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Column: Inside Gaming Park Place Shuffling Staff3 February 2003LAS VEGAS -- A serious housecleaning seems to be under way at Park Place Entertainment Corp., sources say. Friday afternoon, chief legal counsel Kim Sinatra suddenly quit after 2 1/2 years with the company. Her resignation was preceded by the abrupt departure of John Groom as president of Caesars Palace. Both had been proteges of former CEO Tom Gallagher whose sudden departure was announced by the board just before Thanksgiving. All left for personal reasons. And Sinatra is being succeeded as general counsel by Bernard DeLury, an old protege of Wally Barr, new CEO at Park Place. Word on the Street is that lots more changes are in the works. ¥ ¥ ¥ Dividends are much on the minds of investors, and corporate boards, these days. Gaming company boards tend to favor repurchase programs and expansion projects, but with the industry crimped by war jitters and Wall Street skittishness, board members' hearts have been turning to new ways for deploying cash. Dividends, some say, would attract a whole new class of investors. Right now, Harrah's Entertainment Corp., International Game Technology and Mandalay Resort Group are sounding the most like they may start dividend programs, but all the companies are monitoring the legislation, consulting with endless analysts from Wall Street and sounding like Hamlet. ¥ ¥ ¥ Mandalay Resort Group, industry insiders say, probably has spent the most time analyzing dividend plans. Mandalay honcho Glenn Schaeffer has been promising Wall Streeters he'll recommend a dividend to his board. That should be an easy decision since insiders own 20 percent of the company. Despite being blindsided by the narrowest bo oking window ever, the brass is saying excess free cash flow could be used for a "meaningful" dividend, especially since capital expenditures drop to zero after the new tower opens in November. Execs say March, with the best blend of gaming, independent travel and convention business, should show what they really can afford. ¥ ¥ ¥ Speaking of conventions, Las Vegas is being dubbed the No. 1 trade show destination in the United States, at least for 2003. As it should be, since we have the most convention floor space and the most hotel rooms. Las Vegas is scheduled to host 163 major trade shows in 2003, followed by New York City with 141, Toronto with 140 and Chicago with 127, Tradeshow Week magazine reports. The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Gaming Wire Editor Rod Smith. You can contact him by phone at (702) 477-3893, fax (702) 387-5243 or e-mail at Rod_Smith@reviewjournal.com. Copyright GamingWire. All rights reserved. |