Smith said Boyd has seen a full recovery from its core business, Hawaiian visitors who populate its downtown casinos. The recently opened FanDuel branded sportsbook is operated by Boyd Gaming inside the Fremont Hotel-Casino in downtown Las Vegas is seen on Jan. Boyd said the total revenue – gaming and non-gaming – from its three downtown casinos was $215.3 million, almost $100 million more than a year ago. Boyd is also coming off a year that saw increased revenue from its primary Las Vegas markets.Īccording to the Gaming Control Board, downtown casinos collected a record $880.2 million in gaming revenue in 2022. “We could use (a REIT deal) as a form of financing, but we don’t have the need for that right now.”īoyd ended 2022 with about $3.1 billion in total debt – a pittance compared with the major Strip operators, such as Caesars, whose debt stands at more than $13 billion. “It came with the sale, and it’s worked well in those markets,” Smith said. The four resorts are owned by VICI competitor Gaming and Leisure Properties and the operations are leased back to Boyd. The company also has regional casinos in 10 states.įour of Boyd’s casinos outside Nevada – two in Missouri and one each in Ohio and Indiana – were acquired in 2018 to help ease antitrust concerns as part of Penn Entertainment’s $2.8 billion purchase of regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment. A 10th property, Eastside Cannery, has been closed since the pandemic. “We've talked over the years but it’s just not an option for us.”īoyd operates nine casinos in Las Vegas.

“We know those guys very well just because they're in the business and we run across each other,” Smith said. VICI owns 660 acres on the Strip covering 10 resorts operated by MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, Apollo Global Management and Hard Rock Entertainment. MGM used sale proceeds to pay down debt.Īt last month’s Preview Las Vegas, VICI Properties CFO David Kieske said the gaming REIT was exploring opportunities with downtown casino resorts and the Las Vegas neighborhood casino market to add to its growing portfolio.

Major Las Vegas companies, including MGM Resorts International, sold its Strip casinos to REITs and leased back the operations. Gaming REITs acquire land and real estate associated with casino resorts and lease the properties back to an operator.

“With the strength of our balance sheet, the strength of our cash flows and our ability to access other forms of financing, we just don't have a need,” Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith said last week in an interview following the company’s fourth-quarter conference call.

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