Caesars Entertainment Inc (CZR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Caesars Entertainment, Inc. 2022 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Caesars Entertainment, Inc. 2022 年第四季度和全年收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Brian Agnew, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance Treasury and Investor Relations.

我現在想把會議交給今天的演講者，公司財務和投資者關係高級副總裁 Brian Agnew。

Thanks, Josh, and good afternoon to everyone on the call. Welcome to our conference call to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings. This afternoon, we issued a press release announcing our financial results for the period ended December 31, 2022. A copy of that press release is available on the Investor Relations section of our website at investor.caesars.com.

謝謝，喬希，大家下午好。歡迎參加我們的電話會議，討論我們第四季度和 2022 年全年的收益。今天下午，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日止期間的財務業績。該新聞稿的副本可在我們網站 investor.caesars.com 的投資者關係部分獲取。

As usual, joining me on the call today are Tom Reeg, our Chief Executive Officer; Anthony Carano, our President and Chief Operating Officer; Bret Yunker, our CFO; and Eric Hession, our President of Caesars Sports & Online Gaming.

和往常一樣，今天和我一起參加電話會議的有我們的首席執行官 Tom Reeg；我們的總裁兼首席運營官 Anthony Carano；我們的首席財務官 Bret Yunker；和我們的 Caesars Sports & Online Gaming 總裁 Eric Hession。

Before I turn the call over to Anthony, I would like to remind you that during today's conference call, we may make certain forward-looking statements about the company's performance. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, one should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements are also subject to the inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed.

在我把電話轉給安東尼之前，我想提醒你，在今天的電話會議上，我們可能會對公司的業績做出某些前瞻性陳述。此類前瞻性陳述並非對未來業績的保證，因此，不應過分依賴它們。前瞻性陳述還受到固有風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與表達的結果存在重大差異。

For additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in our forward-looking statements, you should refer to the cautionary statements contained in our press releases as well as the risk factors contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Caesars Entertainment undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after our call today.

有關可能導致實際結果與我們前瞻性陳述中討論的結果不同的因素的更多信息，您應該參考我們的新聞稿中包含的警告聲明以及公司向證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的風險因素委員會。 Caesars Entertainment 沒有義務修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述以反映我們今天電話會議後發生的事件或情況。

Also, during today's call, the company may discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. The GAAP financial measures most directly comparable to each non-GAAP financial measure discussed and the reconciliation of the differences between each non-GAAP financial measure and the comparable GAAP financial measure can be found on the company's website at investor.caesars.com by clicking on the press release regarding today's fourth quarter financial results.

此外，在今天的電話會議中，公司可能會討論 SEC 法規 G 定義的某些非 GAAP 財務措施。GAAP 財務措施與討論的每個非 GAAP 財務措施最直接可比，以及每個非 GAAP 財務措施之間差異的調節可在公司網站 investor.caesars.com 上單擊有關今天第四季度財務業績的新聞稿，了解衡量指標和可比的 GAAP 財務指標。

I'd like to turn the call over to Anthony.

我想把電話轉給安東尼。

Thank you, Brian, and good afternoon to everyone on the call. We generated fourth quarter EBITDA records in both our Las Vegas and regional segments during the quarter, and our digital results continue to show impressive quarterly sequential improvement, all year leading to our best performance during Q4. Trends in Las Vegas remained strong during Q4, delivering both 11% revenue and EBITDA growth versus last year. Excluding real rent payments, Las Vegas generated $549 million of adjusted EBITDA with a margin of 48%, up 1,000 basis points versus 2019.

謝謝你，布賴恩，大家下午好。本季度，我們在拉斯維加斯和地區部門創造了第四季度 EBITDA 記錄，我們的數字結果繼續顯示出令人印象深刻的季度連續改善，全年導致我們在第四季度的最佳表現。拉斯維加斯的趨勢在第四季度保持強勁，與去年相比實現了 11% 的收入和 EBITDA 增長。不包括實際租金支付，拉斯維加斯產生了 5.49 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，利潤率為 48%，比 2019 年增長了 1,000 個基點。

Occupancy during Q4 was 95.5%, up to pre-COVID levels for the first time since the pandemic. Strong occupancy in ADRs led to records in cash hotel revenues and food and beverage results. Group demand strengthened during Q4 and represented 16% of occupied room nights during the quarter. Our group and convention segment in Las Vegas generated a new EBITDA record in both Q4 and the full year 2022.

第四季度的入住率為 95.5%，自大流行以來首次達到 COVID 之前的水平。 ADR 的強勁入住率導致現金酒店收入和餐飲業績創下歷史新高。團體需求在第四季度增強，佔本季度入住間夜數的 16%。我們在拉斯維加斯的團體和會議部門在 2022 年第四季度和全年都創造了新的 EBITDA 記錄。

For the full year, Las Vegas segment generated over 25% growth in both revenues and EBITDA, leading to annual records of approximately $4.3 billion in revenue and $2 billion in adjusted EBITDA. While we clearly had a strong year in Las Vegas, we remain optimistic for '23 and beyond.

全年，拉斯維加斯分部的收入和 EBITDA 均增長超過 25%，年度收入創下約 43 億美元的記錄，調整後的 EBITDA 達到 20 億美元。雖然我們在拉斯維加斯顯然度過了強勁的一年，但我們對 23 年及以後仍然持樂觀態度。

Forward occupancy remains strong and rates are trending ahead of '19. Group and convention paid for 2023 is up to 2019, driven by strong ADRs, higher room nights and higher banquet revenues. The event calendar in Las Vegas continues to strengthen with several high-profile new events entering the market in '23.

遠期入住率仍然強勁，並且利率在 19 年之前呈趨勢。在強勁的 ADR、更高的間夜和更高的宴會收入的推動下，2023 年支付的團體和會議費用達到了 2019 年。隨著 23 年進入市場的幾項備受矚目的新活動，拉斯維加斯的活動日曆繼續加強。

In our regional segment in Q4, we delivered $443 million of EBITDA, up 3% versus last year despite the impact of negative weather in December. Adjusted EBITDA during the quarter, excluding Lake Charles, grew 21% versus 2019, with margins expanding approximately 700 basis points. For the full year, our regional segment delivered $5.7 billion in revenues and $2 billion in adjusted EBITDA, delivering 34.8% margins.

儘管 12 月受到惡劣天氣的影響，我們在第四季度的區域業務中實現了 4.43 億美元的 EBITDA，比去年增長 3%。本季度調整後的 EBITDA（不包括查爾斯湖）比 2019 年增長了 21%，利潤率擴大了約 700 個基點。全年，我們的區域部門實現了 57 億美元的收入和 20 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，實現了 34.8% 的利潤率。

On a same-store basis versus 2019, excluding Lake Charles, our regional segment delivered 24% EBITDA growth and margins expanded 700 basis points.

在同店基礎上與 2019 年相比，不包括查爾斯湖，我們的區域部門實現了 24% 的 EBITDA 增長，利潤率擴大了 700 個基點。

As we have stated on prior earnings calls, we expect to benefit from several capital investment projects in 2023. Our new land-based Horseshoe Lake Charles property opened late in Q4 2022 to strong demand with initial results exceeding expectations. Temporary casinos in both Danville, Virginia and Columbus, Nebraska remain on track to open by midyear. Renovations in Atlantic City are nearing completion and should be essentially complete ahead of the peak summer season this year. We also expect to benefit from expanded casino offerings in Pompano and Harris Huger Park this year.

正如我們在之前的財報電話會議上所說，我們預計將從 2023 年的幾個資本投資項目中受益。我們新的陸上馬蹄湖查爾斯物業於 2022 年第四季度末開業，需求強勁，初步結果超出預期。弗吉尼亞州丹維爾和內布拉斯加州哥倫布的臨時賭場仍有望在年中開放。大西洋城的翻新工程即將完工，應該會在今年的夏季旺季到來之前基本完成。我們還預計今年將從 Pompano 和 Harris Huger Park 擴大的賭場產品中受益。

I want to thank all of our team members for their hard work in 2022. Our record results are a reflection of their dedication to delivering exceptional guest service.

我要感謝我們所有團隊成員在 2022 年的辛勤工作。我們創紀錄的成績反映了他們致力於提供卓越的賓客服務。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Eric Hession for some insights on the fourth quarter and full year performance in our Digital segment.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給 Eric Hession，了解我們數字部門第四季度和全年業績的一些見解。

Thanks, Anthony. I'm very pleased with the progress that we made in our digital business during 2022. If you recall, our objective is to drive a solid return on investment for our shareholders as our business grows and matures over time. Our thesis was grounded on a reasonable TAM and early estimate and effort to build our brand awareness and harvesting the benefits of a very scalable business with a high portion of fixed costs.

謝謝，安東尼。我對 2022 年我們在數字業務方面取得的進展感到非常高興。如果您還記得的話，我們的目標是隨著我們業務的發展和成熟，為我們的股東帶來可觀的投資回報。我們的論文基於合理的 TAM 和早期估計，並努力建立我們的品牌知名度，並從具有高比例固定成本的可擴展業務中獲益。

The key to taking advantage of scale in a mostly fixed cost business is to drive improvements in net revenue. Net revenues for sports and online are primarily determined by a combination of volume, hold and offset by the cost of promotions. I'm pleased that in Q4 year-over-year, our volume was up 7%, hold up 100 basis points and promotional expense down 43%. The combination of these 3 metrics resulted in us reporting the highest quarterly net revenue results to date growing by over 100% year-over-year and the smallest adjusted EBITDA loss since rebranding to Caesars Sportsbook in August of 2001.

在主要固定成本的業務中利用規模優勢的關鍵是推動淨收入的提高。體育和在線的淨收入主要由銷量、持有量和被促銷成本抵消的組合決定。我很高興在第四季度，我們的銷量同比增長 7%，保持 100 個基點，促銷費用下降 43%。這 3 個指標的結合使我們報告了迄今為止最高的季度淨收入結果，同比增長超過 100%，並且是自 2001 年 8 月更名為 Caesars Sportsbook 以來最小的調整後 EBITDA 虧損。

On the sports betting side, we continued to focus our product and technology improvements on the overall experience for our customers. They responded very favorably to the improved in-game parlay product enhancements, the in-game wagering improvements, streaming technology and the introduction of live scores. During the quarter, we also started to see the results of our segmented marketing campaigns that allow us to reward customers more directly for their loyalty and play.

在體育博彩方面，我們繼續將我們的產品和技術改進重點放在客戶的整體體驗上。他們對改進的遊戲內 parlay 產品增強、遊戲內投注改進、流媒體技術和現場比分的引入反應非常好。在本季度，我們也開始看到我們細分營銷活動的結果，這些活動使我們能夠更直接地獎勵客戶的忠誠度和參與度。

As referenced earlier, these efforts were direct contributors towards our net revenue growth as they allowed us to improve our promotional spending efficiency. We anticipate continued enhancements in this critical area over the course of 2023. On the Isle Casino side, work is well underway toward creating a significantly improved product experience for our customers that will be rolled out in the second half of 2023.

如前所述，這些努力直接促進了我們的淨收入增長，因為它們使我們能夠提高促銷支出效率。我們預計這一關鍵領域將在 2023 年繼續得到改進。在 Isle Casino 方面，我們正在努力為我們的客戶創造顯著改善的產品體驗，該體驗將於 2023 年下半年推出。

The new product experience will also include enhanced marketing capabilities, such as segmented and life cycle triggered offers, which we currently do not have for iGaming. In the meantime, we continue to add new content, which has been well received. iGaming remains a critical component of our digital growth strategy for 2023 and beyond. From an expansion standpoint, in Q4, we opened retail locations in Puerto Rico and Kansas and launched online sports betting in Maryland.

新產品體驗還將包括增強的營銷功能，例如分段和生命週期觸發的優惠，我們目前在 iGaming 中沒有這些功能。同時，我們不斷添加新的內容，受到了一致好評。在線博彩仍然是我們 2023 年及以後數字增長戰略的重要組成部分。從擴張的角度來看，第四季度，我們在波多黎各和堪薩斯州開設了零售店，並在馬里蘭州推出了在線體育博彩。

In addition, on January 1, we launched sports betting online in Ohio and retail. We now offer sports betting in 29 North American jurisdictions, 21 of which offer mobile wagering. We plan to launch our mobile sports app in Massachusetts later this week to accept registrations and deposits and pending final regulatory approvals, we anticipate accepting wagers starting in mid-March.

此外，1 月 1 日，我們在俄亥俄州和零售店推出了在線體育博彩。我們現在在 29 個北美司法管轄區提供體育博彩，其中 21 個提供移動博彩。我們計劃本週晚些時候在馬薩諸塞州推出我們的移動體育應用程序，以接受註冊和存款，並等待最終的監管批准，我們預計從 3 月中旬開始接受投注。

I'll now pass the call to Bret for some additional comments on Q4 and the full year.

我現在將電話轉給 Bret，徵求對第四季度和全年的一些額外評論。

Thanks, Eric. Consistent with our historical track record, we continued to aggressively reduce debt in the fourth quarter, by paying down over $200 million from free cash flow, bringing our full year debt reduction to $1.2 billion. Our leverage also came down significantly during 2022 and now stands at just under 4.5x on a traditional debt-to-EBITDA basis or mid 5x rent adjusted.

謝謝，埃里克。與我們的歷史記錄一致，我們在第四季度繼續積極減少債務，從自由現金流中支付超過 2 億美元，使我們全年的債務減少達到 12 億美元。我們的槓桿率在 2022 年也大幅下降，目前在傳統債務與 EBITDA 的基礎上略低於 4.5 倍，或租金調整後的 5 倍左右。

Alongside a one-notch rating upgrade from Moody's in January, we refinanced $4.5 billion of debt at highly attractive rates, roughly half of which came in the form of 7% fixed rate notes, further decreasing our exposure to short-term rate hikes from the Fed. Our next debt maturity is over 2.5 years away.

除了 1 月份穆迪將評級上調一級外，我們還以極具吸引力的利率為 45 億美元的債務再融資，其中大約一半以 7% 的固定利率票據形式提供，進一步降低了我們因美聯儲。我們的下一個債務到期時間超過 2.5 年。

2022 CapEx spend, excluding AC, came in at just under $800 million, which remains our expectation for 2023. Our plan includes $300 million of maintenance CapEx and $500 million of growth capital. As of December 31, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards of $1.9 billion, which will continue to shield operating income in 2023 and well beyond. We averaged just over $1 billion of annual debt reduction over the past 2 years, which sets a nice target for us to achieve yet again in 2023.

2022 年的資本支出（不包括 AC）略低於 8 億美元，這仍然是我們對 2023 年的預期。我們的計劃包括 3 億美元的維護資本支出和 5 億美元的增長資本。截至 12 月 31 日，我們有 19 億美元的聯邦淨營業虧損結轉，這將繼續保護 2023 年及以後的營業收入。在過去的兩年裡，我們平均每年減少超過 10 億美元的債務，這為我們在 2023 年再次設定了一個很好的目標。

I'll turn it over to Tom.

我會把它交給湯姆。

Thanks, Bret. And on the financing piece, I know these calls end up skewing to the equity markets. I want to thank our banks and our credit investors. We've been at this for about 9 years now as a public entity and have gone through a series of acquisitions, a series of financings. And every time we ask the debt markets to step up for us, you step up and strengthen numbers well beyond expectations in this case, allowed us to upsize by $1 billion and start dealing with 25 maturities.

謝謝，布雷特。在融資方面，我知道這些電話最終會偏向股市。我要感謝我們的銀行和信貸投資者。作為一個公共實體，我們已經在這方面工作了大約 9 年，並且經歷了一系列收購，一系列融資。每次我們要求債務市場為我們加緊努力時，在這種情況下，您都會加緊並加強數字，遠遠超出預期，使我們能夠擴大 10 億美元並開始處理 25 個到期日。

In advance of when we expected, know that, that's not taken for granted that we really do appreciate you believing in us each time we come to market. You should expect that we'll be back to deal with the remaining 25 maturities at some point after the call stepped -- the calls stepped down in the middle of this year.

在我們預期的時間之前，請知道，這並不是理所當然的，我們真的很感謝您在我們每次進入市場時都相信我們。你應該預料到我們會在電話會議結束後的某個時候回來處理剩餘的 25 個到期日——電話會議在今年年中結束。

In terms of operating results for the quarter since we already pre-released, I'll make a few comments on last quarter, but I'll focus on what's going -- what's going on in January and February so far. In digital, as you saw in our results, we were nearly breakeven. Our well-publicized MLB exposure around the World Series was about a $30 million swing. So on a hold-adjusted basis, we are well into the positive in the fourth quarter.

就我們已經預發布以來的本季度經營業績而言，我將對上一季度發表一些評論，但我將重點關注正在發生的事情——到目前為止，1 月和 2 月發生了什麼。在數字領域，正如您在我們的結果中看到的那樣，我們幾乎達到了收支平衡。我們廣為人知的 MLB 在世界系列賽中的曝光率約為 3000 萬美元。因此，在調整後的基礎上，我們在第四季度進入積極狀態。

First quarter, we launched Ohio. Given the launch cost there, you should expect a modest loss in the first quarter. But we're anticipating that digital on a full year basis will be an EBITDA contributor for us this year. And when I say that, I'm talking about overall and both verticals, I expect sports betting and iGaming to be EBITDA positive this year for us.

第一季度，我們推出了俄亥俄州。考慮到那裡的發射成本，您應該預計第一季度會出現適度虧損。但我們預計全年數字業務將成為我們今年的 EBITDA 貢獻者。當我這麼說時，我說的是整體和兩個垂直領域，我預計今年體育博彩和 iGaming 的 EBITDA 對我們來說是積極的。

When we started this digital launch about 1.5 years, a little over 1.5 years ago, we told you that cumulative EBITDA losses would be something north of $1 billion. Looks like they're going to finish at somewhere a little over $1.1 billion. We expect at maturity that will generate in excess of 50% of that in annual EBITDA out of the digital business. That has not changed at all from when we launch remains in our sites. We'd expect to be generating that level of EBITDA full year of [25%]. We're hopeful we'll be run rating at least a quarter or 2 in '24 at those levels.

當我們大約 1.5 年（也就是 1.5 多年前）開始這個數字發佈時，我們告訴過你，累計 EBITDA 損失將超過 10 億美元。看起來他們將以略高於 11 億美元的價格結束。我們預計在成熟時，數字業務將產生超過 50% 的年度 EBITDA。從我們在我們的網站上發布遺留物起，這一點都沒有改變。我們預計全年的 EBITDA 水平將達到 [25%]。我們希望在 24 年的這些水平上我們能至少獲得四分之一或 2 的評級。

So the switch to getting out of brand building, getting out of advertising in terms of big expense of commercial, as you noticed you didn't see us at the Super Bowl, but more importantly, the granular changes in individual marketing have slowed dramatically. This is the quarter when we launched New York and Louisiana last year. So you're going to see over $0.5 billion of trailing EBITDA losses in digital disappear this quarter. January alone, on a consolidated basis, EBITDA improved over $450 million for the month. So obviously, there's going to be a significant change in trailing credit statistics that we're excited for.

因此，轉向擺脫品牌建設，擺脫廣告的大筆商業費用，正如您注意到的那樣，您沒有在超級碗上看到我們，但更重要的是，個人營銷的細微變化已經大大放緩。這是我們去年推出紐約和路易斯安那州的季度。因此，本季度您將看到超過 5 億美元的數字化 EBITDA 虧損消失。僅在 1 月份，EBITDA 在綜合基礎上就增加了超過 4.5 億美元。很明顯，我們為之興奮的追踪信用統計數據將會發生重大變化。

In the brick-and-mortar arena, the business remains exceedingly strong. Consumers continues to spend. Regionals continue to do well. The only thing I can point to really in terms of weakness is weather related in the fourth quarter. I peg about $20 million of lost EBITDA in December, primarily in the Midwest, but kind of throughout the regional business.

在實體舞台上，業務仍然非常強勁。消費者繼續消費。區域性繼續表現良好。就弱點而言，我唯一可以指出的是第四季度與天氣有關的問題。我將 12 月份的 EBITDA 損失估計為 2000 萬美元，主要是在中西部，但在整個區域業務中都有所體現。

First quarter, you've got Northern Nevada has been inundated with snow. It's the worse winter in about 70 years. So the -- you've got a little bit of impact there. But despite that, our regional business grew in the fourth quarter. It continues to grow in the first quarter.

第一季度，內華達州北部被大雪淹沒。這是大約 70 年來最糟糕的冬天。所以 - 你在那裡有一點影響。但儘管如此，我們的區域業務在第四季度有所增長。它在第一季度繼續增長。

And as Anthony said, we have pieces that are coming online that will add to that. I was at the Lake Charles opening in December. Really pleased with the way that product turned out. If you look at how it's been doing since opening, I'd expect that our incremental EBITDA on the spend is going to be in excess of 25% on a gross basis. But recall that we had insurance proceeds there from the disruption of the original property. So on a net basis, our ROI there should be approaching 50%.

正如安東尼所說，我們有一些即將上線的作品將增加這一點。我在 12 月參加了查爾斯湖開幕式。對該產品的結果感到非常滿意。如果你看看它自開業以來的表現，我預計我們的支出增量 EBITDA 將超過 25%。但回想一下，我們從原始財產的破壞中獲得了保險收益。所以在淨基礎上，我們的投資回報率應該接近 50%。

So extraordinarily strong in Lake Charles. We're excited that we've got temporary casinos coming in Danville, Nebraska. We've got the Indiana project coming online in the back half of the year. The Atlantic City spend largely done, should be done by the time we hit prime season. So really excited for the way '23 sets up for us from a regional basis.

查爾斯湖的力量非常強大。我們很高興我們在內布拉斯加州丹維爾有臨時賭場。我們已經在今年下半年將 Indiana 項目上線。大西洋城的支出基本完成，應該在我們迎來黃金季節時完成。對 23 年在區域基礎上為我們設置的方式感到非常興奮。

Vegas, it's hard to express how strong Vegas is right now. Occupancy in January for us was up over 1,700 basis points versus Omicron impacted '22. We're off to on a consolidated basis and in Vegas, in particular, an exceedingly strong start to the first quarter. But recall that in the first quarter, the back half of the quarter tends to be more important than the front half. But as we look at forward bookings in Vegas, they're strong and getting stronger. March sets up to be one of the best months that we've ever had in Las Vegas.

維加斯，很難表達維加斯現在有多強。與 Omicron 受到影響的 22 年相比，我們 1 月份的入住率上升了 1,700 個基點以上。我們將在合併的基礎上，尤其是在拉斯維加斯，第一季度的開局非常強勁。但回想一下，在第一節，後半節往往比前半節更重要。但當我們查看維加斯的遠期預訂時，它們很強勁，而且越來越強勁。三月將成為我們在拉斯維加斯度過的最好的月份之一。

Forward bookings are strong, group attrition is declining so that we are now seeing group business in excess of 2019 numbers for the first time it looks that way going forward and all of our forward indicators for booking look very strong. So as we sit here today, it feels -- the business feels fantastic. And with that, I'll open it up to questions.

遠期預訂強勁，團體流失率下降，因此我們現在看到團體業務首次超過 2019 年的數字，它看起來是這樣向前發展的，我們所有的前瞻性預訂指標看起來都非常強勁。所以當我們今天坐在這裡時，感覺 - 業務感覺很棒。有了這個，我會打開它來提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Joe Greff with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Joe Greff。

Tom, just wanted to dig a little deeper into your Las Vegas Strip group and convention commentary. Based on pace and/or what is booked presently, can you talk about room nights by quarter for this year and how it compares to each of the quarters in 2022, really kind of focusing more on the second quarter and the second half of this year, I could understand the first quarter strength?

湯姆，只是想更深入地了解一下您的拉斯維加斯大道小組和會議評論。根據速度和/或目前的預訂情況，您能否談談今年各季度的間夜數以及與 2022 年每個季度的比較情況，真的有點更關註今年第二季度和下半年，我能理解第一季度的實力嗎？

So I don't know that I want to get into that level of granularity in terms of quarter-by-quarter, I'd tell you that right now, we are high single-digit percentage points above 2019 levels. Recall that we never reached 2019 levels in '22. Obviously, the back half of the year from a calendar basis, citywide sets up very strong. So we feel very good about group business in '23.

所以我不知道我想按季度進入那種粒度級別，我現在告訴你，我們比 2019 年的水平高出個位數百分點。回想一下，我們在 22 年從未達到 2019 年的水平。顯然，後半年從日曆上看，全市設置非常強勁。所以我們對 23 年的集團業務感覺非常好。

Great. And can you talk a little bit about F1 later this year in November and how much you think that can be in terms of incremental EBITDA and maybe what it can generate in the 4Q? There seems to be the expectations all over the place, but is it something that could contribute say, relative to what you just reported in the fourth quarter in Las Vegas, an incremental 5% of EBITDA, all other -- all things being equal?

偉大的。你能談談今年 11 月晚些時候的 F1 嗎？你認為這在增量 EBITDA 方面有多少，也許它可以在第四季度產生什麼？似乎到處都有期望，但相對於你剛剛在拉斯維加斯報告的第四季度，EBITDA 增加 5%，所有其他 - 所有其他條件都相同，這是否可以做出貢獻？

Yes, Joe, I think that's certainly possible. The important thing is when it happens. So I would be -- I'm expecting Super Bowl level activity, if not stronger. But if you lost the Super Bowl in February, you're still going to have a strong weekend. There's obviously incremental lift from the Super Bowl. But when you're talking about in November, that's our softest period of the year. So the lift is far more dramatic on a year-over-year basis.

是的，喬，我認為這當然有可能。重要的是它什麼時候發生。所以我會 - 我期待超級碗級別的活動，如果不是更強的話。但如果你在二月份輸掉了超級碗，你仍然會度過一個愉快的周末。超級碗顯然帶來了增量提升。但是當你談論 11 月時，那是我們一年中最溫和的時期。因此，與去年同期相比，提升幅度要大得多。

So yes, I'd be looking at for us something along those lines, 5% or better in terms of EBITDA lift for the quarter that's driven by that weekend.

所以是的，我會按照這些思路為我們尋找一些東西，在那個週末推動的季度 EBITDA 提升方面，5% 或更好。

Our next question comes from Carlo Santarelli with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Carlo Santarelli。

Bret, could you talk a little bit about how you're thinking about leverage right now? And when -- what the time line kind of looks like until you believe you could more or less achieve kind of where you want to be on a static basis going forward?

布雷特，你能談談你現在對槓桿的看法嗎？什麼時候 - 時間線是什麼樣子，直到你相信你可以或多或少地達到你想要在靜態基礎上前進的地方？

Yes. And again, the digital losses are coming out. We got upgraded by Moody's. So we're mid-5x rent adjusted. With digital and collecting positive, but that will come down. So we expect to be below the 4x gross rent adjusted target by the end of '24.

是的。再一次，數字損失正在顯現。我們得到了穆迪的升級。所以我們的租金調整為 5 倍左右。隨著數字和收集的積極性，但這會下降。因此，我們預計到 24 年底將低於 4 倍的總租金調整目標。

And is that where you guys will comfortably kind of run the business going forward?

那是你們可以輕鬆地經營業務的地方嗎？

Yes. I'd expect that we're going to -- will be a significant free cash flow generator still. So I don't think that ends the deleveraging. But yes, we want to be sub-4x levered that's been consistent since we closed the Caesars transaction.

是的。我預計我們將 - 仍將是一個重要的自由現金流發生器。所以我認為這不會結束去槓桿化。但是，是的，我們希望槓桿率低於 4 倍，這在我們完成 Caesars 交易後一直保持不變。

Great. And then, Tom, if I can follow up on the more or less kind of $550 million target EBITDA from the digital business. To the extent you're willing to share, how do you kind of think about the split between the OSB side and the iCasino side? And obviously, I imagine that estimate assumes the second half of this year with a lot of the rollouts that you're doing on the iCasino side, that business provides a pretty healthy growth in the '24 and beyond?

偉大的。然後，湯姆，如果我能從數字業務中跟進大約 5.5 億美元的目標 EBITDA。就您願意分享的程度而言，您如何看待 OSB 端和 iCasino 端之間的拆分？顯然，我認為該估計假設今年下半年您在 iCasino 方面進行了大量部署，該業務在 24 世紀及以後提供了相當健康的增長？

Yes, that's true, Carlo. I prefer not to get super granular I'd say, the mix in that $550-plus number will lean towards sports betting, but is on a per state basis, obviously, iGaming is overrepresented.

是的，這是真的，卡洛。我不想過於細化，我想說的是，超過 550 美元的數字將傾向於體育博彩，但顯然，在每個州的基礎上，iGaming 的比例過高。

Our next question comes from Barry Jonas with Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Barry Jonas with Truist。

Tom, are you surprised at how resilient the consumer has been? Anything you think could explain it? And then just as a follow-up, as you think about digital versus land-based players, where do you expect to see more recession or macro resistance?

湯姆，您對消費者的彈性如此之大感到驚訝嗎？你認為有什麼可以解釋的嗎？然後作為後續行動，當你考慮數字玩家與實體玩家時，你預計哪裡會出現更多衰退或宏觀阻力？

Yes. I mean, I don't -- I'm no economist. So I don't know that I'm surprised by what's happening. I think we lock people up in their homes to for some period of time throughout the country. And then we're comparing periods of time that are not apples-to-apples because that's never happened before. So I don't know if you think about how lives have been reordered in terms of time as an example. There's less working from an office, there's more working remotely. We've always viewed these businesses as the limiting factor was cash.

是的。我的意思是，我不——我不是經濟學家。所以我不知道我對正在發生的事情感到驚訝。我認為我們會在全國范圍內將人們關在家裡一段時間。然後我們比較的時間段不是同類的，因為以前從未發生過。所以我不知道你是否考慮過生命是如何根據時間重新排序的。在辦公室工作的人越來越少，遠程工作的人越來越多。我們一直認為這些業務的限制因素是現金。

If your customer didn't have -- your customer your business is going to fluctuate based on how much cash your customer has. Obviously, that's going to have significant correlation. I don't know if time was a limiting factor as well, that people can now spend time doing things that they enjoy longer than they could before because they're not commuting to a city center, and they're not spending the money to do that.

如果您的客戶沒有 - 您的客戶，您的業務將根據您的客戶擁有多少現金而波動。顯然，這將具有顯著的相關性。我不知道時間是否也是一個限制因素，人們現在可以花比以前更長的時間做他們喜歡的事情，因為他們不用通勤到市中心，也不會花錢去去做。

But all I can tell you is what we see in the business is continued strength and Barry, you know we're up against strong comps going back for a few quarters now, and we're still growing. So with all the hammering over what will happen, I expect when we do get a turn in the cycle, I'm expecting a normal business cycle recession where you give a substitution effect 2 regional properties out of destination, but we certainly don't see anything in our destination business today that suggests that, that's on the horizon.

但我只能告訴你的是，我們在業務中看到的是持續的實力，而巴里，你知道我們正面臨著幾個季度以來的強勁競爭，而且我們仍在增長。因此，考慮到將要發生的事情，我預計當我們確實在周期中出現轉機時，我預計會出現正常的商業周期衰退，你會在目的地之外產生 2 個區域性房產的替代效應，但我們當然不會今天在我們的目的地業務中看到任何表明即將到來的事情。

That's great. And then just a follow-up was I'm curious to get your thoughts on the digital versus the land-based player. Obviously, there's some overlap. But as you think about a recession or some macro hits which player do you think would be more resistant?

那太棒了。然後只是一個後續行動，我很想知道你對數字玩家和實體玩家的看法。顯然，有一些重疊。但是當你考慮經濟衰退或一些宏觀衝擊時，你認為哪個參與者會更有抵抗力？

I mean that's another -- that's more uncharted territory. The answer is we don't know, suspect that the digital player is more just money if you're looking at money versus time constrained, I suspect the digital player is more -- leans toward money as they achieve constraint and brick-and-mortar is a mix. But how will they behave in a downturn? I don't know that there's enough difference between the 2 to say you're going to see a significant divergence.

我的意思是那是另一個——那是一個更未知的領域。答案是我們不知道，懷疑數字播放器更只是金錢，如果你正在看金錢與時間限制，我懷疑數字播放器更傾向於金錢，因為它們實現了約束和實體 -砂漿是混合物。但他們將如何應對經濟低迷時期？我不知道這兩者之間是否有足夠的差異可以說你會看到顯著的差異。

Our next question comes from Steven Wieczynski with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Steven Wieczynski。

Tom, I don't think you mentioned in your prepared remarks, and I know you said besides weather, there's nothing you can really point to in terms of consumer weakness. But maybe can you provide us any comments around what you've seen from unrated play and maybe how that's fared recently? And have there been any material changes in your -- the spend patterns across your database peers, meaning that low tier rated player? Has there been any softness there? I would assume the answer is probably no, though.

湯姆，我認為你在準備好的發言中沒有提到，我知道你說除了天氣，就消費者弱點而言，你沒有什麼可以真正指出的。但也許你能就你從未評級的遊戲中看到的內容以及最近的表現向我們提供任何評論嗎？您的數據庫同行之間的支出模式是否有任何重大變化，這意味著低等級玩家？那裡有柔軟嗎？不過，我認為答案可能是否定的。

Yes. Your last question, there is -- no. In terms of unrated, you saw -- we saw a material step down in unrated as we anniversaried stimulus, but that's behind us now. And you've seen the results, including the fourth quarter and into the first quarter. So unrated kind of peaked when stimulus checks were going out. Rated continues to behave strongly and unrate still is holding in after that initial stepped up.

是的。你的最後一個問題是——不。就未評級而言，你看到了——在我們實施刺激措施週年之際，我們看到未評級的實質性下降，但現在已經過去了。你已經看到了結果，包括第四季度和第一季度。因此，當刺激檢查結束時，未評級達到頂峰。評級繼續表現強勁，未評級在最初的上漲後仍保持堅挺。

Okay. Got you. Second question, and look, I'm not even sure this is even relevant, but we've gotten this question a couple of times from investors. And is there any way to help us understand if there's any impact we need to think about around the William Hill malfunctioned in Nevada around the Super Bowl? Or is that kind of over and done with at this point?

好的。明白了第二個問題，看，我什至不確定這是否相關，但我們已經從投資者那裡收到過幾次這個問題。有什麼方法可以幫助我們了解，我們是否需要考慮在內華達州超級碗期間發生故障的 William Hill 產生的任何影響？或者在這一點上已經結束了？

That's over and done with. That's a technology issue. We're running Nevada on old technology, not Liberty. Liberty needs approval. It's actually the PAM provider that needs approval. We expect that relatively soon, and so we expect Nevada to be on Liberty for next football season. So that's certainly not something that we were -- that we enjoyed while it was going on, but it's in the rearview mirror at this point.

一切都結束了。那是技術問題。我們正在使用舊技術而不是 Liberty 運行內華達州。自由需要認可。實際上，需要批准的是 PAM 提供者。我們預計這會相對較快，因此我們預計內華達州將在下一個足球賽季加入自由隊。所以這肯定不是我們過去的事情——我們在它進行的時候很享受，但它現在在後視鏡裡。

Our next question comes from David Bain with B. Riley.

我們的下一個問題來自 David Bain 和 B. Riley。

Great. First, I was hoping we can get a little bit more granular on the potential iCasino ramp in the back half. Just trying to get an idea of major tech improvements like sufficient slot content for churn when that kicks in, how important that is? Maybe any other major catalysts that move the needle in terms of share there because certainly doesn't look like with the EBITDA guidance and thank you for that, by the way. It doesn't seem like that includes a lot of big cash promotional push.

偉大的。首先，我希望我們能夠更詳細地了解後半部分潛在的 iCasino 坡道。只是想了解重大的技術改進，比如當客戶流失時有足夠的插槽內容，這有多重要？也許有任何其他主要催化劑可以推動那裡的份額，因為 EBITDA 指導肯定看起來不像，順便說一句，謝謝你。這似乎並不包括大量現金促銷活動。

Yes. Maybe I'll jump in and take this one, David. The big change that we're going to make is to have a stand-alone casino app. So right now, if you want to play on the casino, you have to go download the sports betting app and then find the casino icon, click on it and go through the casino.

是的。也許我會跳進去拿這個，大衛。我們要做出的重大改變是擁有一個獨立的賭場應用程序。所以現在，如果你想在賭場玩，你必須去下載體育博彩應用程序，然後找到賭場圖標，點擊它並進入賭場。

We'll also be offering a casino app that then you can do the same thing and go back to the sports betting side, but it will be much easier to use from a customer perspective who's looking just for the casino side. We'll also be creating some branded live table games in the various states more so than we have right now. We'll also be introducing the ability to do segmented and triggered marketing.

我們還將提供一個賭場應用程序，然後你可以做同樣的事情並回到體育博彩方面，但從只尋找賭場方面的客戶角度來看，它會更容易使用。我們還將比現在更多地在各個州創建一些品牌現場桌面遊戲。我們還將引入進行細分和触發營銷的能力。

So much like if you recall, a year ago, we were unable to do that on the sports betting side. We're now able to do segmentation on the sports betting side, but we're not on the casino side. And so we're unable to use the learnings from the years and years experience we have on the brick-and-mortar side on the iCasino side. And so we'll be having that come along as well.

如果你還記得，一年前，我們無法在體育博彩方面做到這一點。我們現在可以在體育博彩方面進行細分，但我們不在賭場方面。因此，我們無法在 iCasino 方面利用我們在實體方面積累的多年經驗。所以我們也會有這種情況。

From a games content perspective, that's something we can address now. And so what you'll see is over the next say, 2 to 3 months, we'll be making steady releases, adding more games, particularly on the iOS side where we don't have as many as on the Android side. So the game content will be coming along. We'll be adding custom table games that are branded as Caesars, but the big changes will be the segmented marketing the ability to do triggered life cycle journeys and then the stand-alone app that you'll see in the second half.

從遊戲內容的角度來看，這是我們現在可以解決的問題。所以你會看到在接下來的 2 到 3 個月內，我們將穩定發布，添加更多遊戲，特別是在 iOS 端，我們沒有 Android 端那麼多。所以遊戲內容將會出現。我們將添加品牌為 Caesars 的定制桌面遊戲，但最大的變化將是細分營銷能夠觸發生命週期旅程，然後是您將在下半年看到的獨立應用程序。

Okay. Awesome. And then just kind of -- I think this will bleed into Eric, your comments just now, but Tom, in the past, you've given us data points on land-based contributions from online, I believe, sometime last year around this time, it was $150 million of high-margin revenue. Could we get an update on how that's trending now? And in terms of the omni-channel marketing approach, are there some specific plans you can share to sort of ramp that for more valuable customer acquisition and loyalty?

好的。驚人的。然後有點——我認為這會滲透到埃里克，你剛才的評論，但是湯姆，在過去，你給了我們關於在線貢獻的數據點，我相信，去年的某個時候當時，這是 1.5 億美元的高利潤收入。我們可以了解一下現在的趨勢嗎？就全渠道營銷方法而言，是否有一些具體的計劃可以分享，以實現更有價值的客戶獲取和忠誠度？

Yes, Dave. So I want to get out of updating that number. You should assume that it continues to grow. It's our rewards database that we're leaning on in this business more and more as time goes on. States open and every customer is up for grabs we're in there. But as states mature, what you see us doing is leaning into our rewards database and bringing those new customers into our database and we're seeing a lot of cross marketplace.

是的，戴夫。所以我不想更新那個數字。你應該假設它會繼續增長。隨著時間的推移，我們在這項業務中越來越依賴於我們的獎勵數據庫。各州開放，每個客戶都在爭奪我們在那裡。但隨著各州的成熟，你看到我們所做的是依靠我們的獎勵數據庫並將這些新客戶帶入我們的數據庫，我們看到了很多跨市場。

I get -- anecdotally, I get a report of big winners and losers in both sports and iGaming every day. And a year ago, there was -- the report will show their brick-and-mortar history, and this is particularly true in iCasino. You didn't see a lot of correlation between big iGaming players and brick-and-mortar players. And now you're seeing if it's 25 people on the sheet every day, 20 of them have significant brick-and-mortar history. So you can see it continuing to build through the reward system, which is exactly what we were hoping would happen.

我得到——有趣的是，我每天都會收到體育和在線博彩領域的大贏家和大輸家的報告。一年前，報告將顯示他們的實體歷史，在 iCasino 尤其如此。你沒有看到大型 iGaming 玩家和實體玩家之間有很多關聯。現在你會看到每天是否有 25 個人在工作表上，其中 20 人有重要的實體歷史。所以你可以看到它繼續通過獎勵系統建立，這正是我們希望發生的事情。

Our next question comes from Daniel Politzer with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Daniel Politzer。

First, on Las Vegas. I was hoping to learn a little bit more about the room night mix in 2023 versus 2022. I know you mentioned that you'd have record group and convention mix. But I guess -- what's kind of the cohort that this is coming out of? And how should we think about the relative profitability of the group versus casino versus the lead customer as it kind of shifts versus year last year?

首先，在拉斯維加斯。我希望能更多地了解 2023 年與 2022 年的房間之夜混音。我知道你提到過你會有唱片組和會議混音。但我想——這來自什麼樣的群體？我們應該如何考慮集團與賭場與主要客戶的相對盈利能力，因為它與去年相比有所變化？

Yes. You're seeing group come in increase over '22 at the expense of OTA and lower-end FIT business. So you're getting a dramatic lift in rate. That customer is going to skew more toward non-gaming offerings. So you'll have some impact on casino revenue. But overall, your -- in some cases, particularly in -- early in this quarter, you're filling a room that was unfilled last year. As you move through the year, you're basically trading up to a more valuable customer. And while their mix of spend may be a little different, their profitability is significantly higher than what they're replacing.

是的。你看到集團在 22 年以 OTA 和低端 FIT 業務為代價增加。所以你的速度得到了戲劇性的提升。該客戶將更多地傾向於非遊戲產品。所以你會對賭場收入產生一些影響。但總的來說，在某些情況下，尤其是在本季度初，您正在填補去年空缺的房間。隨著這一年的推移，您基本上是在換取更有價值的客戶。雖然他們的支出組合可能略有不同，但他們的盈利能力明顯高於他們正在更換的產品。

Got it. And then for digital, is there any way you could help us bridge a little bit. We're going from 2023 kind of modestly positive, a big jump into 2024 and then an even more significant jump in 2025. Is that some of these larger longer tiered deals kind of coming out of the business? Or is it just a ramp or new states? Or any way to help us better understanding moving pieces there?

知道了。然後對於數字，有什麼方法可以幫助我們建立一點橋樑。我們從 2023 年開始有點積極，到 2024 年大幅躍升，然後在 2025 年實現更顯著的躍升。這些更大的長期分層交易中的一些是否會退出業務？或者它只是一個斜坡或新州？或者有什麼方法可以幫助我們更好地理解那裡的移動部分？

Sure. Yes, it's all of the above. So it's continued momentum from what we're doing here. You've got a business that's growing organically. And has added a bunch of states, some more recently than others. We're -- there doesn't appear to be a huge new state pipeline coming on. Obviously, we've got a significant ramp expected in iGaming as we get into back half of '23. And then you do have all of that, the original partnerships that were stuck in that should be rolling off starting in '24, '25 on and some of the chunkier ones that flow directly to EBITDA as they run off.

當然。是的，以上都是。因此，我們在這裡所做的事情將繼續保持勢頭。您的業務正在有機增長。並添加了一堆狀態，其中一些狀態比其他狀態更新。我們 - 似乎沒有一個巨大的新狀態管道出現。顯然，隨著我們進入 23 年的後半段，我們預計 iGaming 會有一個顯著的增長。然後你就擁有了所有這些，最初陷入困境的合作夥伴關係應該從 24 年、25 年開始逐步減少，而一些更強大的合作夥伴關係在結束時直接流入 EBITDA。

Our next question comes from Shaun Kelley with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Shaun Kelley。

I just want to follow up on that last question around online. Could you help us just give us any thoughts on kind of the underlying margin structure there? A number of people who have given some formal targets that talked about a 30% overall style contribution margin, what would be underlying the targets that you kind of laid out as you start to get out into '24 and '25? Would it be similar to that? Can you do even better given some of your own in-house capabilities? Just kind of how would you think about the puts and takes relative to some of the margin goals that have been put out there by others.

我只想在網上跟進最後一個問題。您能否幫助我們就那裡的潛在保證金結構提出任何想法？許多人給出了一些正式目標，談到 30% 的整體風格貢獻利潤率，當你開始進入 24 和 25 年時，你制定的目標的基礎是什麼？會不會跟那個差不多？鑑於你自己的一些內部能力，你能做得更好嗎？只是你會如何考慮相對於其他人提出的一些保證金目標的看跌期權和看跌期權。

Yes. So without giving a target, we've got an advantage against some others in terms of we own all of our licenses, we think we've got a customer acquisition cost advantage tying into our database against all, to some degree, but some significant advantage there. We think that sports will be lower margin than iGaming, but that both will be material margin, and we have a long history of performing well on a margin basis. on a relative basis, and we would expect that to be the same in digital as it's been in brick and mortar.

是的。因此，在不給出目標的情況下，就我們擁有所有許可證而言，我們比其他一些人有優勢，我們認為我們有一個客戶獲取成本優勢與我們的數據庫相關聯，在某種程度上，但一些顯著優勢在那裡。我們認為體育的利潤率將低於 iGaming，但兩者都是物質利潤率，而且我們在利潤率基礎上表現良好的歷史由來已久。在相對的基礎上，我們希望它在數字領域與實體領域一樣。

Got it. And then sort of just wanted to pivot on the land-based side, too, maybe just the cost environment a little bit. We're starting to hear a number of operators on the hotel side, talk a little bit more about sort of cumulative inflation over the last 3 and 4 years. A little bit of a different animal in Vegas. I know Caesars has a decent amount of union contract as well, which probably provides some visibility. But can you just discuss about the overall labor and hiring environment and then specifically maybe drill in on any upcoming union contracts and how that might -- how any negotiation there might impact the operating expense?

知道了。然後有點只是想在陸基方面進行調整，也許只是成本環境一點點。我們開始聽到酒店方面的一些運營商更多地談論過去 3 年和 4 年的累積通貨膨脹。拉斯維加斯有點不同的動物。我知道 Caesars 也有相當數量的工會合同，這可能提供了一些知名度。但是你能不能只討論一下整體的勞工和僱傭環境，然後具體地深入探討任何即將到來的工會合同，以及這可能會如何——那裡的任何談判可能會如何影響運營費用？

Yes. So I'd say we have been dealing with labor cost inflation since the reopening. We've got the or the Nevada union contracts are up in the middle of this year. We've begun discussions with the unions and to put it plainly, we're doing well. We've been doing well. Our employees should do well. So we've built into our analysis. We expect labor cost inflation through this new union contract in the back half, starting in the back half of '23. And with what we've got going on in the business, we think we'll be able to navigate that just fine.

是的。所以我想說，自重新開放以來，我們一直在應對勞動力成本上漲的問題。我們有或內華達工會合同在今年年中到期。我們已經開始與工會進行討論，坦率地說，我們做得很好。我們一直做得很好。我們的員工應該做得很好。所以我們已經融入了我們的分析。我們預計，從 23 年下半年開始，這份新的工會合同會在下半年導致勞動力成本上漲。憑藉我們在業務中取得的進展，我們認為我們將能夠很好地駕馭它。

Our next question comes from Brandt Montour with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Brandt Montour。

Just starting out with Las Vegas on the pace that you gave, Tom, I was wondering if you be kind enough to break that out into volume versus rate? I know you said rates were up. And what I'm getting at is the broader hotel world in the U.S. is still seeing a lot of in the year for the year volumes being booked. And so I'm curious how much upside do you think there is on that front in Vegas this year?

湯姆，剛開始按照你給出的速度從拉斯維加斯開始，我想知道你是否願意把它分解成數量與速度的關係？我知道你說利率上漲了。我得到的是美國更廣泛的酒店世界仍然看到今年的預訂量很多。所以我很好奇你認為今年拉斯維加斯在這方面有多少優勢？

Yes. So Brandt, we've seen a significant lift in demand as we measure it in terms of forward bookings in the last few weeks. As I said, March is setting up for one of the strongest months we've had certainly from a rate and occupancy standpoint. As you get toward the back half of the year, you're comping against quarters where we were full, so you're going to see more of a rate lift. It's really the first half of the year that has benefited in filling in occupancy that wasn't there in '22, primarily midweek.

是的。所以 Brandt，我們在過去幾周根據遠期預訂來衡量需求時看到了顯著的提升。正如我所說，從房價和入住率的角度來看，3 月無疑是我們經歷過的最強勁的月份之一。當你進入今年下半年時，你正在與我們滿員的季度進行比較，所以你會看到更多的利率提升。確實是今年上半年填補了 22 年沒有的入住率，主要是周中。

That's great. And then a question about iGaming. And Tom, I'm curious, when you think about that market, and you think about your company's aspirations for growing that -- your business there in the second half. Do you think that you can do that by growing the overall market by engaging in your -- with your database and things that you can do there? Or is there a significant amount of your lift going to come from gaining share from other operators in your mind?

那太棒了。然後是關於 iGaming 的問題。湯姆，我很好奇，當你想到那個市場時，你會想到你的公司發展這個市場的願望——你在下半年在那裡的業務。你認為你可以通過參與你的數據庫和你可以在那裡做的事情來發展整個市場來做到這一點嗎？還是您認為從其他運營商那裡獲得份額會大大提升您的業績？

I think it will be a mix of both that will tap into our own network, but that also there will be some market share gain as well. You've seen even in this environment where we've not been aggressive at all from a promotional perspective. I'd go back and look at what's happened in Illinois market share for us. You see us continuing to class share. We're certainly still nothing to write home about. But when you give the customers a better product, we've got a lot of customers that are that lean towards doing business with us if we've got the right product. And we think that we're going to be there shortly, and we'd expect similar experience.

我認為這將是兩者的結合，將利用我們自己的網絡，但也會有一些市場份額的增加。即使在這種環境下，您也已經看到，從促銷的角度來看，我們根本沒有積極進取。我會回去看看我們在伊利諾伊州的市場份額發生了什麼。你看到我們繼續上課。我們當然仍然沒有什麼值得大書特書的。但是當你給客戶提供更好的產品時，如果我們有合適的產品，我們就會有很多客戶傾向於與我們做生意。我們認為我們很快就會到達那裡，我們期待類似的體驗。

Our next question comes from Chad Beynon with Macquarie.

我們的下一個問題來自 Chad Beynon 和 Macquarie。

Eric, you mentioned hold was up, I believe, 100 basis points in the fourth quarter. And I'm guessing that was a combination of game outcomes, but probably more importantly, game mix with single game parlays and the like. Can you kind of help us think about structurally what's happening with Hold, kind of where your single game parlay and maybe in-play product is against where you want to be and maybe your peers, and if you think this will have a positive outcome for 2023, particularly as we get deeper into the year?

埃里克，你提到持有在第四季度上漲了 100 個基點。我猜這是遊戲結果的組合，但可能更重要的是，遊戲組合與單場遊戲連贏等。你能不能幫助我們從結構上思考 Hold 正在發生的事情，比如你的單一遊戲 parlay 和可能的在場產品與你想要成為的地方以及你的同齡人，如果你認為這會對2023 年，尤其是隨著我們對這一年的深入了解？

Yes, sure. You're right. It was, I would say, mostly structural changes that we made. There was definitely a favorable outcome on some key sporting events. But one of the things we measure is multi wager tickets. So like it could be same game parlays or multi-game parlays or however that you -- the customer wants to bet.

是的，當然。你說得對。我想說的是，我們所做的主要是結構性改變。一些重要的體育賽事肯定有一個有利的結果。但我們衡量的其中一項指標是多注票。所以就像它可能是相同的遊戲 parlays 或多遊戲 parlays 或者你 - 客戶想要下注。

And those -- the percentage of those as a function of our overall bets is steadily rising. This is kind of the third year that we have good data on it. And we're continuing to see improvements. And as you know, the Hold in those products are much higher.

而那些 - 作為我們整體賭注的函數的百分比正在穩步上升。這是我們擁有良好數據的第三年。我們繼續看到改進。如您所知，這些產品的保質期要高得多。

We've also done a better job merchandising it. So if you go on our app now, you'll see we have pre-canned parlays, so they're effectively prebuilt. Right now, they're the same for everybody. But in the future, we'll be able to use some segmented marketing to display different pre-canned parlays, which I think will be really -- customers will be really receptive to that.

我們在推銷它方面也做得更好。因此，如果您現在繼續使用我們的應用程序，您會看到我們有預裝過關，因此它們實際上是預先構建的。現在，它們對每個人都是一樣的。但在未來，我們將能夠使用一些細分營銷來展示不同的預先罐裝 parlays，我認為這將是真正的 - 客戶將真正接受這一點。

We also have boosts that we offer on the tiles across the top and the boosts are well received by the customers. And those also help improve the Hold overall for the product.

我們還在頂部的瓷磚上提供提升，這些提升受到客戶的好評。這些也有助於提高產品的整體保持力。

In addition, we've made a number of changes on our trading team. We now have the trading team organized by sport. We fully separated from the William Hill team, and we also have the modeling being done for the most part now in-house. So our analytics team has built a lot of the models that we use for in-play trading, which also helps have more customization for our position with the book, but it also just over time, will help our whole percentages.

此外，我們對交易團隊進行了一些調整。我們現在擁有按運動組織的交易團隊。我們完全脫離了 William Hill 團隊，現在大部分建模工作都在內部完成。所以我們的分析團隊已經建立了很多我們用於在場交易的模型，這也有助於對我們在本書中的位置進行更多定制，但隨著時間的推移，它也會幫助我們的整體百分比。

Great. And then separately, can you just update us on -- in terms of the size and scope, I guess, the spend in New York for a land-based casino and maybe the timing for that opportunity when we'll find out the next steps?

偉大的。然後，你能不能單獨告訴我們——就規模和範圍而言，我想，在紐約的實體賭場的支出，以及我們將找出下一步的機會的時機？

Yes. So I'd say spend to date has been modest. We see the same documents that you see that suggests they're looking to award something by the end of the year, but there's a potential cut through the location boards of the various properties that's upcoming in the next quarter or so. We continue to believe we've got the project that will open the quickest. We'll start paying New York, the tax is the quickest. It's in an area that doesn't need zoning approval.

是的。所以我想說迄今為止的支出是適度的。我們看到的文件與您看到的相同，表明他們希望在今年年底之前授予一些東西，但在下個季度左右即將到來的各種財產的位置板上可能會出現削減。我們仍然相信我們已經獲得了最快開放的項目。我們將開始支付紐約，稅收是最快的。它位於不需要分區批准的區域。

Obviously, we are already tourist-focused but I can assure you, we are not going to be the one that wins because we built the biggest housing development outside of our casino. We're going to win this on the merits of the property and how quickly we can get open and how well it fits into the local environment. If it becomes an arm's race of who is going to spend the most money, we won't win.

顯然，我們已經以遊客為中心，但我可以向你保證，我們不會成為贏家，因為我們在賭場之外建造了最大的住房開發項目。我們將憑藉該物業的優點以及我們能夠多快開放以及它如何適應當地環境來贏得這場胜利。如果它變成了誰花最多錢的軍備競賽，我們就贏不了。

Makes a lot of sense.

很有道理。

Our next question comes from John DeCree with CBRE Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 CBRE Securities 的 John DeCree。

Maybe 2 easy ones, Tom. Maybe if you could give us a little bit of insight on how we should think about the seasonality in Las Vegas this year. Obviously, the last couple of years have been pretty noisy, 2Q and 4Q in 2022 where your largest quarters. Obviously, I think 2Q has some benefit from 1Q trips being deferred, but curious if you can give some insight for this year.

也許 2 個簡單的，湯姆。也許你能給我們一些關於我們應該如何考慮今年拉斯維加斯季節性的見解。顯然，過去幾年非常嘈雜，2022 年的第二季度和第四季度是您最大的季度。顯然，我認為推遲 1 季度的旅行對 2 季度有一些好處，但很好奇你能否對今年提供一些見解。

Yes. I would say you should expect a more normal year of seasonality in Vegas this year where early in the year, your soft ramp up in the kind of right about now in the first quarter, and that goes until it gets really hot here. Third quarter is the seasonal slowest point. Fourth quarter, you've got November is typically your slowest month of the year, but that's when F1 will hit this year. So I think you get that bump that we talked about earlier in Joe's question.

是的。我想說你應該期待今年早些時候拉斯維加斯的季節性更加正常，第一季度你的軟性上升，直到這裡變得非常熱。第三季度是季節性最慢點。第四季度，你有 11 月通常是一年中最慢的月份，但今年 F1 將在那個時候出現。所以我認為你會遇到我們之前在 Joe 的問題中談到的問題。

Got it. That's helpful. And then 4Q in Las Vegas, I think maybe Anthony's prepared remarks, you mentioned 16% or 17%, I forget, which group room nights is relatively high for you guys. Is that the right level that you guys think you'll be at on an annualized basis going forward? Or is there more upside? Or what's the right mix as you think about your kind of customer segments?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後是拉斯維加斯的4Q，我想可能是安東尼準備好的發言，你說16%或者17%，我忘記了，你們哪個組間夜比較高。你們認為你們在未來的年化基礎上會達到這樣的水平嗎？還是有更多的好處？或者當您考慮您的客戶群時，什麼是正確的組合？

Yes. I'd expect with full-on group business with Forum operating, I think you should expect us to continue to creep higher into the high teens in terms of percentage of overall room next year.

是的。我希望通過 Forum 運營的全面集團業務，我認為你應該期望我們明年在整體房間的百分比方面繼續攀升至十幾歲。

Our next question comes from David Katz with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 David Katz。

I wanted to go back to the subject of prospective asset sales and where you think the credit markets are in terms of support for that, both within and perhaps outside any pre-existing put calls or ROFRs, et cetera?

我想回到預期資產出售的主題，以及您認為信貸市場在哪些方面對此提供支持，無論是在任何先前存在的看跌期權或 ROFR 等內部還是外部？

We are not active in that market, so I can't speak with first-hand knowledge. I'd tell you today would have been a tough day to try to do something. But we were -- the deal that we did in January by a number of metrics was one of the largest ones that's happened in the credit markets generally and certainly in gaming in quite a while. So I wouldn't describe it as credit markets are wide open. At this point, they have been getting better, but in an environment where the Fed is still raising, it's still a dicey environment where you got to pick your spots.

我們在那個市場並不活躍，所以我不能說第一手的知識。我會告訴你，今天嘗試做某事將是艱難的一天。但我們 - 我們在 1 月份進行的多項指標交易是信貸市場普遍發生的最大交易之一，當然在相當長一段時間內在遊戲中也是如此。所以我不會將其描述為信貸市場是完全開放的。在這一點上，他們一直在變得更好，但在美聯儲仍在加息的環境中，這仍然是一個冒險的環境，你必須選擇你的位置。

Understood. So if we can just sort of focus on the potential opportunities that are contractual obligations. Are those factored into your thinking for this year and next? I know Bret talked about getting to a leverage level by the end of next year that I think was sub 4 was suggested, if I heard correctly?

明白了。因此，如果我們可以將注意力集中在合同義務的潛在機會上。你今年和明年的想法中是否考慮了這些因素？我知道 Bret 談到要在明年年底前達到槓桿水平，如果我沒聽錯的話，我認為建議的槓桿水平低於 4？

Yes, we're presuming that -- we're presuming that those proceeds would -- they add lease adjusted debt, they'd be used to pay off conventional debt so that would be -- that wouldn't change the net result materially.

是的，我們假設——我們假設這些收益會——它們會增加租賃調整後的債務，它們將被用來償還常規債務，這樣——這不會實質性地改變淨結果.

Our next question comes from Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Stephen Grambling。

As a clarification, I believe I heard Bret mention the $1.2 billion in debt reduction this year could be repeated next year. Is that the rough math to think about free cash flow for 2023? And how should we generally be thinking about ROI investment versus maintenance CapEx in the year ahead?

作為澄清，我相信我聽到布雷特提到今年 12 億美元的債務削減可能會在明年重複進行。這是考慮 2023 年自由現金流的粗略數學嗎？在未來一年，我們通常應該如何考慮 ROI 投資與維護資本支出？

Yes. That's free cash flow. So no asset sales for 23. And what was the second question about maintenance CapEx ROI?

是的。這就是自由現金流。所以 23 沒有資產出售。關於維護資本支出投資回報率的第二個問題是什麼？

Yes. Is there just any maintenance -- can you split basically how you're thinking about maintenance CapEx versus ROI investments in 2023 as well?

是的。是否只有任何維護——您能否基本上拆分您對 2023 年維護資本支出與投資回報率投資的看法？

I said, $300 million and $500 million.

我說，3億美元和5億美元。

Yes. So 500 growth, $300 million maintenance.

是的。所以 500 的增長，3 億美元的維護。

Got it. And then as a follow-up on digital, how are you thinking about new states legalizing in capturing the 50% ROI run rate in 2024?

知道了。然後作為數字的後續行動，您如何考慮新州在 2024 年獲得 50% 的投資回報率時合法化？

We don't assume anything beyond what's known to the markets today. So we're not anticipating there's a big state shoe that's going to drop.

我們不假設任何超出當今市場已知範圍的事情。所以我們預計不會有大牌鞋會掉下來。

All right. Thanks, everyone. We'll talk to you at the end of the quarter.

好的。感謝大家。我們將在本季度末與您交談。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。