GAMBLOR: Steve Wynn To Takeover Foxwoods Fail

wynn0508.jpgINQUIRER: Wynn Resorts confirmed Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent to take control of developing and running the struggling Foxwoods Casino project. But the deal is contingent on approval from Pennsylvania gaming regulators. The Foxwoods project is at risk of losing its license for repeated delays since winning one of the city’s two slots licenses in 2006. He only offered a general idea of what he had in mind, saying it would be a one-story casino with two or three levels of parking on either side. Asked how much Wynn Resorts would spend on the waterfront site, Wynn did not directly answer, saying only it would not be “an earth-shaking number.” He said the building “will not look like slots in a box.” “It will have all the bells and whistles of a good-looking casino,” including 3,000 slot machines, table games, a poker room, an Italian restaurant, a steak house, and an Asian restaurant, he said. MORE

NEW ONLINE CASINOS: After the news of a Pennsylvania presence surfaced, investors were not quick to jump on board. On Wednesday, Wynn stock dropped $.33, or .52%. The stock closed at $63.35, still way ahead of other US-based gaming stocks. The move into Pennsylvania by Wynn could further hurt the Atlantic City casino industry. Wynn brings a well-known brand to the area, and they have been competing with the likes of MGM Mirage and other developers that own AC casinos for years. Already, Pennsylvania casinos had higher slot revenue than AC casinos in December, and table games for Pennsylvania casinos were approved by lawmakers in January. With Wynn joining gamblor2.jpgthe mix, the road to recovery for the AC casino industry may have just became a lot longer. MORE

BUSINESS WEEK: Wynn Resorts Ltd., the casino company founded by Steve Wynn, reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates after Las Vegas room rates tumbled. Excluding some items, profit of 8 cents a share fell short of the 14-cent average of 12 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Las Vegas-based company reported a net loss of $5.22 million, or 4 cents, compared with loss of $159.6 million, or $1.49 a share, a year earlier, which included additional tax costs, according to a statement today. MORE

HARTFORD COURANT: A decade and a half ago, Wynn failed in a high-profile effort to bring one of his signature casinos to Connecticut. He spent millions of dollars before losing a political fight to the Mashantucket Pequots — owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino. MORE

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