South Dakota Closed Casino Venues; US Gambling Sector Locked

As of Wednesday, March 25, the commerical gaming sector in the US has ceased operations. After the serious spread of Covid-19 infection, South Dakota officials have also decided to halt casino activity and put the industry on the hold…

About Closure:

The mayor of Deadwood (South Dakota), David Ruth Jr. sent an open letter to the local casino operators, asking for the immediate termination of activity to the state efforts in preventing the proliferation of the coronavirus.

South Dakota is one of the leading gambling locations, having one of the most casinos per capita. Some of the local venues had already presented their plans to shut down and the mayor urged all operators to make the same decision.

On Monday, March 23, Gov. Kristi Noem penned an executive order that instructs:

“any enclosed retail business that promotes public gatherings to suspend or modify business practices” that include ten or more individuals where the separation of six feet isn’t possible. Speaking about the situation, Ruth mentioned that the city has didn’t issue the order businesses to cease its operation.

Mayor Ruth said:

“To date, I have not provided you with a directive. I hope that operators will make a wise decision in an effort to help everyone and give our medical professionals the opportunity to combat this disease.”

Current Endeavors

The Deadwood Gaming Association has informed the public about making efforts to stop the operation of the casino industry. The group confirmed the “proactive” decision “even though there are no known cases of COVID-19 in Lawrence County and no cases of community spread yet in our area.”

The American Gaming Association (AGA) released a report stating that 95% of the state’s 465 commercial casinos and 76% of tribal venues had closed their operation voluntarily or following the order of official authorities.

The Deadwood shutdowns will result in the total closure of casino commercial operations (100%) while 97% of tribal casinos have also closed their doors.

The number of employees who remain without a working position climbed to 649k. At the same time, the AGA makes additional steps to push the casino industry to take part in the fiscal stimulus package planned for Washington, DC.

According to the report of Macquarie Research, some casinos won’t be able to keep their current cash flow for too long. Penn National Gaming was estimated to have about 5.2 months’ of cash, while competitors Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts could stand nine months with current cash reserves.

Tribal casinos, on the other hand, are facing a more difficult situation and they will soon have to make a serious decision regarding the financing…

Source:

“US commercial casinos all dark after South Dakota closures“, Peter Amsel, calvinayre.com, March 24, 2020.