Station Casinos File for Bankruptcy Protection

Another casino firm is in trouble:

Las Vegas-based Station Casinos Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, making it the latest casualty in the recession-wracked gambling industry.

Despite months of haggling, the company failed to reach a prearranged agreement with all its lenders. Bondholders control $2.3 billion of the company's $5.7 billion in debt.

The company's 18 casinos are separate entities wholly owned by Station and aren't part of the bankruptcy filing. They will continue to operate as usual, a Station official said. All of the debt is held by the parent company.....

Station is the latest victim of a gambling industry bled by borrowing and a prolonged slump in consumer spending. Already this year, a number of smaller casino companies, including the Las Vegas Tropicana and Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City, filed for bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, larger companies like Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment Inc., struggled to reduce debt and slash costs as tourism and corporate spending shrank.

The Station filing marks the financial downfall of one of the oldest and best-known casino companies in Nevada, and a stark reversal of fortune for its founding family, the Fertittas.

The company, founded in 1976 with one casino, expanded by catering to locals who worked or lived in the Las Vegas area. Its Western-themed properties, with names like Gold Rush Casino and Texas Station Gambling Hall and Hotel, are aimed at budget-minded gamblers.

In recent years, as Las Vegas began catering to luxury travelers with more lavish offerings, Station opened several high-end resort casinos off the Las Vegas Strip.

A&E did a show a few years ago called "Casino" and was a reality show based in Green Valley Ranch, one of the ritzier Station properties. We visited there a couple of times just to walk around and see what we'd seen on TV.

As I understand it from the show and other reports, the same family that owns the casino corporation also owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and that seems to be doing pretty well. Fighting makes money in all economies.