Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith seemed unfazed by an effort to legalize sports betting in Hawaii, which failed to pass last week in the state legislature. The company has spent 50 years bringing Hawaiians to its downtown resorts in Las Vegas.
“We know the residents have built a special trust,” Smith said following the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call last week.
Case in point: The University of Hawaii football team plays UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 22 — the same day as the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix. Boyd expects a large group of Hawaiian visitors to travel for the annual “Island Showdown,” where the winning team earns the giant pineapple trophy.
“It wasn’t a mistake that it was scheduled that way,” Smith said, acknowledging Boyd lobbied for the game to be played during race weekend. “We don’t see any benefit from F1, but the game will draw lots of our customers on what otherwise would be a slow weekend for us.”
Smith said Boyd would have jumped into the market had Hawaii legalized online sports betting. Hawaii and Utah are the only states without any form of legal gaming — casinos, sports betting, lottery or horse racing.
He also said he didn’t believe legal sports betting in Hawaii would cause customers to alter visitation to Las Vegas. In the first quarter, Boyd’s revenue from its three downtown casinos grew 7 percent.
