Las Vegas wild card trashes Atlantic City
09:21 AM PT, Apr 1 2008
Sheldon Adelson, the richest man in Las Vegas, at a benefit for John McCain
at the Venetian last week, slammed the idea of gambling and resort building
in Atlantic City. In characteristically blunt terms, Adelson, while talking about why his company (owners of Venetian and Palazzo) would never expand to Atlantic City, said:
"We think we are one of the most, if not the most, aggressive
opportunists in gaming and integrated resort expansion in the world... We would
not even consider Atlantic City. Never made any sense and never will make any
sense."
Adelson also made local news in the same talk by casting aspersions on the
motives behind MGM-Mirage's plans to build a new resort in Atlantic City. Of
course, a top MGM-Mirage executive was Adelson's co-host of the McCain
fundraiser.
Unlike his more flamboyant rival, Steve Wynn, Adelson often flies bellow
the radar, and not just nationally. Despite his incredible success here, Adelson
is seen as an outsider and underrated, even among the elite group of resort owners on the
Strip. Perhaps the best illustration of Adelson's contrariness is that
he operates the only resort on the Strip that is non-union.
But I had assumed, considering Adelson's wealth and cranky
quotability, that no accounting of "the powers that be" in Vegas could
ignore Adelson. So, I was truly surprised that he was not given more attention
in a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Christina Binkley, "Winner Takes
All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman and the Race to Own Las Vegas."
Adelson makes only a few appearances in the book, which covers the time
during which he built and opened the Venetian and pioneered expansion of Vegas
gambling to Macau.
So, I got in touch
with Binkley to ask her why she assigned Adelson such a small
role in her book. Binkley told me:
"What I wanted to do with this book was take people who had really substantial stakes in Las Vegas at the time I was doing the book and were going to continue to do so in the future, in terms of Las Vegas' growth. Sheldon Adelson has one significant property, and it is a very significant property; and he also brought one innovation to Las Vegas, which was not entirely new -- but he certainly made it make sense for everybody and did it in a bigger way -- and that was to use your convention center to fill your hotel rooms during the week. He is built out in Las Vegas. He doesn't have any more property left on the Strip to build on. The future growth of his company is really in Asia and the rest of the world. So, he would have been a great chapter. But I did not want to do a survey of all the great men and builders of Las Vegas."
Power and influence in Vegas is not all about size,
just mostly about size. I respectfully disagree with Binkley about Adelson's crucial role in Strip
politics and development.
Adelson, by being a wild card, has always been someone out there who other
Strip executives could never count on to go along with the pack. And that has
given him a huge voice in how the Strip works.
Though competitors on the Strip, the truth is that Wynn (Steve Wynn), Harrah's (Gary Loveman) and MGM-Mirage (Kirk Kerkorian), tend to agree on most common issues resorts share. Adelson has proved, again and again, totally comfortable being the one voice to destroy that united front, from union deals to room taxes. And as the voice of dissent, the one who sees things differently, Adelson is a force few on the Strip can ever really ignore.
Though competitors on the Strip, the truth is that Wynn (Steve Wynn), Harrah's (Gary Loveman) and MGM-Mirage (Kirk Kerkorian), tend to agree on most common issues resorts share. Adelson has proved, again and again, totally comfortable being the one voice to destroy that united front, from union deals to room taxes. And as the voice of dissent, the one who sees things differently, Adelson is a force few on the Strip can ever really ignore.
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His Palazzo looks and feels like a derivative knockoff. Same goes for the new Trump tower (haven't been in it, but it looks like a giant turd laid by Mandalay Bay).
Steve Wynn may be an egomaniacal cad, but I prefer his vision of Vegas to Adelson's.
Posted by: P.J. | April 01, 2008 at 04:25 PM
Sheldon Adelson would go to Atlantic City in a heartbeat if the price was right. Just like Steve Wynn, he'll be back in AC very soon. Trump Entertainment (OTC: TRMP) is for sale and is a great opportunity for a Las Vegas based operator and can be bought for a song. Trump would make a great fit with either Adelson or Wynn at $8 per share. They both could use their stocks as currency. Want to be a large portfolio of AC property, buy Trump.
Posted by: Rocko Timeless | April 02, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Atlantic City is a total humiliation as a casino city. Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the only casino operator in the world that can save Atlantic City. But why put the most dominant, luxurious and sophisticated casino such as The Venetian in a dump town like Atlantic City? Adelson needs to concentrate on other important markets such as Asia and Europe. Leave Atlantic City for the deadbeats.
Posted by: Richard | April 05, 2008 at 12:45 PM
I do like Palazzo this is the only hotel that is airy and has a natural light coming from the ceiling. Palazzo is built for conventioneers. The parking garage is easy access to the front desk and casino. Classiness? I think Mr. Adelson gave more job than and good employee benefits than other casino owner out there.
Posted by: BB | April 06, 2008 at 08:32 AM
Adelson is goof ball. Steve Wynn has more class in his little toe than this ugly ill spoken creep.
Posted by: HOMER | April 06, 2008 at 09:39 AM