Amid the fireworks surrounding the opening of MGM National Harbor and doom and gloom prognostications about what it means for the region’s other casinos, Maryland Live! President Rob Norton says his property will be just fine, thank you very much.
Maryland Live! Casino and Hotel is owned by privately-held Cordish companies and opened in 2012 as a slot parlor. It added table games in 2013 following the passage of Question 7, which also authorized the issuance of a casino license in Prince George’s County which would be ultimately won by MGM.
Maryland Live! has regarded as one of the most successful casino openings over the last five years in the United States. Situated halfway between both the Washington and Baltimore markets, the property has earned $660 in gross gaming revenue over the last 12 months, an average of $55 million per month.
That figure is more than Maryland’s four other casinos combined, but that appears set to change with the opening of MGM National Harbor, as Wall Street analysts are projecting that anywhere from 25-30 percent of the property’s revenues are at risk of being cannibalized by the new resort casino outside of Washington.
But Norton has proved the analysts wrong in the past, and he’s confident that his property will do so yet again.
“Analysts said that our revenue would decrease as much as 20 percent when Caesars opened the Horseshoe in Baltimore in 2014. In fact, our revenue has increased since it opened,” Norton said. “Everyone has their predictions, but we are confident that Live! Casino will continue to be a dominant force in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
He highlighted the property’s ongoing investments in new hotels and restaurant upgrades, its loyal customer base, and its familiarity with the local market as its prime competitive advantages against its new $1.4 billion neighbor situated 30 miles to the south.
“We believe that competition is good for the market because it makes everyone better. We welcome competition and we’re ready for the challenge,” Norton said. “This is our home – this is where the Cordish Family, our owners, have lived for generations – and we will fight hard against the mammoth corporations who don’t know and love this market like we do.”
One of the ways Maryland Live! is fighting is with a half-million dollar poker promotion this month intended to reward its loyal players and pour some cold water on the National Harbor opening.
It is offering a $500 High Hand promotion – in which the player in the room with the highest hand during a specified time interval wins the prize. Such promotions are typically offered once per hour or every 30 minutes and at much smaller prize levels, but from December 7-11, Norton and his team have upped the frequency to once every 10 minutes. This equates to $3,000 an hour, $36,000 a day (over 12 hours) and $180,000 of promotional giveaways during the five day span.
The promotion continues until the end of the month, albeit at decreasing intervals, until $468,000 has been given away to its poker clientele over a 21 day span.
That didn’t stop throngs of people from pouring onto the National Harbor gaming floor Thursday evening, but it illustrates that Norton and company will still remain a formidable power in the region’s gaming market.
