A Most Unfashionable Bet
I must confess, I’ve grown rather tired of the relentless chatter about the digital world. For years, the smart money was supposedly piling into anything with a dot-com attached, while good, old-fashioned bricks and mortar were treated like embarrassing relatives at a wedding. That’s why Boyd Gaming’s recent move caught my eye. They sold their stake in a flashy digital gambling outfit, FanDuel, for a cool $1.76 billion. What are they doing with this mountain of cash? They’re ploughing it back into their physical casinos.
To me, this isn't just one company's decision. It’s a signal, a flare sent up from the heart of the real world. It suggests a return to fundamentals, a pivot from chasing sky-high digital valuations to polishing the assets that actually put cash in the till. While everyone else was mesmerised by apps and algorithms, Boyd decided to bet on velvet ropes and the clatter of real chips. It’s a wonderfully contrarian move, and I think it’s just the beginning.