If you’ve been reading Vegas News regularly, you know that I listen to earnings calls to A) find out official news about what’s being planned for casinos and B) try to understand the mindset of a casino corporation.
Casino earnings season started last week, but the most telling quote came earlier this week when MGM’s CEO Bill Hornbuckle commented about high prices, saying “Shame on us….you can’t have a $29 room and $12 coffee at Excalibur.” You can read the transcript of the call here.
Some casino executives are more disconnected from the reality of their business. Props to Hornbuckle for admitting they pushed a bit too far. Tom Reeg from Caesars essentially deflected the question and said the company has something for every price point. While true, he sidestepped the issue. You can read the Caesars earnings call transcript here.
Speaking of disconnected. Caesars opened a high-limit room at The Linq, its value property, this week.
I’ve spent way too much time dealing with high school economics this year. Moving on with earnings news.
MGM is pushing back Aria and Cosmopolitan room renovations. Aria is now scheduled to start in November 2026 and should take all of 2027. Cosmopolitan will begin after, which should be 2028. Rooms at both of these properties are being updated 3-5 years too late, but that’s another story.
Marriott has sold 900,000 rooms for MGM Resorts, and the company says October looks like it will be the best month of room bookings since the partnership started. I’m not sure what that means, but I figure some of you might find that interesting.
MGM sold 300,000 rooms with the big LVCVA sale in September. Caesars was less specific, saying “bookings picked up considerably during that sale.”
Both MGM and Caesars said their Las Vegas Grand Prix business is better than last year.
Caesars didn’t have any major news for next year in Las Vegas. The only things in the works are switching The Cromwell to Vanderpump Hotel, the new Omnia dayclub at Caesars Palace and Luke Combs Project 10 @ Flamingo. The latter will replace Margaritaville. Get the details here.
You can read the MGM earnings press release here and Caesars here for the financials.
Red Rock Resorts (Station Casinos) had another great quarter financially. Read more here.
The biggest news from the call is that the company will finish Durango’s first expansion in December and begin the next phase in January. This will include a bowling alley, movie theater, and more. Construction should take about 18 months. You get all the specifics here.
Boyd didn’t have too much news during its call other than financials, which you can read here. The company will finally begin the room renovations at Orleans that it’s been touting since last year in December. The casino floor will likely see a major overhaul similar to Suncoast when that project is finished. There are no specifics on this yet.
Since I’ve been spending so much time on economics, I’ve been trying to keep up on current trends. This week, I learned about AI pricing. I don’t see a way this will be good for customers in the long run, but we’ll see. Read about it here.
Disney + Las Vegas Grand Prix + Bellagio Fountains = ??? See below and get the details here.
On the topic of F1, Wynn has a fun free Red Bull Pit Stop Challenge activation among its Race Week events. See all the free and paid events here.
The Cosmopolitan just finished renovating the Chelsea Tower penthouses. Read more here.
Caesars extended its locals promotion until Christmas Day. Read more here.
The Caesars Palace poker room is reopening in its old space by the sportsbook on Nov. 3. See a pic of the room here.
There’s no news about Bally’s or the A’s stadium this week, but here’s a look at progress from the last seven days.
Randy’s Donuts is replacing the awful donut spot in the Red Rock Casino food court. Read more here.
Some sportsbook news: If William Hill receives approval from the NGCB, it will be able to take over operations of the Virgin Sportsbook in December. If Boomers Sportsbook receives approval from the regulators, it will replace Will Hill at Ojos Locos Sports Cantina Y Casino. You can see the info from the November NGCB agenda here.
The Arts District has three hours of free parking during lunchtime for anyone who drives and wants to check out the area. Get the details here.
I’m sure Movestro would meet you at Holsteins for the Gold Standard if you’re looking for someone to explore the area with.
Eggslut is opening at Rio in December. It will be in the space next to the sportsbook where the grill used to be. I just realized that I took a pic of the sign without the date like a dummy. You can see it here.
Sick New World had plans for a huge show this year with Metallica as a headliner. That fell through but they have a lineup set for next year. In a previous life, I worked with at least 10 bands playing. I’ll buy you a beer at Zorkfest if you can name half of them.
A diamond ring has returned to the Titanic Exhibition at Luxor. If this means something to you, read more here.
I was talking to someone at G2E about the old Lion’s Share slot machines at MGM Grand and decided to fetch this press release when someone finally hit the progressive so they could remove the game from the casino floor.
The adoption of cashless gaming is moving very slowly. Acres has new technology that most Vegas casinos won’t use, but you can read about it here.
I was on the Bettor Life podcast talking about G2E. If you don’t subscribe to the pod, you can listen here.
Marc grew up on the mean streets of the South Bronx. He's the rare combination of Yankees and Jets fan which explains his often contrarian point of view. He learned about gambling at a young age working down the street from a bookie who took action on anything from the mainstream sports to the last three digits of the purse for certain horse races. Yeah, that's a thing. Today Marc is a freelance writer and social media consultant which allows him to work anywhere there's a wifi signal. This allows him to work from the sportsbook at Red Rock Resort or the food court at The Venetian where you’ll find fast and free wifi. Writing about steak, booze, gambling and Las Vegas is a tough job but somebody has to do it.