history

History of Dealings with Bally's April 2016 – May 2017

The parties involved are Unit 373 of the American Contract Bridge League and Bally's Las Vegas now doing business as Caesars Entertainment. Individual contracts to hold five regional bridge tournaments at Bally's in the years 2014 to 2018 were signed in late 2009 and early 2010.

The 2014 tournament was held as scheduled, but the number of room nights for bridge players did not meet the contracted level and the Unit paid Bally's approximately $28,000 for the attrition. District 17 returned ~ $8,000 from sanction fees to help pay the $28,000.

The 2015 tournament was held as scheduled, and again the room nights were short. The attrition number for 2015 was approximately $52,000, and the then Unit President entered into negotiations with Bally's about possible remedies. On March 29, 2016, the Unit Board was presented with a proposal to forgive the 2015 attrition in exchange for which the Unit would agree to hold a tournament in November of 2019. Bally's stated that the Unit had 48 hours to accept the proposal. The Unit Board rejected the proposal.

On April 12, 2016 Jerry Weinstein and Robert Lafleur met with Stacy Purcell of Caesars to look at ways to make the arrangements work. We discussed the Unit's finances and concerns and expressed the Unit's willingness to enter into additional contracts in exchange for modification to the commitment levels and forgiveness of the accumulated attrition. Ms. Purcell stated she had the picture, and would get back to us shortly. She also added that she expected to have it all wrapped up in 4 to 6 weeks.

On June 29, 2016, a few weeks after the 2016 tournament, I emailed Ms. Purcell with some possible explanations for the attendance drop and the suggestion that we meet again. We had had no communication from Ms. Purcell since our April meeting. Ms. Purcell replied by email suggesting a conference call which we had on July 5, 2016. In the course of that call Jerry Weinstein stated that if we couldn't work out some suitable arrangement, the Unit's only alternative would be bankruptcy. Ms. Purcell bristled at that and said don't even bring that up.

On July 28, 2016 Ms. Purcell sent me an email in which she broached the idea of moving the tournament from Bally's to the Flamingo and extending the tournament to future years. I responded “My initial response is that I am very interested. I am forwarding your email to Jerry, and will be informing the board. I would like to see the space in question and also discuss room rates and parking. When would it be possible to look at the Flamingo and its facilities?”

Having heard nothing from Ms. Purcell, I again emailed her on August 8, 2016 requesting a meeting and a visit to the Flamingo. In that email I also mentioned upcoming board meetings and the urgency to get things moving. This email elicited a reply that she needed to check more things.

On August 12, 2016 I again emailed Ms. Purcell stating the desire to meet ASAP and also mentioning that we also could offer to hold additional events at Flamingo or other Caesars properties.

On August 15, 2016 I sent Ms. Purcell still another email pointing out some of the issues we needed answers for and some of the steps for approval of any proposal.

On September 6, 2016 Ms. Purcell sent an email proposing moving the 2017 & 2018 tournaments to the Flamingo as well as four new tournaments in 2019-2022. While the proposal was interesting, there were a number of issues with the proposal which needed to be addressed.

On September 9, 2016 I sent Ms. Purcell an email spelling out our concerns. There was no response to this email.

I received an email from District 17, reminding us that we had to have a tournament schedule, a budget, and a hotel contract in place by October 15 or our sanction would be withdrawn. On September 28 I forwarded the email to Ms. Purcell with a request for a response.

On or about October 7, 2016 I reached Ms. Purcell who stated that she was trying to help us and all we did was make demands. Nevertheless we did agree that she would arrange for us to see the Flamingo and in an email she said she would call me Monday morning, October 10. I waited at home all day on the 10th and called her twice, leaving voice mail messages. That afternoon a meeting was arranged with Wendy Sullivan, ACBL tournament coordinator, who after hearing my rendition of the facts suggested I call Ms. Purcell and tell her we would come right over. Ms. Purcell answered when I called this time, but said she couldn't see us then, but would set something up.

On October 12, 2016 Ed Matulis and I visited the Flamingo. We found the facilities suitable for a tournament, and I expressed our desire to move forward in an email to Ms. Purcell.

On October 18, 2016 Ms. Purcell sent a email contract to confirm our move to the Flamingo for 2017 but with dates which do not match our schedule and for six days instead of seven.

On October 20, 2016 I sent Ms. Purcell an email stating that the date changes she suggested for 2017 were unworkable and that our only alternative would be to return to Bally's for 2017. In addition I asked her to provide her us with appropriate prices for hotel room nights. The contract states that after the preceding tournament is completed, the parties will review the pricing “to insure rates are appropriate”. Given that Bally's is advertising rooms for our tournament week for $79, the contract rate of $149 is not appropriate.

In the week of October 24 I had two phone calls and one email from Ms. Purcell telling me that we would get appropriate rates in the next day or so.

On November 7, 2016 while I was in Europe, I sent Ms. Purcell another plea for rates so we could fulfill our commitments.

On November 9, 2016 Ms. Purcell sent an email informing me that Bally's was sticking with the contract rates.

On November 14, I sent Ms. Purcell an email telling her that we were being forced to take legal action by Bally's inaction. I said that nobody would win if we were forced to cancel our tournament.

Around November 18, I went to Bally's and asked to see the general manager. After being passed from one person to another a few times, I was handed the phone and Ms. Purcell was on the line. She was miffed that I was trying to go around her, and I responded that she wasn't answering or emails or returning our phone calls. I mentioned that they were advertising $79 room rates on the Bally's website for our tournament week, but wanted our attendees to pay $149. We agreed to meet on Nov. 21.

When I met Ms. Purcell on Nov. 21, she informed me that the rates for June 19-25 were now $155, and in fact that was true, but low room rates were still being offered for the rest of the month. In the course of our meeting, she asked what we wanted and I said rates that are competitive. Ultimately she said she would try to get us early bird rates and on November 28 we agreed to a $95 early bird rate good till January 31. Later that rate was extended to February 7, but no further concessions were offered.

On April 12, Angie Clark and I met again with Ms. Purcell to stress that without rate relief, people would either not come to the tournament at all or would stay at other properties. We pointed out that much better rates were available in the neighborhood. As a result, Bally's offered us a $99 rate, if we gave up the Skyview ballrooms, our four free suites, and I think some other concessions. At the time Bally's web site offered a $47 rate (with a $30 resort fee), which included the fitness center and WiFi, compared to $99. The fact that no one would pay $22 more to do without the amenities didn't occur to Bally's. The board voted to turn down that offer.

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