SEARCH NEWS:

 

Inside Gaming: Interstate Jockeying May Help Harrah's

LAS VEGAS -- Word on Wall Street is that New Jersey regulators may just hand Harrah's Entertainment a Get Out of Jail Free card in the company's $9.4 billion bid to buy Caesars Entertainment. The combined company will own five out of 12 casinos in Atlantic City, but state regulators seem more concerned about competing with Pennsylvania, which is legalizing racinos, than with Harrah's possible pricing power. The theory is New Jersey needs monopoly power to compete. Don't look for the Federal Trade Commission to swoon over the argument.

¥ ¥ ¥

Antitrust concerns about gaming industry concentration may not be more than a speed bump for the MGM Mirage-Mandalay merger, even if Harrah's Entertainment buys Caesars Entertainment. But we hear buckets are being spent on legal research to make sure federal regulators don't see concentration in the convention business as a concern. If regulators define the market for gaming as Las Vegas, they could apply the same definition for conventions, and then the concentration among private operators would be tremendous.

¥ ¥ ¥

The Texas auditor's office is recommending the state Bar Association exonerate Las Vegas-based Lionel, Sawyer & Collins from allegations of practicing law without a license in Travis County. The issue stemmed from a complaint by Austin, Texas, attorney Robert R. Smith. Lionel Sawyer has a $250,000 contract with the Texas attorney general's office to provide advice on legislation to legalize slot machines. But the state auditor found it is common and legal for the AG to enter such contracts and act as local counsel. A final decision will have to come from the bar, which keeps complaints confidential unless litigation is filed.

¥ ¥ ¥

Las Vegas is hip and it's hot. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised to learn Nine Fine Irishmen in MGM Mirage's New York-New York serves more Guinness Beer than any other Irish pub in the United States.

CORRECTION

An item in last week's Inside Gaming column in the Review-Journal's Business section contained an error. Federal Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Stock Exchange regulations generally prohibit the selective disclosure of inside information for any purpose, and federal law makes it a crime. However, an exemption allows companies to release information to the media.

< Gaming News