There’s no denying that 2020 was a rough year for casinos, with Covid-19 being a huge threat to not only their profits, but their existence. The pandemic played a central role in the majority of our top 5 casino stories in 2020.
Suncity’s Russian casino Tigre de Cristal reopening Thursday
Although casino closings played a huge role in the year, their reopening during the summer months too. Our readers wanted to know more when the brick-and-mortar industry in Russia came back to life in July.
The Eldorado/Caesars deal could fall apart thanks to the coronavirus
Even before the world shut down in mid-March, we knew trouble was coming when Covid-19 started to threaten M&A. While this deal eventually pushed through, the initial panic of the pandemic worried traders that this year was going to be bad, and nothing seemed certain.
Ontario casinos cleared to reopen but no table games allowed
Ontario, Canada’s biggest province in terms of population, was also one of the last to clear casinos to reopen in the summer. Even with the all-clear sounded, some operators suggested that reopening so early wasn’t worth it, and took their time to finally open the doors.
Suncity, Clairvest go to the next round in Wakayama, Japan IR race
What?! A story that isn’t above Covid? That’s right! While the Japan IR race eventually had to be delayed, due to Covid and other reasons, back in May some operators were still putting their bids in, in the hopes of winning one of those coveted licenses.
Rampart Casino takes the coward’s path to fire employees
While so much of the gambling industry handled the disaster of Covid-19 with grace and generosity, Rampart Casino, part of The Resort in Summerlin by Marriott, did neither. Employees got a pre-recorded phone call in May, informing them they had just lost their jobs.
Check out the rest of our 2020 year in review.
