Las Vegas used to turn into a huge party during this time of the year, as people from all over the US and beyond borders would flock to Sin City. The coronavirus pandemic has changed all this and now the city is quiet, as all its casinos and entertainment halls are closed. A lot of money is lost by gambling operators, as well as the state, but the most affected ones by the quarantine are the people themselves. There’s a lot of pressure to reopen the Las Vegas casinos as soon as possible, but the future doesn’t look good.
The specter of bankruptcy looms large
Contrary to popular belief, land-based casinos are not the moneymaking machines they used to be. They are indeed profitable, but there’s a lot of competition coming from their online counterparts and many are barely staying afloat. The Las Vegas giants make a lot of money and they have enough resources to weather the storm, but they are still under tremendous pressure. Smaller operators only have a few months left before their savings run out and the prospect of bankruptcy is quite frightening.
Unlike other companies who are hoping that the federal government will provide assistance, casinos are unlikely to get a bailout. There’s a lot of opposition for such a measure, so the only hope for gambling operators is to open shop as soon as possible. The mayor of Las Vegas is one of the big supporters of reopening casinos as soon as possible, but there are voices against such a decision.
Fear of disease keeps casino’s empty but online casino sites boom!
The most optimistic scenarios states that Las Vegas casinos will open in June, but there are strong reasons to doubt this. On one hand, the authorities are reluctant to risk a second wave of pandemic and they don’t want to lift the restrictions too soon. On the other hand, opening casinos doesn’t solve the pressing matter of returning to business as usual. Just because gambling operators welcome players with open arms, doesn’t mean that people will flock to these locations. Many people prefer to play online roulette websites from the comfort of their own home rather than venture outside.
There is still a lot of concern regarding the dangers of the coronavirus and plenty of people who are frightened by the prospect of getting infected. In order to avoid this scenario, people refuse to congregate and avoid those places where they are likely to get in contact with their peers. Casinos do precisely that, so it makes perfect sense to steer clear of them if you want to maintain social distancing. This means that even if casinos opened sooner, there will simply be no people willing to gamble.
Las Vegas is more than casinos and a lot of money is being generated by the entertainment industry. However, as long as the casinos remain close, nobody will come to town and many jobs will be lost. Sadly for those who are suffering economic hardships, the odds of Las Vegas casinos opening in the next two months are slim to none.
