Casino operator MGM Resorts suffered a deep revenue blow in the second quarter of 2020 but margins improved thanks to its ongoing efforts to cut payroll to the bone.   

Figures released Thursday show MGM generated revenue of just $289.8m in the three months ending June 30, down 91% from the same period last year. The company booked an earnings loss of over $492m versus a $764.3m gain last year while net losses attributable to MGM came to $857m versus net income of $43.4m in Q2 2019.

MGM’s Las Vegas operations, which only began reopening on June 4 after their lengthy COVID-19 closure, reported revenue down 90% year-on-year to $151m, while US regional operations were also down 90% to $89m.

However, when comparing post-reopening activity to the same periods last year, Vegas margins are up 450 basis points – of which around 100 points came via favorable table hold in June – while regional margins shot up 880 points.

Massachusetts’ sports betting legalization plans appear to have hit a roadblock, likely delaying passage to September at the earliest.

On Wednesday night, the Massachusetts state Senate blocked the insertion of sports betting language into its version of the economic development bill approved earlier this week by the state House of Representatives.

The House bill, which was approved by an overwhelming margin, would have permitted sports betting via the state’s casinos and racetracks, as well as a handful of online-only operators who wouldn’t be required to partner with a land-based operator to secure a license.

The House bill was also controversial given its favorable treatment of major sports leagues, who would have been permitted to not only demand that betting operators pay to use league-supplied data for in-play betting purposes but the leagues could also enter into revenue-sharing deals with operators, which would have been a first for US betting legislation.

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has reassured its staff that they will continue to be paid through at least Halloween despite having been furloughed due to COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Sands chairman/CEO Sheldon Adelson issued a letter to the company’s US staff in which he expressed confidence that the company’s Asian casino business was “trending in the right direction,” while acknowledging that operations in Las Vegas “may take more time to recover.”

Adelson’s letter expressed his “unequivocal belief” that the gaming industry “will get back to a regular pace at some point in the future.” COVID-19 has changed “almost everything about our daily lives,” however, Adelson stressed to his staff that “what has not changed is our commitment to you.”

Like all Vegas operators, Sands was forced to suspend operations in March as the pandemic took hold. But as it became clear that the shutdown would last longer than originally anticipated, Adelson announced that his company would be “paying every one of our nearly 10,000 employees as though they were still working.” 

UK-listed gambling giant GVC Holdings is trying to reassure investors that media speculation involving the company’s links to disgraced online gambling payment processor Wirecard is fake news.

GVC’s shares sunk nearly 9% in Thursday’s early trading on the London Stock Exchange, and while the shares have staged a minor rebound, they’re currently sitting around 5% below Wednesday’s close.

The drop appears to have been caused by a speculative op-ed in the Times by Alistair Osborne. The op-ed cited a theory by some short-sellers who wondered if there was some connection to Wirecard in the recent announcement by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that it was “widening the scope of its investigation” into GVC’s former Turkish-facing operations.

Wirecard, which made a name for itself by dealing with ‘controversial’ sectors such as online porn and gambling, imploded last month after management was found to have been fudging the books to show $2b in reserves that didn’t actually exist.