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)

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.

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

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

AZ Game and Fish Commission denies appeal by Michael J. Malik

As TVT previously posted, Detroit-based Michael J. Malik, Sr., requested the Arizona Game and Fish Commission reconsider its December 2008 decision to suspend Malik's right to hunt, trap and fish in Arizona and more than 30 other states including Michigan for a period of five years and assess Malik with a $14,995 fine.

The Commission entertained and denied Malik's request at its 4.17.09 meeting. He apparently has a 30-day window to make an appeal to the Arizona Superior Court.

On 8.29.08, Arizona's Pinetop Justice Court found Malik guilty of discharging a firearm while stalking elk within the quarter-mile limit of occupied residences. (See: Michigan man found guilty on charge stemming from elk hunt).

That criminal conviction authorized the Commission to take civil action against Malik at its 12.05.08 meeting. (See: Michigan man assessed $14,995 for killing trophy elk near homes).

Malik reportedly has yet to pay the $14,995 civil fine assessed by the Commission in December 2008.

Malik is the gambling and casino development partner of Detroit's Marian Ilitch. She is sole owner of MotorCity Casino. Mrs. Ilitch and her husband Mike Ilitch are founders of Little Caesar's Pizza and owners of the Detroit Red Wings hockey franchise. Mike Ilitch owns the Detroit Tigers baseball team.


Malik's Growing Record of Illegal Activity

In 1999, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) failed to grant Malik a gambling license and he was forced to divest himself of interest in Detroit's MotorCity Casino. Among other things, it was reported that Malik had been arrested in 1997 and accused of beating a girlfriend's 12-year-old son. He served a year of probation in the matter.

Since the MGCB denied Malik a license, he has developed a growing record of illegal activity:

• The criminal and civil actions in Arizona noted above related to Malik's illegal discharge of a firearm. He's been assessed multiple fines and stripped for the next five years of his right to hunt in 32 states.


• Malik has twice (2006 & 2009) been found guilty of, and fined for, violating California's political reform laws. Over the course of several election cycles, he's simply failed to report more than $52,000 in political contributions.


• Fifth Third Bank, a Michigan Banking Corporation filed a complaint in Oakland County Court on 4.03.09 (Fifth Third Bank v. Michael M. Malik, Sr.) alleging Malik was in Default on a $1 million line of credit that had come due on 9.01.08.


• In April, Malik entered into a Settlement Agreement (Goldberg v. Malik) with a court appointed Receiver who contends Malik received more than $620,00 in fraudulent transfers. Malik has twelve months to repay the funds as agreed. That action is related to a $300 million ponzi scheme case brought by the SEC against Worldwide Entertainment and promoter Jack Utsick who has since taken asylum in Brazil.

Is this known record of illegal activity a red flag that there's more?

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

Ilitch issues press release indicating CCM Merger convinced enough investors to amend credit facility

CCM Merger Successfully Amends Credit Facility
DEUTSCHE BANK AG ORD SHS
DB 2/3/2009 11:43:00 AM

DETROIT, Feb 03, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- CCM Merger Inc, parent company of MotorCity Casino Hotel, announced today that it has reached an agreement with the required number of lenders for an amendment to its credit agreement. "We are very pleased to have completed this amendment under these most difficult market conditions," said Gregg Solomon, CEO of MotorCity Casino Hotel. "We appreciate the leadership of Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as administrative agent, and the continued support of our entire lender group."

About MotorCity Casino Hotel

Located on Grand River at the Lodge Freeway (M-10), MotorCity Casino Hotel is owned by Marian Ilitch and is the only locally-owned and operated casino in Detroit. The entertainment complex has undergone a $325 million expansion project which includes a casino expansion, 400 room luxury hotel and spa, a new convention and banquet center, several new dining options, bars and lounges, a nightclub and an intimate live entertainment theater. For more information about MotorCity Casino Hotel, visit www.MotorCityCasinoHotel.com.

SOURCE: MotorCity Casino Hotel

To win investors' support for looser leverage covenants, Ilitch forced to sweeten the deal

1.31.09

Motor City Sweetens Terms

Motor City and lead Deutsche Bank have sweetened the terms on an amendment to loosen leverage covenants after investors balked. The spread was increased, and sponsor CCM Merger offered an equity injection into the company.

Investors were upset with the initial terms of the amendment, which was launched Jan. 13, because there was no equity input from CCM, which is owned by investor Marian Ilitch.

DB came back to the lenders with a $20 million paydown last Monday.

"The linchpin is just the equity injection," said one portfolio manager. "Some lenders are looking for higher pricing than that, and we're happy to ride the coattails."

The new terms also increase the price bump to 300 basis points, which would bring the total spread to LIBOR plus 5 1/2%. The LIBOR floor was also increased to 3% from 2 3/4%.

Calls to a company spokeswoman and Scott Fischer, CFO of Ilitch Holdings, the parent company of CCM, were not returned.

NOTE: investors rejected this $20 million cash injection proposal and ultimately demand a $45 million equity injection from Motor City Casino owner Marian Ilitch.

MotorCity Lenders Call on Red Wings’ owner Ilitch for Cash

1.26.09

By Pierre Paulden and Michael J. Moore

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Marian Ilitch, the owner of the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings, is facing calls from lenders to pump more money into her MotorCity Casino or pay an almost sixfold increase in interest as gambling revenue falls.

Credit Suisse AG’s asset management arm, Highland Capital Management LP and other investors told Ilitch to boost capital in the property because it’s at risk of violating terms of a $606 million loan, according to investors with knowledge of the situation. If she doesn’t, lenders may raise the interest on the loan to 18 percent a year, said the investors, who declined to be identified because the talks are private.

MotorCity, owned by Ilitch’s closely held CCM Merger Inc., is a victim of the slump in Detroit, home to General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., and the nationwide decline in gambling profits. Gaming revenue at the 400-room hotel and casino tumbled 7.1 percent in November and 11 percent in December from a year earlier, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

“If they don’t get the amendment, they could be in default,” said Keith Foley, a Moody’s analyst in New York. “The amendment is something that they need.”

Should CCM fail to reach an agreement, it may lose access to a $100 million credit line that it needs to pay a $50 million Economic Development Corp. bond in May, according to Foley. CCM already invested $25 million of equity in September, he said.

Falling Prices

The casino’s term loan due in 2012 was quoted at 42 cents on the dollar, according to a Jan. 20 report from Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG. Its $300 million of 8 percent bonds due in 2013 trade at 55.6 cents on the dollar to yield 25 percent, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.

“MotorCity Casino’s parent company is in the process of negotiating changes to its credit agreement to bring the financial covenants that were set in 2005 to levels consistent with those already in place for other gaming operators across the United States,” said Jacci Woods, a MotorCity spokeswoman.

Woods declined to comment on details of the talks. Karen Cullen, a spokeswoman for Ilitch Holdings, referred questions to MotorCity.

Creditors are requiring increased rates from borrowers deemed high-yield, high-risk, and in jeopardy of breaking debt agreements after the so-called leveraged loan market lost 29 percent last year. Companies rated below Baa3 by Moody’s and BBB- by Standard & Poor’s are considered high-yield, or junk.

Borrowers paid an average 1.64 percentage points more in interest last year to amend borrowing agreements needed to avoid default, according to Standard & Poor’s LCD data as of September.

Tigers, Little Caesar

Ilitch, who was born in 1933 to Macedonian immigrant parents, is the wife of Michael Ilitch, the 79-year-old owner of Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers. The two co-founded closely held pizza chain Little Caesar Enterprises Inc.

CCM used the bonds and loans to buy the 75 percent stake in MotorCity in April 2005 that Ilitch didn’t already own from Las Vegas-based Mandalay Resort Group and other investors. MotorCity opened the hotel in November 2007, adding to the 75,000-square- foot casino.

Debt rose to about 7 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from 6.1 times in December as gambling revenue fell amid the economic slowdown, according to a Jan. 16 report by Foley. Terms of the loan require the ratio not exceed 6.1, and the limit will tighten to 5.9 times this quarter, he wrote in a December report.

Casino Revenue

Casinos across the U.S. are suffering as consumers cut spending in the recession. Revenue on the Las Vegas Strip, the biggest U.S. gambling center, slid 9.3 percent in the first 11 months of 2008 and was poised for its biggest annual drop since data started being compiled in the mid-1980s, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said. Casino revenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, tumbled a record 19 percent in December, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission said.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., founded by developer Donald Trump, is negotiating a debt restructuring after the Atlantic City, New Jersey-based casino owner skipped a $53 million interest payment that was due Dec. 1.

Detroit is facing more job losses than the rest of the country after U.S. auto sales tumbled 18 percent last year. Unemployment for the metropolitan area was 9.5 percent in November, up from 7.6 percent a year earlier, data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show. The national average was 6.7 percent that month.

U.S. automakers are also suffering as the car industry in Europe declines. New car registrations in the European Union fell 18.2 percent in December, according to a Jan. 15 report from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association in Brussels.

Detroit’s Deterioration

“Historically, even with the high unemployment rate, Detroit had done okay on a relative sense,” Foley said. “But November and December numbers, there was a sharp drop-off.”

Deutsche Bank, which arranged the MotorCity loan in 2005, proposed Jan. 13 that CCM increase interest payments to a minimum of 7.75 percent or 5 percentage points more the London interbank offered rate when Libor exceeds 2.75 percent. CCM currently pays 2 percentage points more than Libor, which ended last week at 1.17 percent.

CCM offered to pay a fee of 50 basis points to lenders if they agreed to the change, according to S&P’s LCD, which reported the proposal earlier this month. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. In exchange, the debt-to-earnings ratio would be increased to 8 times, S&P’s LCD said, without saying where it got the information.

A majority of the investors rejected the offer and asked Ilitch to inject additional cash into the casino, said the investors, who declined to be identified.

Dallas-based Highland, Credit Suisse of Zurich and other lenders said that without more equity, Ilitch must pay annual interest of 18 percent or 15 percentage points more than Libor, whichever is higher, according to the investors. The interest would be split between cash and payment-in-kind, they said.

Credit Suisse spokeswoman Suzanne Fleming, Highland partner Jack Yang and Deutsche Bank spokesman Scott Helfman declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Pierre Paulden in New York at ppaulden@bloomberg.net; Michael J. Moore in New York at mmoore55@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 26, 2009 05:42 EST

MotorCity Casino and Greektown saddled with debt, falling revenues; investors making demands

1.25.09

MotorCity, Greektown deal with bad hands of debt

By Chad Halcom and Nancy Kaffer

Two Detroit casinos are rolling snake eyes in the debt market.

A top ratings service downgraded its outlook for MotorCity Casino's parent company, citing a host of financial concerns. Greektown Holdings L.L.C. has until the end of this week to submit a reorganization plan that can resolve its swelling debts without need for a sale.

An agreement entered in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last month between the troubled Greektown Casino owners and its creditors gives the parties until Feb. 1 to submit a “co-exclusive” plan to restructure and settle its debts.

In other words, if the casino company doesn't submit a plan — with the consent of as many bondholders and other litigants as possible — by the deadline, creditors can submit restructuring plans of their own.

The Detroit City Council expects to meet today in a closed session with its Law Department and Chicago-based law firm Shefsky & Froelich Ltd. to review confidential new documents in the ongoing bankruptcy case, in which Detroit is a party.

A deputy press secretary for Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. said he believes Greektown will submit a plan by week's end, but an attorney for the casino's creditors said there it might be “difficult” to craft a complete plan with all parties' consent by the deadline.

As late as last week, involved parties were discussing the shape of a reorganization plan, said Robert Gordon of Detroit-based Clark Hill P.L.C. and attorney for Greektown's unsecured creditors' committee.

Greektown, majority-owned by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and the creditors have also had to discuss a few preliminary offers to buy the casino and its assets, which came in earlier this month as part of the proceedings, Gordon said.

“There still has to be some digestion of the proposals that have come in,” he said. “That's why I think there's going to be some possible difficulty or delay in crafting a full plan before the deadline.”

Marian Ilitch-owned MotorCity's fiscal woes were enumerated in a statement posted on Moody's Investors Services' Web site, announcing the downgrade of parent company CCM Merger Inc.'s outlook to negative.

Last fall, CCM owners contributed $25 million in cash equity to enable the business to meet its September debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio. Moody's analysts warn that another equity infusion might be required for CCM to meet its year-end debt-to-EBITDA ratio.

CCM's debt limit is currently seven times EBITDA, according to Moody's, but that ratio could increase in 2009 because of a drop in gaming revenue — down 11 percent in December — that could offset earnings from the casino's expansion and lead to negative cash flow.

CCM's owners would have to ask to amend its lending covenants to increase its debt-to-EBITDA ratio or risk becoming noncompliant, according to Moody's.

Greektown may have its work cut out in proving it can resolve debts as it faces falling revenue and lost market share. A 2008 revenue and tax collection report prepared by the Michigan Gaming Control Board shows that revenue fell for all three casinos in December, with Greektown's dropping 12 percent.

MotorCity ended 2008 with $464 million in revenue, compared with $480 million in 2007. Greektown finished with $316 million compared with $341 million last year.

“Nothing before us suggests the industry isn't still solvent. The casinos as a whole showed 1.8 percent revenue growth over the previous year,” said Rick Kalm, the Gaming Control Board's executive director.

Edward Gudeman, president and managing partner of bankruptcy law firm Weik & Associates P.C. in Royal Oak, said Greektown's ability to control its own future likely comes down to showing an ability to make a profit on operations — exclusive of debt.

“If they can't show that in the plan, or the plan fails to execute, the case could be converted to Chapter 7 and be forced to sell,” he said.

Greektown sought bankruptcy protection in May, citing at least $243 million in unsecured debt to 40 unsecured creditors, and has since gained regulatory approval from the Gaming Board to borrow another $100 million more.

A new hotel is expected to open in a newly built tower along Monroe Street next month.

Chad Halcom: (313) 446-6796, chalcom@crain.com
Nancy Kaffer: (313) 446-0412, nkaffer@crain.com

MotorCity Casino had worst year since 2005 -- despite larger gambing hall and new 400-room luxury hotel

According to the Michigan Gambling Control Board, annual revenues reported by MotorCity Casino for 2008 were the lowest realized by the Ilitch-owned casino since 2005; even though construction on MotorCity Casino's $300 million renovation/expansion project was in full swing during 2006 & 2007.

• On 11.30.05, MotorCity Casino broke ground on construction.
• The casino expanded its gambling floor by a third and unveiled 100,000 square feet of updated gaming space to the public on 6.07.07.
• A 400-room luxury hotel addition opened to the public on 11.29.07.

Nevertheless, post construction revenues don't reflect the larger entertainment complex.

On 1.16.09, Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of MotorCity Casino's parent (CCM Merger, Inc.) for the second time in a six week period.

CCM Merger, Inc.. is seeking to amend loan convenants to allow for even higher debt ratios despite telling investors originally that such ratios would be lower after construction was completed. As of 12.31.08, CCM Merger will be in violation of the existing convenant absent this amendment.

Investors are rejecting the idea of amendment convenants and instead have called for the casino's owner, Marian Ilitch to inject more cash into the Casino.

Crain's Detroit Business has reported that Ilitch was already forced to inject $25 million into the casino in September 2008 in order to avoid being in violation of loan covenants at the end of the 3rd Quarter.

Ilitch Casino's credit downgraded again; $50M bond payment coming due; may need to raise cash

1.22.09

MotorCity credit rating downgraded, may need to raise cash

By Nancy Kaffer

January has brought a slate of bad news for CCM Merger Inc., the financial entity that serves as parent company to MotorCity Casino, owned by Marian Ilitch.

Moody’s Investors Services has downgraded CCM’s credit rating for the second time in two months, questioning the company’s ability to meet its year-end debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio without amending its credit agreements.

For those amendments to happen, a statement on Moody’s Web site said, CCM’s owners might need to throw in more equity.

Depressed gaming revenues — down 11 percent in December — could offset incremental earnings from the completion of the casino’s expansion and the subsequent cessation of significant capital spending, according to the Moody’s statement. This could result in negative cash flow in 2009 and an increased debt-to-EBITDA ratio, currently at a debt limit of about seven times CCM’s EBITDA.

Those concerns come on the heels of a $25 million cash equity contribution made in September, necessary for CCM to meet its Sept. 30 debt-to-EBITDA covenant.

CCM’s negative rating outlook will affect about $1 billion in rated debt, according to a statement on Moody’s Web site.

The downgrade was prompted in part, according to the statement, by a CCM disclosure that it will need to seek such amendments from its bank lending group in order to comply with its bank loan leverage covenant for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31.

The statement noted that a $50 million Economic Development Corporation bond matures in May.

MotorCity ended 2008 with $464 million in revenue, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, and controls 33 percent of Detroit’s gaming market.

Revenues at Ilitch-owned MotorCity Casino fell 11.52%

December revenue drops at three Detroit casinos

BY MARY FRANCIS MASSON • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Revenue and taxes generated at all three Detroit casinos dropped by 8.1% in December, compared with December 2007. But despite the fourth quarter declines, yearly revenues went up 1.84% in 2008.

The casino revenues hit $1.36 billion in the full year 2008.

For the month of December, Greektown’s revenue dropped 12.76%, MotorCity Casino dropped 11.52% and MGM Grand dropped by 2.47%.

Also in December, MGM took the biggest chunk of the market share with 44 %, followed by MotorCity with 33% and Greektown with 23%.

Gaming taxes also dropped in December, with $9.42 million generated compared with $12.4 million in the same period last year. Much of the reductions were because of state and city tax rollbacks granted to MGM and MotorCity.

When reporter interviewed Herb Strather he failed to do the math

In February 2005, Robert Ankeny wrote in Crain's Detroit:

When MotorCity was being organized in the days before the city's Detroit casinos were authorized, Strather said, 112 Detroit area people each bought one or more $25,000 units in the company that eventually founded the casino.

"Many put in $100,000, four units," he said, making their holdings worth about $1.7 million today.

Strather said this investment growth in MotorCity doesn't include the $38.5 million that he and three other initial investors - Nellie Varner, Ron Slavik and James Blain - received when they sold their shares to Ilitch and to Mandalay, operating partner for MotorCity.

These four, along with former New Detroit President Paul Hubbard, funeral director O'Neill Swanson, and Barbara Callaway, who was Strather's grade-school teacher, were the original investors in 1994 when the city of Detroit voted approval for three casinos, Strather said.

Then, in March 2005, Robert Ankeny of Crain’s Detroit wrote:

Strather, who in the early 1990s organized the group that became Atwater Entertainment Associates L.L.C., said he, Karmanos and about two dozen of the 108 partners who own fractional shares of MotorCity also have offered to buy out and restructure that 11.5 percent of MotorCity for $118 million. Strather withdrew from the casino licensing process in 1999 before MotorCity opened, he said, in part because overdue taxes on some of his past development projects might have hindered approval from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

But just a few months later, in October 2005, Robert Ankeny wrote:

Detroit-based Atmashpee L.L.C. scored a victory in a decades-old battle to win federal recognition for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts, said Herb Strather, Detroit developer and organizer of the company…

Atmashpee (the name is a blend of Mashpee and Strather’s Atwater Associates, organizers of what became MotorCity Casino L.L.C.) includes $12 million invested by more than 200 people. About 150 of them are former Atwater partners, he said

How is it that Ankeny could write in February & March that Strather's Atwater Entertainment Associates was a group of 108 - 112 partners and yet in October he reports 150 former Atwater partners represented 3/4s of the 200 investors in Strather’s AtMashpee casino syndication?

Was Ankeny enabling Strather to spread falsehoods and mistruths to some benefit?

Were Strather's inconsistencies meant to attract new investors or give some comfort to existing investors?

Were these representations designed to make others like Len Wolman, Sol Kerzner and brothers Richard & Stephan Slavik think there was more to AtMashpee LLC than there really was? Or were there some never-revealed "silent" partners behind Atwater Entertainment Associates that perhaps included Wolman, Kerzner and/or the Slavik brothers?

As noted in the first Ankeny reference above, the Slaviks' cousin, J. Ronald Slavik, was known as an "investor" in Atwater Associates.

See "Investors" List: Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC

MotorCity Casino revenues down 7.1% for November

12.17.08

November casino revenue down from last year

By Robert Ankeny

Combined revenue for Detroit’s three commercial casinos was down 6.74 percent for November compared with the same month last year, the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported Wednesday.

MGM Grand Detroit L.L.C. was off 0.69 percent. MotorCity Casino, owned by Detroit Entertainment L.L.C., was down almost 7.1 percent and Greektown Casino L.L.C. was down almost 16.4 percent, the control board’s report showed.

Year-to-date revenue for the first 11 months of 2008 was more than $1.25 billion, up $33.7 million or 2.8 percent over 2007. That was due to MGM’s total of more than $46.4 million, 14.1 percent ahead of 2007.

Both MotorCity and Greektown trail their 11-month revenue totals for 2007, by 2.4 percent and 6.9 percent respectively.

Gaming market shares in Detroit for November 2008 show MGM with 44 percent, MotorCity with 34 percent and Greektown at 22 percent.

Ilitch granted exception so family's Olympia Entertainment can be leveraged to benefit her casino

11.18.08

Ilitch casino gets exemption
State says Olympia Entertainment can book acts

By Daniel Duggan

Marian Ilitch has won an exemption from the Michigan Gaming Board and now can use Ilitch-owned Olympia Entertainment to do bookings for the new theater at MotorCity Casino, despite a law prohibiting casinos from using vendors in which they have an ownership interest.

Negotiations on the exemption began before the theater was completed in September and, as a result, only two shows have been booked at the 1,886-seat theater since, both under special one-time-use exemptions.

The gaming board's executive director issued a one-year exemption to the casino Nov. 7, saying the arrangement doesn't “harm the integrity of gaming” in Michigan.

Using Olympia Entertainment is a crucial part of the business plan for the new theater, Sound Board, so that bookings for performers at the casino can be made in conjunction with Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre and shows at other venues booked by Olympia Entertainment, said MotorCity COO Rhonda Cohen.

“Being able to leverage acts with the other Olympia Entertainment venues gives us access to better acts,” Cohen said.

When it comes to Michigan casino owners using vendors they also own, a measure of control is needed, said Richard Kalm, executive director of the gaming board. The spirit of the law is to ensure that a casino company doesn't take over all the vending companies in the area and create a monopoly, he said.

“And we're always worried about organized crime and theft,” Kalm said. “So, entities have to be kept separate.”

In evaluating the case with Ilitch Holdings, Kalm said there is no apparent concern from a gaming standpoint.

“In dealing with Marian Ilitch and Ilitch Holdings, we've never had any problems with them, and they've been perfect in reporting to us,” he said. “But you have to look at these issues carefully.”

Kalm has sole discretion to grant such an exemption to a company as long as it “preserves the integrity of gaming and protects the public.”

Several conditions apply to the exemption. The casino is required to issue quarterly reports on activities with Olympia, and the deal is subject to annual re-approval.

A similar exemption was granted to MGM Grand Detroit Casino because the Las Vegas-based gaming company MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) — which owns an interest in the Detroit operation — also owns a travel agency in Las Vegas, which is used to bring guests to Detroit, Kalm said.

Exemptions also have been issued in the past for Olympia so that all three casinos can purchase luxury boxes for sporting events and buy season tickets.

Daniel Duggan: (313) 446-0414, dduggan@crain.com

Michigan gaming regulations restrict relationship between Ilitch-owned enterprises

Excerpted from a story, "MotorCity gets in the concert game," published 10.23.08 in the Detroit Free Press:

As explained by Bill Borenstein, MotorCity Casino's vice president of entertainment and theater; and reported by the Free Press:

"MotorCity Casino is owned by Marian Ilitch. Among her family's holdings is Olympia Entertainment, which arranges concerts at venues such as the Fox Theatre and Joe Louis Arena. But because of Michigan regulations that limit the financial partnerships of gaming operations, Olympia is not involved in MotorCity's concert booking. Casino officials say they hope to take advantage of Olympia's muscle down the road."

Revenues at Ilitch owned MotorCity Casino fall 9.46% in September; down $8 million this year.

According to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) , MotorCity Casino's revenues for September were down 9.46% as compared to the gambling hall's September 2007 revenues.

For the 12 month period ending September 30, MotorCity Casino's revenues are down nearly $12.8 million (2.63%) as compared to the previous 12 months. Revenues have fallen 9 out of the last 12 months as compared to the same months the previous year.

The Ilitch-owned property opened its expanded gambling hall in June 2007 and a 400-room hotel in November 2007.

The casino/hotel owner Marian Ilitch borrowed nearly $1 billion to acquire, expand, and finance MotorCity Casino.

Both Moody's and Standard & Poor's have been forced to downgrade MotorCity Casino's credit ratings since Ilitch acquired 100% control of the enterprise. Most recently on 9.29.08, Standard & Poor's changed its ratings outlook on CCM Merger, Inc. from stable to negative.

MotorCity Casino is a d/b/a for Detroit Entertainment LLC. CCM Merger, Inc. is the parent of Detroit Entertainment LLC.

MotorCity Casino revenues down 9.46% over 2007

10.08.08

September revenue up at MGM Grand Detroit, down at other two casinos

Nathan Hurst / The Detroit New

DETROIT -- The city's three casinos collected 4.6 percent more revenue this September than last, though only one gambling hall -- MGM Grand Detroit -- saw individual gains.

That's according to the latest figures released Wednesday by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, the state's regulatory agency.

-- MGM Grand Detroit collected $44.8 million last month, up 26.98 percent from September 2007.

-- The Ilitch-owned MotorCity Casino brought in $36.11 million in September, down 9.46 percent from last year.

-- Greektown Casino, which filed for bankruptcy in late May, took in $25.22 million last month, down 4.15 percent from September 2007.

Detroit's casinos collected $106.13 million last month, up from $101.47 in September 2007.

Though revenue was up, the state collected less in taxes -- $9.6 million this September versus $12.3 last year -- because of scheduled tax rollbacks at MGM Grand and MotorCity related to the opening of those two companies' permanent casinos and hotels.

Greektown, the city's smallest casino, will have its permanent facility fully open by early next year.

Find this article at: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081008/ENT08/810080439

Detroit Casino Revnues drop in September

10.10.08

Sept. revenue down for all 3 Detroit casinos

By Bill Shea

Detroit’s three casinos collectively reported their lowest total monthly revenue for 2008 at $106.1 million for September, according to the latest report from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

The total was the worst since $110 million in June.

All three casinos showed revenue declines from August, with MGM Grand Detroit Casino dropping from $50 million to $45 million for the month.

MotorCity Casino followed closely at $36 million, down from August’s $41 million.

Greektown Casino L.L.C. had the smallest decline, to $25 million from $27 million in August.

The state collected $9.6 million in wagering taxes for the month, the least collected since June’s $9.8 million.

Revenue is the amount casinos keep from the money wagered, after paying winners but before paying wages, taxes, utilities and other expenses.