Caesars Q3: Regional and digital growth offset Las Vegas decline as Fertitta takeover advances

Caesars Entertainment published its third-quarter results on Tuesday, showing weaker performance in Las Vegas and modest improvement in its regional and digital businesses. The company is still working toward completing its acquisition by Fertitta Entertainment.

The $17.6 billion deal was announced in May after a period of competing bids involving Fertitta and investor Carl Icahn. Completion is expected by the middle of next year. The Federal Trade Commission requested additional materials on 17 September, which pushed back the antitrust timeline by at least 30 days. Shareholders backed the merger with a 65% majority on 22 September. No analyst call was held this quarter because of the pending transaction.

In Las Vegas, revenue fell 2% year over year to $930 million. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 10% to $343 million and net income fell 40% to $79 million. Regional properties performed better, with revenue up 6% to $1.6 billion and adjusted EBITDA up 3.5% to $524 million. Caesars operates 54 properties across 20 North American jurisdictions, 46 of them regional. Fertitta's Golden Nugget brand runs eight casinos, seven outside Las Vegas, and the two companies overlap in markets including Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, Atlantic City, Lake Charles, Danville and Biloxi. CEO Tom Reeg said at the Global Gaming Expo that he would not be surprised if a property or two were divested during the process.

Caesars Digital generated $326 million in revenue, up 5%, while adjusted EBITDA rose 57% to $44 million. Net income moved from a $21 million loss a year earlier to a $4 million profit. The unit offers online sports betting in 28 North American jurisdictions and iGaming in six.

The company ended the quarter with $864 million in cash and equivalents and $11.6 billion of total debt, which will be assumed in the merger.

Caesars has stayed out of prediction markets, which it sees as a threat to its retail casino licences, unlike FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics. Reeg criticised the platforms at G2E, noting that Kalshi had listed contracts on whether Caesars would be acquired. He also described the pressure of reporting every 90 days as a public company as "not healthy".