With its new arena nearing completion in Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International is seeking solutions for potential parking problems.
The arena is slated to open in 2016, but it has no parking for its up to 18,000 seats. There are parking garages available at the nearby MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and New York New York casinos, all of which MGM Resorts owns, and it expects many arena visitors to come from nearby Strip hotels and casinos.
With no parking structure to support the up to 18,000 people attending events at the arena, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren recently told an interviewer there are thousands of available parking spaces that regularly go unused, and shuttle services also could help ferry fans back and forth.
Murren also said there is a potential for paid parking, which thus far does not exist on the Las Vegas Strip, due to casinos wanting to make it as easy as possible for people to park and spend money gambling.
If it comes to charging people for parking, Murren said that likely only would happen during the largest events at the arena, which might become home to an NHL franchise.
Murren said he understands that charging for parking would be frowned upon by Las Vegas locals, but the arena is being built without any public funding and should have a positive economic impact on the city.
“I’m not really sympathetic to somebody that says ‘I want everything free’ when we’re the ones spending the capital to build the amenities that are to the benefit of the tourists and the locals,” he told the interviewer.
Many casinos in downtown Las Vegas likewise charge people for parking, but the downtown casinos have smaller parking structures, and it’s very easy to validate parking to get up to three hours of free parking at many downtown casinos.
