• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Sunday 1 June 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • 中文
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • 中文
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

Caesars CEO Tom Reeg on Korea investment: “we sold it for some barbecue pork”

Andrew W Scott and Ben Blaschke by Andrew W Scott and Ben Blaschke
Fri 26 Feb 2021 at 19:36
Caesars sets max future Korea CapEx at US$60 million

An artist’s impression of the former Caesars Korea IR project, now referred to as the Midan City Resort Complex.

233
SHARES
5.8k
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

If you ever needed evidence of why Caesars has failed so spectacularly time and time again in Asia, you need only look so far as the transcript of their Q4 earnings call, held at 5pm ET on Thursday (6am Friday Macau time).

When asked on the call where exactly Caesars sits in relation to their upcoming integrated resort investment in Korea, CEO Tom Reeg replied, “Korea has gone, we sold it for some barbecue pork …“

Reeg, previously CEO of Eldorado Resorts, was a driving influence behind the behemoth US$17 billion acquisition of Caesars in 2020, and has come out the other side of that deal as CEO of the resulting Caesars entity. While Caesars might be a household name in the US (well, at least in the 1960s, 70s and 80s it was), it is essentially unheard of in Asia, compared to the likes of Sands, Wynn and MGM. These three US brands secured incredibly lucrative Macau gaming concessions which changed their fortunes forever, as the Macau market eventually towered over the Las Vegas strip, becoming more than six times the size. Caesars missed out on a Macau license in 2006 when then-CEO Gary Loveman astonishingly turned down such a license, calling it “too expensive.“ In 2010 Loveman described that decision as “the biggest mistake the company ever made,“ which is really saying something about a brand that is more than 50 years old.

Reeg’s “BBQ pork“ comment will be hard to live down and will stick in the minds of Asian gaming industry figures for years to come. It is at best incredibly naive, and at worst blatantly racist.

Caesars’ decision to sell its stake in a Korean IR may indeed be a prudent one given the company’s need to focus on its financial situation domestically – a situation plagued by enormous debt from the recent acquisition and the impact of COVID-19. Despite this, Caesars’ Korean misadventure now represents yet another failure in Asia.

It should also be noted that Caesars was one of the first companies to pull out of the Japan IR process, and little wonder given the company’s apparent inability to muster even a basic understanding of how to become an industry participant in Asia.

It seems Caesars under Reeg is set to become a very US-centric company, with the CEO stating, “You should expect that over time [our Windsor management contract in Ontario, Canada] will be the extent of our non-US business.“

Pouring salt into the wound, Reeg added a throwaway, “I think that was in May [2020]” to his comment about Caesars departure from Korea. The comment contradicts information directly from the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority stating the sale actually took place in late January of this year. If Reeg is correct and the sale was indeed in May, it would have been nice to give the market some official confirmation a little earlier than nine months after the fact. But if he’s wrong and the sale was in January, Reeg’s comment suggests a CEO out of touch with important happenings inside his own company – or at least anything outside of the good ol’ US of A.

Reeg’s final two words on the Korea matter in today’s earnings call were, “we’re out.“

Until Caesars can find a CEO who knows how to handle himself on this side of the world without offending people, our comment is, “Good riddance.“

RelatedPosts

Kangwon Land GGR up 3.8% year-on-year on higher VIP play

Kangwon Land to support local SMEs in entering global slot machines and gaming technology market

Wed 28 May 2025 at 06:09
Inaugural WSOP Online breaks online poker records after annual Las Vegas series postponed in 2020

2025 World Series of Poker festival gets underway in Las Vegas today

Tue 27 May 2025 at 07:14
Fitch: Light & Wonder to meet reduced EBITDA leverage target by 2024

Analysts upbeat on Light & Wonder’s new US$2 billion EBITDA target for 2028

Thu 22 May 2025 at 06:31
Mass gaming segment drives sequential revenue growth for Korea’s Kangwon Land in 3Q24

Kangwon Land granted permission to increase minimum bets on blackjack and poker

Wed 21 May 2025 at 05:52
Load More
Tags: Caesars Entertainment CorpNorth AmericaSouth KoreaTom Reeg
Share93Share16
Andrew W Scott and Ben Blaschke

Andrew W Scott and Ben Blaschke

A former sports journalist in Sydney, Australia, Ben has been Managing Editor of Inside Asian Gaming since early 2016. He played a leading role in developing and launching IAG Breakfast Briefing in April 2017 and oversees as well as being a key contributor to all of IAG’s editorial pursuits.

Born in Australia, Andrew is a gaming industry expert and media publisher, commentator and journalist who moved to Hong Kong in 2005 and then Macau in 2009, when he founded O MEDIA, one of Macau’s largest media companies and parent company of Inside Asian Gaming.

Current Issue

Editorial – Foreigner-only casinos: Seize the day

Editorial – Foreigner-only casinos: Seize the day

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:38

I was recently asked by someone working at a foreigner-only casino for my thoughts on the outlook for the Asian...

On the brink

On the brink

by Pierce Chan
Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:27

The transition period for Macau’s 11 satellite casinos is set to expire at the end of this year, after which...

A moral defense of gambling

A moral defense of gambling

by Andrew Russell
Wed 28 May 2025 at 18:19

Economist Andrew Russell explores the differences between community benefit and in-principle arguments for the existence of a legal gambling industry...

Face to face

Face to face

by Ben Blaschke
Wed 28 May 2025 at 18:08

Konami caught the eye at the recent G2E Asia show in Macau with its SYNK Vision Tables, which utilize facial...

Evolution Asia
Aristocrat
GLI
Mindslot
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
Nustar
Jumbo

Related Posts

10 Years Ago – Reimagining Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka gazettes draft bill to establish Gambling Regulatory Authority

by Newsdesk
Sat 31 May 2025 at 06:03

A draft bill that would establish an official regulator for the Sri Lankan gaming industry, to be known as the Gambling Regulatory Authority, has taken another step forward after being gazetted. According to the Sri Lanka Mirror, the official announcement...

RGB International signs agreement to distribute KL Saberi and Atlas gaming machines

After record-breaking sales in 2024, Malaysia’s RGB sees 1Q25 profit fall to

by Newsdesk
Sat 31 May 2025 at 05:53

Malaysian gaming product distributor RGB International Bhd has reported group-wide revenue of MYR73.6 million (US$17.3 million) for the three months to 31 March 2025, down 65% year-on-year due to a lower number of products sold. The figure was also 79%...

Robert Goldstein to step aside as LVS Chairman and CEO from March 2026, replaced by Patrick Dumont

Robert Goldstein: Macau gaming market challenged by increased competition, online gambling and US-Sino trade war

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 30 May 2025 at 06:42

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein has bemoaned the lingering impact of the US-China trade war, as well as increased domestic and regional competition and the rise of online gambling across Asia for sustained flatness in the...

Industry hopes Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable can establish “common ground” with those opposing legal casinos

Industry hopes Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable can establish “common ground” with those opposing legal casinos

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 30 May 2025 at 05:38

Industry figures taking part in the Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable (TECR) next Thursday 5 June hope to find common ground with those who oppose Thailand’s Entertainment Complex Bill, citing the opportunity to use an evidence-based approach to achieve outcomes that...



IAG

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • 中文

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • 中文
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • 中文
  • English