Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts International President, spoke at the 2025 Gaming & Lodging Conference.
Las Vegas
He started off by explaining that compared to recent years, Las Vegas was "off", but it certainly wasn't dead.
Between Spirit Airlines going bust and lower tourism numbers from Southern California, visitors were down.
To tackle this, MGM Resorts is launching an aggressive marketing campaign to reinforce the idea that Las Vegas still has value - especially in Canada, where visitor numbers were down by 40%.
Hornbuckle laughed: "We've taken a close look at pricing. It's not about room rates or about the resort or parking fees. By the way, that's not historically going to change. We value that business and we think we're good value there!
"But, we've done things like you buy a $12 Starbucks coffee... or a $26 bottle of water at the Aria is the one that is resonating with me."
He didn't shy away from reasons why tourists might not want to visit, though.
"You can go back to 2016 and we had a $50bn international surplus. Today, we have a $50bn deficit on international travel in the US.
"And so, there is a broader concern that there is something broader going on and we as a country need to get our act together and focus on welcoming people.
"We - the collective government and the destinations - need to do a much better job with this."
Prediction markets
They might be one of the most controversial topics in gambling at the moment, but MGM Resorts want nothing to do with prediction markets.
"MGM Resorts' view is that it invites the federal government into a space it's never been and it's not a place we'd like to see this marketplace go. Full stop" Hornbuckle explained. "It is not something that we endorse."
"I think the death of the slot market is going to be what we all ultimately underestimate," Hornbuckle commented, but then didn't follow up with much more.
Japan
As for MGM Osaka, the biggest MGM project currently underway, things seem to be moving smoothly over there.
"It will become one of, if not the world's biggest casino with 750 tables, 6,000 slot machines, over 70 food and beverage outlets, a theatre for 3,500, a convention or MICE facility with just under a million sq ft of space", Hornbuckle explained, along with descriptions of the outdoor theatre, pavilion, bars and garden area.
The secret opportunity to this property will be the fact that it is almost two hours closer to Bejing than Macau is.
Hornbuckle reckons this will be the secret opportunity at MGM Osaka. As for the transportation links for the VIPS?
"We'll get a helicopter pad too, that will be a common thing"
"That'll be a busy helicopter pad then!"
"Hopefully."
