It was a busy week for Las Vegas Sands, one of the pillars of the casino industry. That’s where we’ll start our recap of the weekly casino news as we keep tabs on Sheldon Adelson’s activities.
Las Vegas Sands Bumps Resort Fees
Las Vegas Sands is one of the biggest names in the casino business. However, it’s going to cost you a little bit more to stay at their properties – like The Venetian – when you head to Las Vegas. They’ve announced that they’re raising the resort fees on their properties, which includes the Palazzo and the Venetian. Going forward, it is going to cost you $45 for a day at the Palazzo and the Venetian. That means there has been an increase of daily fees by Las Vegas Sands of 80 percent over a three-year period, which is quite a rise. The good news is that they’re still one of the few casino/resorts on the Strip to offer free parking to their customers.
They’re not the only ones doing this, as MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment have also raised their daily resort fees. It seems as though the only ones not to raise their fees are Wynn Resorts, which still has daily resort fees of $39. Most of the resorts on the Strip range from $14.95 to now $45, but the majority of them are in the $35-$39 range. That’s quite stunning when you consider that there was a time not too long ago when you could find a room on The Strip for around $50. Now resort fees alone are nearly that much.
Sands Bethlehem Sold To Creek Hospitality
While the Sands in Las Vegas was raising its resort fees, another Sands was going up for sale. The Sands Bethlehem, which is about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, has sold to Wind Creek Hospitality, which is associated with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama.
The deal is a monster as it is worth about $1.3 billion. Originally, it was expected to have been sold to MGM Resorts International in May but MGM backed out. That opened the door for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to step in.
Sands is going to use this money to return money to some of its shareholders and to go toward other developments. Meanwhile, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians have added another casino to their portfolio to make three in total under the Wind Creek banner in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Florida. They also have two facilities under the Renaissance brand in Aruba and Curacao. The big winner here might be Sheldon Adelson, who typically cashes in quite well with his gambling. With this sale, he is now estimated to be worth $38.5 billion. Adelson is far and away the richest casino-affiliated person in the industry and he is 21st overall on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world.
White Hat Gaming Launches Gate777
Moving to the online world, White Hat Gaming has launched Gate777, which is an online casino that has an airport theme to it. This online casino can be played on all devices that have access to the internet. New players will be treated like a first-class guest, as the theme goes. They’ll get a welcome bonus as well as 100 extra spins.