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Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (PNK) has formed an alliance with Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) that will allow its customers to use their loyalty points at Wynn and Encore resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. The two companies negotiated a deal that would allow big spenders at Pinnacle's Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana and Nevada properties to use their rewards to stay at Wynn resorts.
"This relationship will be beneficial to us because Pinnacle will send their very best customers for multi-day stays exclusively at Wynn properties," said Michael Weaver, Wynn Resorts' senior vice president of marketing strategy during the announcement.
The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal but Weaver said that the deal was exclusive to the company's Las Vegas properties and that it would not be expanded to include other locations like Wynn Resorts' hotel-casino in Macau.
Pinnacle Entertainment has about 1 million customers in its database, and upwards of 20,000 of those customers will now qualify for Wynn Resorts' reward program. The Wynn trips will only be offered to the highest three tiers of its mychoice loyalty program which is scheduled to re-launch in April. The new benefit for each member is a four-day, three-night stay in Las Vegas, and qualifying rewards players will be able to book their trip any time in the next year.
So far industry analysts have praised the new deal.
"Given Pinnacle's positioning in its markets, we believe the arrangement provides Pinnacle with a distinct competitive advantage," said Wells Fargo Securities senior analyst Carlo Santarelli in a note to clients. "While the benefit to Wynn is certainly less tangible, we do believe adding an additional stream of casino customers will be positive."
"We view this as a positive development for Pinnacle given that this agreement will continue to cement the high-end customer market for Pinnacle in locations such as St. Louis and Lake Charles, La.," reiterated Macquarie Equities Research analyst Chad Beynon.
Whether the new deal proves to be mutually beneficial to Pinnacle and Wynn or not one thing is clear, it is great news for casino rewards players.
As always, stay tuned to Casinofan for more news and updates.
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