Siegfried & Roy’s Las Vegas Mansion Lists for $3M

The most famous private residence in Las Vegas hit the real-estate market this week. The 8-acre estate at 1639 Valley Drive, listed with Redfin for $3M, is called Jungle Palace. It’s where Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy lived with the former magic act’s tigers and lions until he died of complications from COVID-19 in May 2020.

Siegfried Fischbacher — who lived a few miles away, on an 80-acre compound called Little Bavaria — died less than a year after his partner of pancreatic cancer at age 81.

Siegfried & Roy's house
The Las Vegas manse where Roy, of Siegfried & Roy, raised his big cats can be yours for $3M. (Image: Redfin)

The Jungle Palace was built in 1954 and purchased by Siegfried & Roy in 1982. According to Redfin, a private party purchased the estate one year ago for $1.87M and is looking to flip it for a tidy profit.

The Moroccan-themed compound features a 8,750 square-foot main house, three guest houses, multiple water features including three pools and a jacuzzi, six electric gates, two detached studios, a bird sanctuary, and multiple animal enclosures. (Animals not included.)

Oddly, though the listing’s main photo shows an entry gate emblazoned with two faux-gold “SR” monograms, it makes no mention of the estate’s biggest selling point: Siegfried & Roy themselves.

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The original tiger kings pose with Mantra the tiger in the library at the Jungle Palace in the ’90s. (Image: S&R Productions)

While Fischbacher was in charge of the illusions, Horn raised the animals at the Jungle Palace. According to a Vanity Fair profile, all of Siegfried & Roy’s cats slept in bed with him here until reaching the age of 1. He also swam with his cats every day in the estate’s largest pool.

“My animals are the love affair of my life,” Horn told People magazine. “They are the first ones I talk to in the morning and the last ones I speak to at night.”

One of several animal enclosures on the Jungle Palace property’s 8 acres. (Image: Redfin)

S&R 101

Fischbacher and Horn met while working on a cruise ship in 1957. They first performed in Las Vegas 10 years later as a featured act in the “Folies Bergere” show at the Tropicana. They then appeared in a show at Bally’s before headlining for the first time at the Frontier.

Siegfried & Roy
Siegfried & Roy post for a 1990 publicity photo with an unidentified tiger. (Image: Facebook)

By 1990, their burgeoning popularity had earned them their own $30 million show in their own theater at the Mirage. Their 13-year run was one of the most lavish and successful in Las Vegas history.

The pair made a few public appearances following Horn’s mauling by his 7-year-old white tiger, Mantecore, but never resumed their full show and retired from show business in 2010.

Horn continued caring for Mantecore until the tiger’s death in 2014. The tiger lived alternately at the Jungle Palace, at Little Bavaria, and at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.

“When you see Roy’s face when he is with Mantecore, it brightens,” Fischbacher told the Las Vegas Weekly in 2012. “It’s as if nothing happened, you know?”

Last October, the Neon Museum told tickets for the public to tour the Jungle Palace, though most of the duo’s personal items had already been auctioned off last June in LA.

Last December, Hard Rock International purchased The Mirage, permanently closing the habitat. It relocated three of its six remaining dolphins to Sea World San Diego, and is reportedly working on relocating all of Siegfried & Roy’s surviving former cats.

Last August, the Las Vegas City Council voted 5-1 to demolish 12 of Little Bavaria’s 80 acres to allow a local developer to build a four-story apartment complex on that site.

 

 

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MGM Tops Las Vegas Records, Unveils New $2B Share Buyback Plan

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) announced Wednesday that its fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR), and revenue set new records in Las Vegas and throughout its regional portfolio.

MGM buyback
MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle, seen here in 2020. The company reported strong Q4 results and announced a new $2B billion buyback plan. (Image: Bloomberg)

The Bellagio operator said it earned 69 cents a share in the final three months of 2022 on revenue of $3.6 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) tripled while sales jumped 18%. MGM posted a consolidated adjusted EBITDAR of $957 million in the fourth quarter.

On the Las Vegas Strip, where it’s the largest operator, MGM’s revenue rose 27% to $2.3 billion, underscoring the benefits of the addition of the Cosmopolitan to the operator’s roster. MGM’s Las Vegas adjusted property EBITDAR in the fourth quarter swelled to $877 million from $699 million a year earlier.

At its regional venues, which include casino hotels in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Michigan, among other states, MGM posted net sales of $991 million, compared with $900 million a year earlier, as adjusted property EBITDAR increased to $320 million from $309 million.

MGM Extends Buyback Binge

Already one of the gaming industry’s most dedicated buyers of its own shares, MGM continued gobbling up its stock in 2022 as the operator bought 76 million of its shares.

Our share buyback program continues to return capital to shareholders as we have already repurchased 4 million shares for $164 million year-to-date, adding to the 76 million shares we repurchased in 2022 and totaling approximately $4.7 billion since 2021. Beyond this, our Board of Directors authorized an additional $2 billion for share buybacks,” said CFO Jonathan Halkyard in a statement.

Based on Wednesday’s closing price of $41.43, $2 billion would buy more than 48 million shares of MGM equity, meaning the current shares outstanding tally of 393.30 million would be significantly reduced.

News of MGM’s new share repurchase program arrived after implementing a 1% buyback last year.   President Biden wants to quadruple that rate to support lavish spending programs.

MGM China Back to Profitability

MGM owns nearly 56% of MGM China, and that’s a positive these days, as the Macau gaming industry is bouncing back from the negative effects of China’s lengthy zero-COVID policies.

What we accomplished in 2022 is nothing short of remarkable and is a testament to our strategic plan, scale, brand strength, talented team, loyalty program, and the diverse geographies and channels in which we operate. We believe that there is strong momentum in our business, and our 2023 outlook remains bright, driven by a robust events calendar domestically, MGM China’s rapid year-to-date return to profitability, and BetMGM’s ongoing improvement in 2023,” said CEO Bill Hornbuckle in the statement.

The casino operator controls half of BetMGM. The internet casino and online sportsbook entity is expected to turn profitable in the back half of this year. UK-based Entain Plc (OTC: GMVHY) owns the other half of that business.

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Boyd Elixir – Las Vegas Locals and Raiders Sponsorship

boyd_elixir_las_vegas_locals_and_raiders_sponsorshipBoyd Gaming has used digital to enhance its land-based operations in recent years. The Las Vegas (Paradise) Nevada-based company is still owned by family members of founder Sam Boyd who opened his first casino in 1975.

The last week has revealed success in the company’s focus on local Las Vegas gamblers through properties such as the iconic Fremont Hotel & Casino located Downtown in the heart of the Fremont Street Experience and other locals-friendly venues like Gold Coast, Main Street Station, and Sam’s Town.

The company posted Q4 2022 revenues of $922.9m, beating out its $879.8m take for the same quarter last year. The Las Vegas locals market drove the earnings. Net income was up more than 57% with fourth-quarter earnings of $172.7m compared to $109.8m for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Digital Growth Supports Land-based Sector

Keith Smith focused on future earnings opportunities in a recent investor call saying that the company will continue with a strategy of increasing growth in the digital sector in order to further support the land-based casinos.

We took an important step forward in our online growth strategy with our recent acquisition of Pala Interactive, which gives us the talent and technology to begin building our regional online casino business,” Smith said.

While online casinos are now limited to just a few states, we believe in the long-term potential from igaming. Owning and operating our own igaming operation will allow us to leverage our nationwide portfolio and extensive customer database to create a profitable online casino business,” he added.

Total Boyd Gaming revenue for the year was up 3.8% to $3.56b, outshining the company’s previous record of $3.70b.

While gaming costs were up and revenue was down slightly, the company more than made up for it in other metrics including food and beverage revenue up 20%, rooms revenue rose 22.7%, and other revenue was up 48.2%.

Focusing on continued organic growth, Smith said: “While the opportunities from online and land-based reinvestments are compelling, we also believe there is upside from continued organic growth in our existing operations, particularly in hotel revenues, meeting, and convention business, and other non-gaming revenues,” Smith said.

Official Exclusive Sponsor of Las Vegas Raiders

Boyd Gaming’s 10 casinos in the Las Vegas Valley were named as the Official and Exclusive Local Casinos of the Las Vegas Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, according to the official website of the LV Raiders, Raider Nation. Boyd Gaming was a Founding Partner of Allegiant Stadium, and the company will get prominent signage and brand placement at Allegiant, including rebranding the west side of the stadium’s upper deck with the company’s brands.

Boyd will be the “presenting partner” of one home game each year, and the weekly radio show will be “Presented by Boyd.” Fans can also expect to see the operator’s name on regular customer promotions, communications, and advertisements.

Keith Smith, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Gaming said: “Since arriving in Las Vegas, the Raiders have greatly enhanced and strengthened our city’s reputation as the Entertainment and Sports Capital of the World, giving fans across the country another reason to visit southern Nevada. The Raiders have been equally committed to our community off the field, giving back generously to nonprofit organizations and charitable causes across the Las Vegas Valley. Boyd is proud to partner with an organization and team that share our long-standing commitment to the well-being of the southern Nevada community.”

Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan added: “We are proud to partner with Boyd Gaming, who share our values of integrity and commitment to community. We know that with this respected partner, we will be able to provide Raider Nation with even more exciting activations and experiences.”

Source: Boyd Gaming named Official and Exclusive Local Casinos of the Las Vegas Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, Raider Nation, February 3, 2023

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Oakland A’s Eyeing Two Strip Sites for Las Vegas Move

Following another round of meetings between team officials and Las Vegas business leaders, it’s clear the Oakland Athletics are eyeing two sites on the Strip should the team move to Sin City — the fairgrounds owned by Circus Circus and the Tropicana.

A's Las Vegas
A's Las Vegas
Circus Circus Las Vegas. It’s fairgrounds could be a stadium site for the Oakland A’s. (Image: TheStreet.com)

The Major League Baseball (MLB) club has long-rumored interest in Las Vegas and it originally had a list of 20 potential sites for a new, $1 billion stadium. But that roster, as was widely believed would happen, has been whittled to two. It’s clear that land owned by Wynn Resorts on the Strip is out of the running, as a company spokesperson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal it’s not interested in a ballpark being built on that property.

That leaves the 37-acre fairgrounds and recreational vehicle (RV) park near Circus Circus and the Tropicana, which have also been epicenters of long-running MLB stadium rumors, as the A’s preferred sites.

North Strip, Downtown Operators Support A’s Move

A’s officials were in Las Vegas yesterday meeting with executives from North Strip and downtown casinos. That group is supportive of the team’s efforts to move to Las Vegas, citing benefits such as job creation and increased visits to area casino-hotels.

At issue is the point that Circus Circus owner Phil Ruffin apparently didn’t participate in the meeting, nor did he comment to the press about any talks with the A’s. The last remarks he made on the issue were late last year, indicating he hadn’t recently been in touch with officials from the team. That’s relevant because Circus Circus is considered part of the North Strip.

Conversely, Tropicana is closer to the southern end of the Strip, and Bally’s executives have confirmed recent talks with the A’s. Last year, executives from Gaming and Leisure Properties — the owner of Tropicana’s real estate — said the A’s are interested in that site.

Should the team proceed with moving to Las Vegas and select Tropicana as a stadium site, Gaming and Leisure could sell the land to the franchise while providing compensation to Bally’s.

Other Issues Surrounding A’s Las Vegas Move

While the A’s appear set on the fairgrounds or Tropicana as a stadium site, and the team has approval from MLB to move, speculation remains that the ball club is simply using Las Vegas as leverage to force Oakland policymakers to sign off on a new stadium plan in the Bay Area. That theory isn’t a stretch when considering Oakland already lost the NFL’s Raiders to Las Vegas.

There are other moving parts. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred agreed to waive the A’s relocation fee. But he and the team want some public financing for a Las Vegas stadium — something voters may be loathe to support.

Waiting on an expansion team could take years and be far more expensive than simply building a stadium for the A’s in Las Vegas. As Circa CEO Derek Stevens told the Review-Journal, an expansion franchise could cost up to $2 billion, and that doesn’t include the price of a new ballpark.

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