As Las Vegas welcomes its third Formula One race to the Strip this weekend with a boost of visitation on what was the second slowest week of the year, MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle is bullish about the recovery of Las Vegas tourism after a tough summer. Hornbuckle made his comments Thursday to the Nevada Gaming Commission, where he appeared for routine licensing.
Las Vegas tourism numbers and gaming revenue for October are expected to be released on Tuesday, and visitation is down about 8% for the year through September. Tourism is down, due to value-oriented customers who feel financially pinched, prompting resorts to offer more deals this fall.
“Our business is fundamentally sound and solid,” Hornbuckle said. “It’s encouraging to see fall convention business and event activity pick up. We had 62,000 fans (at Allegiant Stadium Monday where the Dallas Cowboys played the Las Vegas Raiders), and it seemed most of them were from Dallas, which is great for tourism. And this weekend we host Formula One. Activity has picked up and conventions are back.”
Hornbuckle went on to say that current market conditions show those who have the ability to spend are doing so and that’s helped MGM’s luxury properties continue “to do exceptionally well.
“Frankly, value-oriented customers are still struggling, and that remained through the fall. Generally, we’re looking forward to the first part of the year. We have a massive convention calendar over the next 16 months. There’s more convention business on the books for Las Vegas and in our hotels than the city has ever seen before.”
In the regional business, Hornbuckle said MGM is the leader in the five of the eight markets where they operate.
In the digital business, Hornbuckle said BetMGM has reached a critical threshold and pushed through to $2.6 billion in topline revenue. BetMGM is in 29 states for sports betting and five states for igaming.
“That has become an integral piece of our business and we ventured out a couple of years to buy LeoVegas (a Swedish mobile gaming company), and we’re now in nine countries and just opened Brazil this year. We see that business growing as well.”
In Macau, Hornbuckle said business continues to boom. Coming out of the pandemic, MGM has taken its fair share of the marketplace given its scale and size.
“We’ve all seen the ups and downs of the Macau marketplace. At one point, it was a $45 billion market and at that time Las Vegas $6 billion. There were only six licensees and nine hotels. It (fell to) the mid-teens (due to the regulatory environment and junket market impacts). This year it is projected to be $31 billion to $32 billion. It’s alive and healthy. It is driving in a positive direction.”