Boyd Ballys partnership at the Tropicana Las Vegas site
Speculation is building that Boyd Gaming could step in to help Bally’s develop its proposed Las Vegas Strip resort near the new A’s stadium. Following reports by Vital Vegas and Casino.org linking Boyd Gaming to Bally’s former Tropicana site, Wall Street analysts view a deal as highly unlikely despite the rumor mill. Don’t bet on Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) partnering with Bally’s (NYSE: BALY) on its proposed $3 billion-plus resort at the former Tropicana site on the Las Vegas Strip.
As Casino.org previously reported, neither Bally’s nor Boyd has commented on the speculation. As two of the largest regional casino operators, Bally’s and Boyd are familiar with each other as they compete in several of the same states. Additionally, the companies have done deals together. Earlier this year, Boyd sold Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino in Shreveport, La. to Bally’s. That transaction, which was finalized earlier this month, was a bolt-on deal and not indicative of possible large-scale deals between the two gaming outfits.
David Katz Jefferies Analysts on Las Vegas Strip casino news
Jefferies’ David Katz on August 23 looked at a possible deal between Boyd Gaming and Bally’s: “According to a story posted on Vital Vegas, Boyd is considering partnering with Bally’s on the former Tropicana Las Vegas site near the A’s stadium, which modestly pressured the shares (-2% since posting). The companies have not commented on the report.”
“Although we expect BYD to contemplate any reasonable opportunity, we believe this project is outside the usual scale and risk tolerance for BYD, given the scale of LV Strip development ($3 billion-plus) and the challenges of ramping a single property on the Strip without an existing database,” observes David Katz of Jefferies.
“We take the modest pressure from the market as in line with our view, which is that the project is low-likelihood for BYD as a prominent player,” adds Katz.
Truist and Macquarie Perspectives
Truist Securities’ Barry Jonas on August 19 looked at the Las Vegas Strip: “Our latest Las Strip survey is showing a choppy Q3 after Q2 finished positive. A strong July is followed by a softer August/September, which somewhat ties to Q2 earnings commentary and follows our thesis of an improving but not ‘hockey stick’ recovery. Encouragingly, our early read into October shows positive momentum with strong trends across all cohorts (even at low-end). We remain positive on the overall Strip environment and think trends will continue to improve over time.”
Macquarie’s Chad Beynon on August 17 summarized the second quarter for gaming companies: “Gaming companies generally delivered positive 2Q results with Regionals and Online averaging 1% and 3% beats, respectively. 2026E EBITDA consensus estimates were broadly unchanged for regionals/online, and -2% for Large Cap. But conversely, Large Cap stock performance outperformed the other sectors at -1% over the last month while regionals was close behind, but online stocks were -6%.”
GLPI Tropicana land and Boyd Gaming acquisitions Strategy
While speculation lingers, several financial realities frame the Bally’s-Boyd rumors. Boyd, on the other hand, boasts a rock-solid balance sheet and an appetite for opportunistic acquisitions. However, the gaming giant is in no rush to buy. The biggest hurdle to a deal for the Tropicana site is Boyd’s well-known strategy: Wall Street widely agrees that Boyd rarely buys casino operations without owning the underlying real estate.
Boyd rarely acquires casino operations without owning the underlying real estate, which is held by REIT Gaming and Leisure Properties. Because Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ: GLPI) owns the land under the former Tropicana, a Bally’s partnership or takeover remains a tough sell for Boyd.
Bally’s financial troubles and SEC 10-Q Warnings
Chief among them is growing investor anxiety over Bally’s balance sheet and its ability to fund a planned $4 billion integrated resort in the Bronx. Those concerns were amplified by a recent SEC filing in which Bally’s raised “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern, fueling rumors of potential asset sales—with attention quickly turning to Las Vegas.
Bally’s recently filed a 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but Citizens analysts Jordan Bender and Isabelle Slavin have argued that the operator’s current pipeline of projects is ambitious. According to the analysts, the situation does not appear dire, and they noted that the company has reiterated its efforts to secure outside funding for New York. However, they said they do not believe Bally’s can complete all of its projects at its current leverage levels without either selling assets or bringing in a development partner.
Bally’s share price has declined 34% over the past month. This happened soon after the company’s Q2 results, initially plunging before staging a modest recovery, only to fall a further 9% today. Bally’s Intralot reported adjusted EBITDA of $98.74 million in Q2, down from almost $117 million in Q1.
However, the separately filed 10-Q appears to have dealt the biggest blow to investor confidence, raising concerns about the company’s ability to fund and complete its ambitious project pipeline. Barry Jonas, managing director at Truist, offered a similar assessment in a separate report. He also noted that while the inclusion of “going concern” language remains “not a good look and is rarely seen across our coverage.” He reiterated Truist’s “hold” rating, while Citizens maintained its “market perform” rating, effectively advising investors to stay the course. Neither analytics company, however, has issued a sell recommendation, citing the potential for significant volatility in the stock in either direction.
Las Vegas A’s stadium casino and Delayed Resort Construction
Of course, a big company like Bally’s has many assets on which it could fall back, if needed, including a foothold in Las Vegas, as Bally’s has rights to develop the site of the former Tropicana Las Vegas. However, that project has been going slowly and has even caused delays in plans for a new baseball stadium.
Delayed Resort Construction Raises Costs for Vegas Ballpark. The problem is with Bally’s, the company in charge of constructing major buildings around the stadium, like hotel towers and a casino complex. Work on those elements has stalled, and officials say funding arrangements remain unresolved. Local authorities have apparently given Bally’s a late-summer deadline to present a workable financial plan or face further delays.
There may also be a clue in Bally’s own recent communications suggesting that Citizens’ predicted outcome could be the more likely scenario. Earlier company updates explicitly referred to plans for a casino at the site. More recent communications, however, have instead described the proposed development in terms of “non-gaming amenities.”
Alternatively, securing renewed financing for the New York project could provide investors with the reassurance needed to ease concerns over Bally’s ability to continue as a going concern, as some experts have said that the project could become its saving grace.
