Tribal casinos work to improve their odds amid gaming slowdown - bizjournals:

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Santa Ana Star Casino took the unlimited crab legs off its seafoods buffet in September tosave money. But it reversed that move the week ofJune 22, even thouggh the $19.95 buffet price hasn’t changed. Crab legs didn’t suddenly get cheaper, said General Manager Scott But he’s willing to take a loss on them to enticdmore visitors. “Then hopefullyt they will staya bit, and go bowling or buy a concert tickey or a drink,” he said. Eldredge is seeing the same number of people coming throughSanta Ana’ws doors. But they’re spending less, he says. Charlea Schmidt, chief operating officer for owner AcomaBusineses Enterprises, sees the same pattern.
“I think people are sitting on their pocketbooks real hardrighgt now,” Schmidt says. The recession is hurting the state’s tribap casinos to varying degrees. Most casinos saw their net win on slot machinea fall in thefirst quarter, compareds with the first quarter of 2008. It’s part of a larger slowdowj ingaming nationwide, according to bond ratinbg agencies that follow casinos. “We don’t see the industryy bouncing back quickly,” says Craigb Parmelee, an analyst with . That’s because consumere spending will not make a significanrt comeback for some he adds.
That said, the Albuquerque market has done fairlg well in the saysMegan Neuberger, an analyst with , whichg issued a report in May on distressed American Indian gaming debt. There was not a lot of new capacityh added to the market in 2008and 2009, she said. Islet Pueblo opened a new but did not expand its gamingoperations much. Eldredge said the fact that Santwa Ana does not have the distractiom of a hotelhas helped. “We can focus on gaming and food and beveragewsand bowling,” he says.
About 72 percentr of entities around the country that issued debt to expanfd gaming properties have a negative outloolk or are on review for a possible downgrade oftheir debt, according to a May report by Moody’s Investors Service. At least one New Mexicpo property, the , defaulted on its bonds aftee failing to makea $12 million interestf payment in May. The property near Ruidoslo is owned by the MescaleroApache tribe. It has struggled financiallhy and gone through numerous changes intop management, accordinfg to its Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Its chief operating officer, Elizabeth Foster-Anderson, could not be reacheed for comment.
Buffalo Thunder Resort near Santaz Fe saw a downgradse of its debt in Februarhy byStandard & Poor’s over concernss that it could not meet its debt obligations. S&oP stopped rating the bonds in March at the request of the Buffalop ThunderDevelopment Authority. Ratings on bonde indicate the likelihood that the borrowet can repay the The resort missed a bond payment onJune 15, Fitch’ s Neuberger said. That puts it technicallyg in default onthe bonds, but it has a grac e period until July 15. Gov. Georgw Rivera of Pojoaque Pueblo said that because the ratingas wereso low, the tribe wanted to cut out the expensee of paying for them.
“We’re talkinyg with our investors now,” he says of the bond “We’ve got some good communciationsd going on about wherw things are at withthe economy.”