• $1.5 million to Political Campaign Committees

That's more than $35 million and just what's been disclosed or which they are forced to disclose. Most of what goes on at Ilitch Holdings is kept secret and under wraps. For a decade, they've certainly incurred other expenses. Consider millions spent during the last decade:  flying a private jet back and forth to New York several times a week; paying attorneys and public relations and advertising execs in Lansing, Detroit, D.C., Albany and New York City; keeping the leaders of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in toe; and so on.

Shame, Shame!
Shame on Marian Ilitch and Mike Malik for promising they'd keep the gambling money in Detroit. Shame on them for suggesting to fellow Detroiters that if they were allowed to operate a gambling hall in the Motor City somehow Detroit would be a better place to live. Seems like the moment MotorCity Casino opened its doors, Marian Ilitch and Michael Malik forgot the promises they made to Detroit and they've never regretted their lies and misrepresentations.

MotorCity Casino Workers Told to Pay Health Care Costs or Face Job Lose; MGM Grand Detroit workers say, 'Hell No!" reject contract | Crain's Detroit Business

MGM Grand Detroit workers reject contract, will stay on the job | Crain's Detroit Business
10.28.2011

Unionized workers at the MGM Grand Detroit casino have voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract.

The rejection comes after workers at Greektown Casino-Hotel and MotorCity Casino Hotel both approved the contract.

Employees voted 1,481 to 292 against the contract, according to the Facebook page of UAW Local 7777, one of five unions that make up the Detroit Casino Council coalition of unions.

Also in the council: Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 24, Teamsters Local 372, Operating Engineers Local 547 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters.

The unions are reportedly planning to picket in front of the casino this weekend, but employees will be reporting to work.

The action follows a tense stare-down last week that nearly resulted in a strike.

The Detroit Casino Council authorized a strike two weeks ago, then filed two extensions before reaching an agreement in principal last Wednesday.

The deal reportedly includes a $2,500 signing bonus for employees but also a deductable for health insurance coverage.

MotorCity Casino has struggled somewhat financially because, among other things, it hasn't produced what had been anticipated and Mrs. Ilitch has leveraged its assets more highly than had been projected. But even more significant, Marian Ilitch and her unlicensed gambling partner Michael Malik are draining millions from MotorCity Casino out of Detroit to finance their failed quests to open additional gambling halls in New York, California and Hawaii. It's a shame that they're draining profits at the same time they're telling MotorCity Casino workers they'll have to start paying for health care or be faced with job loses. Ilitch and her husband Mike are now worth $2 billion -- that's $300,000 more than a year ago.

See also:

• MotorCity Casino Workers Give Back Gains to Keep Jobs; Ilitch gets richer
• Forbes says Ilitch worth $2 Billion; Ranking #212 among Richest Americans, #5 Richest in Michigan
• Detroit #1 on Forbes' List of America's Most Dangerous Cities!
• Ilitch Gets Richer on the backs of Detroit's working class; Detroit still America's most Dangerous City
• Ilitch Unlikely to get Taxpayer Subsidies for a New Detroit Hockey Arena

MotorCity Casino Workers will Vote on Tentative Labor Agreement Tuesday

Greektown Casino workers OK agreement

10.24.2011

By Joe Rossiter

Workers at Greektown Casino voted today to ratify a new, four-year agreement by a margin of 3-1, said Shawn Ellis, communications director for Teamsters Local 372.

The union vote was the first of three that will take place in the next several days. MotorCity Casino workers will vote on the tentative agreement Tuesday, and MGM Grand Detroit workers will vote Thursday. Voting will take place at the Teamsters facility at 2800 Trumbull Ave... (Complete Story)

Motor City Casinos to Detail Deal to Workers

Casinos to detail deal to workers

10.21.2011

B y Louis Aguilar

laguilar@detnews.com

Detroit casino workers should get details of the tentative deal reached by five unions and the three gaming halls starting possibly as early as Saturday.

Union members will be briefed on the agreement this weekend, said Michelle Martin, spokeswoman for the United Auto Workers international union, whose Local 7777 was involved in the Detroit Casino Council talks with MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino-Hotel and Greektown Casino Hotel. A tentative deal was reached Wednesday.

On their websites and Facebook pages, the UAW local and UNITE HERE Local 24, which represents hospitality workers at the casinos, were not providing details of the tentative four-year agreement or even given a firm date and time when agreement briefings for members would be given. None of the casinos would reveal or confirm any details of the tentative contract.

The deal would cover the 7,090 licensed employees at the three casinos, and other workers who are not required to be licensed by the state's regulatory board.

Detroit has the country's fifth largest casino gaming market. Last year, the three casinos generated $1.38 billion in revenue, a 3 percent increase over 2009.

Some union workers have already declared they don't like the tentative deal. They have posted comments on the UAW Local 7777's Facebook page worrying that the four-year deal doesn't give them a sufficient pay hike and may increase health care premiums.

One worker identified as Carrie Williams said she worries that union families "cannot afford this contract." The casinos pushed for workers to pay for more of their health care coverage during this year's negotiations and in 2007.

Workers at all five unions authorized a strike if negotiations failed.

Thousands Threaten to Strike Motor City Casinos at Midnight

3 Detroit casinos face strike threat at midnight by thousands of workers

 10.18.2011

By Matt Helms

mhelms@freepress.com, @matthelms or 313.222.1450.

Thousands of unionized workers at Detroit’s three casinos are threatening to strike if management and labor can’t reach a deal by midnight tonight.

Negotiations were ongoing today after being extended for 48 hours past a Sunday deadline.

Representatives of several of the five unions on the Detroit Casino Council, representing dealers, hotel and restaurant workers, engineering, maintenance and other fields, couldn’t be reached this
morning.

UNITE-HERE Local 24, which represents hospitality workers at the casinos, said in a statement that members of the casino council on Oct. 11 approved a strike vote “by a margin of 97% in order to maintain the wages, benefits and working conditions they deserve” if an agreement isn’t reached.

Motor City Casino-Hotel spokeswoman Jacci Woods said only that management and the unions “have agreed to continue to meet and negotiate in good faith in hopes of reaching an agreement on a new contract prior to the new deadline.”

Greektown Casino-Hotel declined comment. MGM Grand Detroit officials couldn’t immediately be reached.

These are critical times for the casinos.

Despite having done well in the recession compared to the U.S. gambling industry as a whole, they're heavily indebted and face growing competition from Michigan’s Indian casinos and a new gambling hall set to open in Toledo next year.

Even third-place Greektown, which went through bankruptcy from which it emerged in June 2010, would have fared better without the debt all three casinos took on to build 400-room hotels required under city licensing deals, said Lansing-based casino analyst Jake Miklojcik.

“It’s like having a $300,000 house with a $600,000 mortgage,” said Miklojcik, a member of the board at Greektown during bankruptcy.

Motor City Casinos Nearing Union Contract Deadline

Deadline looms in Detroit casino contract talks

10.18.2011

By JACLYN TROP

jtrop@detnews.com

313.222.2575

Contract extension with unions is set to expire at midnight

The New Contract Affects Dealers, Bartenders And Others Involved With Gaming

Detroit's three casinos and their unions face a midnight deadline tonight to reach a new deal before a contract extension expires.

MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino-Hotel and Greektown Casino Hotel as well as UAW Local 7777 and other unions are negotiating on economic issues.

Members of the unions' Detroit Casino Council have approved a strike if an agreement is not reached by the deadline "to maintain the wages, benefits and working conditions they deserve," according to a statement by Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 24, which represents cleaning, maintenance and other workers.

The Detroit Casino Council includes workers from Local 24; UAW Local 7777, which represents dealers and slot technicians; Teamsters Local 372, which represents valet and warehouse employees; Operating Engineers Local 547, which represents engineers and other trades positions; and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters.

"MotorCity Casino Hotel and the Detroit Casino Council have agreed to … continue to meet and negotiate in good faith in hopes of reaching an agreement on a new contract prior to the new deadline," said MotorCity spokeswoman Jacci Woods in an email.

"I am unable to comment while negotiations are in process," said MGM spokeswoman Yvette Monet in Las Vegas.

Greektown had no comment. UAW Local 7777 did not return calls for comment.

Revenues by the three casinos have increased 2.9 percent through the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

The two largest gaming halls — MotorCity and MGM Grand — have experienced revenue increases through the first three quarters. Greektown, which last year emerged from bankruptcy protection, has posted a 1.8 percent revenue loss through the first nine months of the year.

National gaming analyst Frank Fantini has said the Detroit casinos' results reflect gains from the economic recovery.

It remains uncertain how much of the revenue increases are fueled by promotional free-play credits that customers redeem at casino games.

Unlike some other states, Michigan requires casinos to count free-play incentives as official revenue.

Ilitch Gets Richer on the backs of Detroit's working class; Detroit still America's most Dangerous City

Detroit casinos revenue up overall; Greektown lags

10.11.2011

By Jaclyn Trop
jtrop@detnews.com

Detroit's three casinos recorded a strong 4.1 percent increase in revenue in September to $113.8 million compared with the same month last year, according to the state Gaming Control Board.

It is the best year-over-year comparison since April. Both April and September had five Fridays this year, but April also had five Saturdays.

"That's probably worth 3 percent or so of the 4 percent (growth)," said Frank Fantini, editor and publisher of Delaware-based Fantini's Gaming & Lodging Reports.

MotorCity Casino Hotel, the second-largest gaming hall by revenue, led the way with a 10.4 percent jump over last September to $38.4 million.

MGM Grand Detroit, the largest, followed with a 4.5 percent increase to $48.6 million.

Greektown Casino Hotel, the smallest, experienced a 4.4 percent decline in September revenues. Construction on Greektown's gaming floor, which reopened on Sept. 23 after about seven weeks, may havecut customer visits andrevenues.

The Detroit casino market has experienced revenue growth through the first nine months of this year as Michigan's economy initially showed signs of a rebound and then stagnated during the past three months as the state's jobless rate increased.

And did we mention that once again from Forbes: Detroit was named the #1 Most Dangerous City in America?


See also, 

• Forbes says Ilitch worth $2 Billion; Ranking #212 among Richest Americans, #5 Richest in Michigan
• Detroit #1 on Forbes' List of America's Most Dangerous Cities!
• Ilitch Gets Richer on the backs of Detroit's working class; Detroit still America's most Dangerous City
• Ilitch Unlikely to get Taxpayer Subsidies for a New Detroit Hockey Arena
• Ilitch affiliate retains former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato's lobbying firm to push New York Casino plans for Shinnecock
• Shinnecock and Ilitch affiliate Gateway Casino Resorts paid $1.5 million to New York Lobbyists
• D.C. Lobbyists Paid $2.33 Million to Advance Shinnecock Casinos
• Shinnecock Casino Backers have dropped $117,500 on top-ranking NY Politicians
• Scandal Continues to Plague Political and Lobbying Activities of Detroiters Bankrolling Shinnecock Casino Plans
• The Latest Life & Times of a Detroit Casino Syndicator

Detroit casinos report August revenues up 1.9%

Detroit casinos report August revenues up 1.9%

9.12.2011

By Matt Helms

Aggregate revenue at Detroit’s three casinos was up 1.9% to $115 million in August compared to the same month in 2010, according to figures the Michigan Gaming Control Board released this morning.

Year-over-year revenue at MGM Grand Detroit was up 3.2% to $49.6 million in August; revenue also was up 8.5% to $38 million for the same period at MotorCity Casino Hotel. Greektown Casino Hotel, however, was down 8.1% to $27.5 million, gaming board figures show.

Aggregate revenue for the casinos for the three-month period ending in August was $348 million, up 2% compared to 2010. Three-month revenues increased 2.3% to $148 million at MGM Grand and 5.2% to $115 million at MotorCity but declined 2.4% to $85 million at Greektown, the gaming board said.

Market share was 43% for MGM Grand, 33% for MotorCity and 24% for Greektown. The casinos paid $9.3 million in gaming taxes in August.

Contact Matt Helms: mhelms@freepress.com or 313-222-1450.

Who Really Paid D.C. Lobbyists $5.6 Million? Poor Impoverished Tribes? "Investors" With Their Own Financial Woes?

Poor Tribes' Investors
Have Own Financial Woes

How is it that three so-called poor, impoverished tribes and their so-called investors who have financial woes of their own, managed to pay $5.6 million to Washington D.C. lobbyists in pursuit of gambling halls?

The Bay Mills Indian Community, Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians, and the Shinnecock Indian Nation, have often been described as “poor” and/or “impoverished.”  That, as they have pleaded, is why they should be allowed to build off-reservation casinos. 

Those who are reportedly bankrolling these tribes’ still unapproved casino schemes, Detroiters Michael Malik and Marian Ilitch, have had their own unfortunate financial woes.

Property controlled or owned by controversial casino investor Michael Malik has been delinquent on property taxes, seized for delinquent taxes and even gone into foreclosure.  He was in default on a $1 million line of credit and had to repay $170,000 in ill-gotten funds to a Receivership charged with sorting out a federal Ponzi scheme case. Michigan gaming regulators have failed to grant Malik a gambling license and he has a track record of violating political campaign finance laws and hiring shady Capitol Hill lobbyists.  

Marian Ilitch bought controlling interest in Detroit’s MotorCity Casino from Las Vegas-based Mandalay Resorts/Mirage in 2005. The parent company of that gambling hall (CCM Merger) controlled by Mrs. Ilitch  has since seen its credit ratings drop and been in violation of covenants with its investors.

Who really put up the $5.6 million?  

See these related posts:

• Have Detroit casino syndicator Michael Malik and Mrs. Marian Ilitch been fronting again for Las Vegas gambling interests?
• UPDATED: Formerly rejected MotorCity Casino backers Malik & Strather have taken similar paths to Long Island & Cape Cod

Shinnecock will make case for casinos at Hamptons League of Women Voters

Press Release

Leaders of the "impoverished" Shinnecock Indian Nation will appear before the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons on Monday, September 12, 2011, at 7:00 PM, Hampton Bays Senior Center.  According to a League press release, Shinnecock Chairman Randy King and Trustee Gerrod T. Smith will present "The Shinnecock Indian Nation: Its Past & Future."

This dog and pony show is certainly an educational outreach effort intended to win friends and influence people who can help the tribe and its Detroit-based investors group develop casinos on Long Island.

As reported in the Daily News, an investors group known as Gateway Casino Resorts, was formed by Detroiters Marian Ilitch and Michael Malik for the sole purpose of partnering with the Shinnecock to advance various casino development proposals on Long Island. Crain's Detroit Business reported that they could spend upwards of $1 billion developing Long Island casino projects.

Ilitch and her husband Mike co-founded the Little Caesars pizza chain. He owns the Detroit Tigers. Marian Ilitch bought controlling interest in Detroit's MotorCity Casino from Las Vegas-based Mandalay Resorts in 2005.

Since Ilitch took the helm, MotorCity Casino and its parent company CCM Merger, Inc., have been faced with financial woes. Ilitch got the gambling hall deeper in debt by building on a hotel and conference space.  As such, the company was too highly leveraged.  In fact, so leveraged that she was in violation of covenants with nervous investors. Investors demanded that Ilitch personally inject MotorCity Casino with $45 million cash; and Moody's placed the casino property's parent company, CCM Merger, Inc., on its "Bottom Rung" list anticipating the company could go into default.

Michael Malik is a controversial syndicator who, despite representations, has failed to develop any new casinos since he and Ilitch parted company with former partner Tom Celani more than a decade ago.

Somehow, the "impoverished tribe" and its investors group have spent nearly $2.3 million lobbying for their casino plans in Washington, D.C. In addition, according to information available at OpenSecrets.org,  Malik and the Ilitches have already dropped at least $120,000 in the campaign war-chests of Governor Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Reps. Charlie Rangel and Tim Bishop.

Ilitch Family Amasses Debt for Sports, Entertainment & Gambling Affiliates

Debt Part of Ilitch Equation

10.19.2010
Featured originally as a side-bar to a story entitled Ilitch teams with tribe on N.Y. casinos: Long Island plans could top $1 billion

By Bill Shea

As the Ilitch family assesses how it will pay for the Detroit Pistons, Palace Sports & Entertainment Inc. and possibly a new downtown arena, debt remains on the family's past projects.

In January 2009, Marian Ilitch injected $45 million into her MotorCity Casino after lenders -- including Highland Capital Management LP -- threatened to hike interest rates to 18 percent on the $625 million loan her CCM Merger Inc. got in 2005 to finance purchase of the casino and for the later construction of its 300-room hotel.

The lenders reportedly wanted the additional investment because the casino was in jeopardy of violating its loan terms, a situation created when gambling revenue began to fall with the recession.

Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch arranged the loan in 2005.

The total financing for MotorCity is believed to be $950 million through a highly leveraged mix of fixed- and variable-rate bank debt and junk bonds, according to Forbes.

Ilitch paid $525 million to buy the majority ownership of the casino in April 2005 from Las Vegas-based MGM Grand/Mirage Casinos' Mandalay Resort Group, the MGM subsidiary that owned MotorCity.

She also paid Detroit entrepreneur Herb Strather $106 million for his Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC's 11.5 percent stake in MotorCity.

Another $85 million to $100 million went to former Ilitch partner Tom Celani for his 10 percent stake.

The Detroit Tigers, owned separately by Mike Ilitch, borrowed $140 million in August 2005 from a syndicate of 11 financial institutions, led by what is now Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, to refinance what had been $115 million remaining in debt from the original $145 million loan to build Comerica Park, industry magazine Sports Business Journal reported at the time.

The team has declined to comment on its current stadium debt.

Public debt on Comerica Park is through the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority.

Revenues up just 1.1% for Detroit's three casinos | The Detroit News

August 15. 2011 6:42PM
The Detroit News

Revenues at Detroit's three casinos increased a weak 1.1 percent in July to $120.1 million, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

MotorCity Casino Hotel, the city's second-largest gaming hall by revenue, led the way with a 6.2 percent jump to $40.1 million in revenue, according to a state report released Monday.

MGM Grand Detroit followed with a 1.1 percent increase to $51 million.

Greektown Casino Hotel, the smallest of the trio, experienced a 5.2 percent decline in revenue.

Revenues at the three casinos had risen 3.1 percent through the first six months of the year.

Find original at: Revenues up just 1.1% for Detroit's three casinos

Citizens for a Better Way: "Grassroots" Group Fronting for Detroiters Behind Renewed Debate to Legalize Gambling in Hawaii

Radcliffe, Detroit Casino organize Community Front Group to push Gambling
7.25.2011

By Andrew Walden

Liz Hata Watanabe is not one to sit on the sidelines. The former nightclub owner and entrepreneur has a new cause: getting Waikiki a casino.

Watanabe founded Citizens for a Better Way, an organization she says has more than 300 active members lobbying for a casino to provide new jobs and a new business for Hawaii….

She linked up with John Radcliffe, a lobbyist who has been pushing for a Hawaii casino for a decade. They met when Watanabe was doing a charity gambling-free poker tournament for her family charity, the Hata Foundation, which supports children and family organizations.

Citizens for a Better Way has also attracted the support of Jeff Coelho, a longtime broadcaster who will be retiring as general manager of Salem Media Hawaii and was an adviser to former Mayor Mufi Hannemann….

Radcliffe works with Marketing Resource Group of Lansing, Mich. It works with a Detroit casino whose investors would be interested in bidding on a Waikiki casino, Radcliffe said.

"I am sure if given the opportunity, they would want to compete for a license," he said.

Under a bill proposed this year, potential casino operators would first have to put down a large fee for the right to make a bid on a casino license. The bidding would be handled by a specially appointed state board.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Entrepreneurs get rolling on Waikiki casino idea

Most interesting Comment: “Borreca stays in the shallow end of the pool once again. Major players? Liz is consistent: 100% track record of failure. With all of biographical info he puffed her up with, why omit an important fact -- her bankruptcy filing in June, 2011, which details her train wrecks and the $300,000 plus she stiffed her creditors for. She is a success only at self-promotion which you and others facilitate at the expense of reality. Coelho was an advisor to Mufi. More relevant was that he was the managing director for less than a year and eased over to Director of Customer Service. After three years with Salem, he is soon to be retired and moving to the Mainland. Whoever hires Radcliffe, though, gets something for the money -- newspaper space even if the stories are fantasies.”

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Detroit Risks Hemorrhage of Michigan Gamblers

On Tuesday, 11.03.09, Ohio voters approved casinos in Toledo and three other cities. State officials and gambling interests in neighboring Indiana and Michigan are worried that millions of dollars in gambling revenues — and taxes — are at risk

From the Associated Press:

"Nevertheless, gambling industry analyst Jake Miklojcik (mik-LOH'-jik) said Detroit risks a hemorrhage of Michigan gamblers as well as those who now visit
from Ohio."

See Complete AP story: Ohio casinos to hit Mich., Ind. gambling taxes

Revenue rises at struggling Greektown but Ilitch-owned MotorCity Casino sees declines again

According to various news accounts, the latest revenue results released by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), indicate the overall gaming market in Detroit saw a 4.2% decline in May; however, Greektown Casino-Hotel appears to have bucked the trend for the fourth month in a row with a stunning 7.2% year-over-year revenue increase for the month. (At the time of this post, Data had yet to be posted to the MGCB web site.)

Greektown was the only Detroit casino to see an increase, while revenues at MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino dropped 10.9% and 3.6% respectively.

It should be noted that Greektown in particular has struggled financially in recent years and in May 2008 filed for bankruptcy protection. So, bragging rights about revenue growth at Greektown in May 2009 as compared to May 2008 should be tempered. May 2008 represented perhaps the lowest point in Greektown's financial health.

Despite a major renovation at MotorCity Casino including the addition off theaters, conference and restaurant amenities, and a 400-room luxury hotel, it has generally failed to meet financial expectations since Marian Ilitch acquired control of the property from MGM Mirage in 2005. Both Moody's and Standard & Poor's have now established a steady pattern of declining credit ratings for MotorCity's financial parent during this period.

Among numerous other affiliates, Ilitch controls CCM Merger, Inc. which is the highly leveraged financial parent of Detroit Entertainment LLC (DELLC) which is the entity that does business as (dba) MotorCity Casino. In December 2008, CCM Merger broke its financial convenants and as a result, investors demanded Marian Ilitch inject $45 million cash into the enterprise.

Financial results published by MGCB

Revenues at MotorCity Casino fell 5.3% in April

According to a story, "Greektown Casino reports slight gain in April revenue," published in Crain's Detroit Business:

MotorCity Casino Hotel had April revenue of $38.5 million, posting a 7.4 percent decrease compared to March and a 5.3 percent drop compared to April 2008.

In December 2008 revenues at MotorCity Casino fell 11.25% and CMM Merger Inc., parent of MotorCity Casino, failed to meet lending convenants so angry investors demanded owner Marian Ilitch inject $45 million cash into the Detroit gaming enterprise that struggles even after expanding its gaming floor space and adding a luxury hotel to the property. Ilitch acquired 100% control of MotorCity Casino from MGM Mirage and various other investors in 2005.

According to reports published by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) over all year-to-date revenues at a highly leveraged MotorCity Casino are down 1.7% compared to the same period in 2008.

MGCB: Detroit Casino Revenue Reports