To be frank, at this point, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren has nothing to hide. While so often company executives hold their cards close to the vest, Murren sees no reason to do such. Recently, he came out and said the company has no plans to build another casino in Las Vegas. “It’s not my expectation during my career here that we will build another casino resort in Las Vegas,” he said.
There is no reason to believe these are some high-level corporate mind games. “I don’t see the value proposition, the need and the business case that could be made,” he said. This isn’t to say the company is slowing down on building casinos elsewhere, though.
In fact, MGM Resorts currently has three massive casinos in the works to expand its portfolio: An $800 million project in Springfield, Massachusetts; a $1.25 billion casino-resort in National Harbor, Maryland; and a $2.9 billion integrated mega-resort on the Cotai Strip in Macau.
Once all three of those are complete, it is quite possible we will see MGM Resorts pump the brakes on building casinos, but for now, the company is full steam ahead and analysts foresee good things in the future for the gaming giant.
Part of the confidence analysts have on the company revolves around the non-gaming projects MGM Resorts has on the table. Outdoor festival grounds include a 15-acre site across from the Luxor and a 33-acre site on the north end of the Strip, home of the recent Rock in Rio festival. A $66 million, 350,000-square-foot expansion is near completion at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center sure to lure in extra convention business.
When it comes to the $350 million, 20,000-seat arena currently under construction behind the New York-New York, MGM Resorts, along with the rest of the city, and hockey fans alike are waiting with bated breath to see if the National Hockey League will award an expansion franchise to Las Vegas. Murren feels confident, and said, “I’m betting that we will have a hockey team. I think that you’re going to see hockey being played in that arena no later than the 2017 season.”
One topic that seems to get mentioned time and time again these days in the gaming industry, is that of millennials, and their role in the future of the industry. Murren recognizes the importance of the demographic, and said, “We need to find the product and the service that the customer of the future wants. That’s the way to attract people to Las Vegas today and in the future is to create these spontaneous experimental ideas.”
Another way Murren hopes to capitalize on the younger generations is through online gaming, which he stands behind for federal legislation. Murren said, “It allows companies like ours to responsibly operate, rather than these knuckleheads that are off shore that don’t have your best interest at heart.”
