The Encore License
By Josh Resnek
If all things are equal – which they are not – Wynn Resorts should retain their license for the casino that is to open in June 2019.
Getting there is another matter.
The suitability issue dominates right now.
All reports indicate the entire Wynn Resorts Board of Directors – all new faces – are set to descend on Boston and to sit at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission when the suitability report is finally ready to come out.
The Wynn Resorts folks believe if they show how broadly the company has changed its persona – from a sexual harassment bastion – to a place absent of it – that whatever the law is can be overlooked because they have changed the company entirely from top to bottom.
This, it is believed, is a pretty good strategy to persuade the MGC to maintain its suitability as the gaming licensee here in Boston/Everett.
But what if it doesn’t?
What happens if the MGC finds Wynn Resort unsuitable? Terms we cannot use in a community newspaper is what this would be.
Such a decision cripples Wynn Resorts.
Here is what it would cause: a feeding frenzy among those who believe they can pass the suitability test and who have enough millions – and actually it would be more than $1 billion and then some to take the project over.
It is estimated the project would be sold to another rm for $1.5 billion and that Wynn Resorts would take its lumps and exit from the situation.
Time would be of the essence.
The MGC in finding Wynn Resorts unsuitable would unleash upon itself a situation, perhaps the most extraordinary situation ever put upon the company.
Unsuitability means this: they have to get out of dodge. They must recoup as much as they can before leaving – and the longer it takes for Wynn Resorts to leave, the more it will cost them in money that can never be retrieved or made up.
In simpler terms that we can all understand…without a gaming license there can be no reason to exist here in Everett for Wynn Resorts.
The company could choose to run the hotel as a hotel without gaming and the hotel would then become the most expensive hotel ever built-in the history of mankind.
Think about Fenway Park owners not being able to sell alcohol or hot dogs, that all you could do is watch the ballgame!
That wouldn’t work very well, would it?
Or even closer to home, if you’ve ever been close to a friend needing to sell their home immediately because of financial problems, well, that stuff is deadly. The longer it takes such a homeowner to sell, the less money they will receive.
The deal must be struck quickly and at the highest price possible…and then its goodby.
Could this happen for Wynn Resorts?
Yes it could.
Also, Wynn stock has again sunken below $100, a deadly place for the stock to be drifting.
In fact, Wednesday the stock was at $98, down from $210 when Steve Wynn was still riding high.
Not only has the stock fallen precipitously but the market cap – the value of the company in dollars directly related to the price for its stock, has also sunken to slightly south of $11 billion, down from a high of about $45 billion right before Steve Wynn was made to leave and sell all his stock.
These are duel bad situations not just for Wynn Resorts, but for any company trying to prove its worth and to maintain face in the midst of a terrible decline.
We believe Wynn is likely to prevail but prevailing will come at a heavy price.
And if Wynn doesn’t prevail, it will lose a pile of dough before bowing out.
What things are coming up in the next few weeks.
Let’s see what happens.
What’s Going On With The Superintendent’s Position?
We are hearing that the acting superintendent of schools may not be the acting superintendent of schools for very long.
Actually, anything is possible with the power vacuum now existing that Fred Foresteire has retired after being superintendent for more than 25 years.
It is only natural for things to change dramatically.
The School Committee, for instance, is said to be experiencing all kinds of possibilities as the members talk among themselves about the new political configuration taking place right now.
Here’s the deal. At the next School Committee hearing, the School Department could nominate a permanent superintendent from inside the school system.
With a positive vote, this could be like check and mate in the political chess game now being played.
This is apparently what is being discussed.
No one need to apply for superintendent without a doctorate, is also what is being forecast.
We are not certain you need a doctorate to run the school system, but you do need to be certified as a superintendent.
What one really needs is what the acting superintendent has – first hand, up front, real time knowledge and understanding of the school system.
We are hearing big changes are going to happen no matter who sits as the superintendent on Vine Street.
There is nothing whatsoever unnatural about this.
We say it again and again – nothing lasts forever.
The Patriots
Everett is a football heaven for football enthusiasts – players and residents alike and both.
This has been a season unlike any other with the Pats looking sloppy and slippery, losing two games in a row, looking real bad at defense with our main man Tom Brady, tossing up interceptions and having some memory lapses out there.
He is 41 now.
Many sports fans are making like he is too old now to be playing professional football. Can you imagine being too old at anything
when you are 41?
So I called Tom.
We discussed a bunch of things.
Here’s how the conversation went: “Hey Josh, how’s everything going on Church Street?” he asked me.
“I’m OK,” I said.
“You know what its like. You can’t win
every time out but you give all you can and toss up the chips and let them fall where they may.”
Brady cleared his throat.
“Yeah, Josh. You know, they’re all talking about me being 41 like I’m 68. (That was a private joke cause I’m 68). Giselle doesn’t think I’m too old to play. She says I am looking as good as ever…you know, my smile, my teeth, my hair, how I keep my body in shape,” Brady said to me.
“I did have kind of a fall about ten days ago. I haven’t told anyone because I’m simply too embarrassed. I was with Vinny Wilfork. You remember Vinny?”
‘Of course,” I said. “I heard he has a great appetite.”
‘Are you kidding me. He eats like a horse,” Brady added.
‘We were driving through Everett on our way to the casino but I heard it wasn’t opening until June of 2019! I was so disappointed cause I wanted to play some
Black Jack. I love playing high stakes Black Jack.” Brady said.
“I was starved. We turned into McDonald’s although we had a quick debate about going to Mike’s.”
“Anyway,” Brady continued,”Vinnie ordered up three Big Macs, three large fries and a small coke.I looked at him and said:”What’s with the small coke?”
“I don’t want to overdo it,” he said to me.
“I can’t eat like that anymore. If I had my druthers I would have gone to Whole Foods and bought a half dozen avocados, fresh broccoli, four or ve different kinds of nuts with a health drink to wash all of that down. Instead, I ordered three double cheeseburgers with bacon, two large orders of fries, and a large water. We ate all of it in about 15 minutes. Can you believe what a Big Mac looks like when Vinnie is holding it in his hand?”
“And what’s more, Vinnie told me he had eaten what he referred to as a giant breakfast at a place somewhere in Lynn. Told me he ate a huge piece of ham, sausage and bacon, with 6 eggs, two orders of toast, three cups of coffee and two huge homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.”
“He was burping and gurgling a bit as he woofed down the Big Macs. I mean, how can anyone eat so much?,” Brady said.
“How’s everything in Everett?” he asked me.
“Heard you guys didn’t go to the Super Bowl this year?” he added.
“Yeah,” I said. “Its hard winning Super Bowls and even getting to them is a major effort where you need great play, and some luck,” I said.
“Look at us,” he said to me. “We may get into the playoffs but getting to the Super Bowl, well, that’s like climbing Mt. Everett – and I think we’re like climbers with oxygen packs that are running low,” he added.
“Hey, Josh, say hello to everyone in Everett. Love the Leader Herald,” he said. “Everyone follows the Leader,” Brady said to me.