Dive Brief:

• MGM Resorts reported $3.9 billion in net revenue for the first quarter of 2023, representing a year-over-year increase of 36%, according to its earnings statement.
• The company’s Las Vegas Strip resorts posted a record adjusted property EBITDAR of $836 million as compared to $594 million for the prior year’s first quarter, an increase of 41%.
• With Las Vegas becoming an in-demand host city for events, MGM plans to continue to invest in those properties, including a massive $110 million renovation of the rooms and suites in Bellagio’s Spa Tower.

Dive Insight:

MGM Resorts exceeded analysts’ expectations and reported strong first-quarter results, driven by a record Las Vegas quarter and significant recovery at MGM China.

Thanks in part to Las Vegas playing host to major sporting events in the quarter, including the NCAA’s Sweet Sixteen and March Madness, MGM’s Las Vegas Strip resorts experienced record EBITDAR for the seventh consecutive quarter, said Bill Hornbuckle, president and CEO of MGM, during the company’s earnings call. The company’s year-old acquisition of Cosmopolitan also contributed positively to the results.

“The quality and consistency of entertainment and sports programming at MGM Resorts and throughout Las Vegas has been a catalyst for the permanent transformation and strength in demand of our offerings,” Hornbuckle said in the call with analysts. “This is no better example than Formula 1, which as you know, will come to Las Vegas for the first time this November.” The Las Vegas Grand Prix is projected to bring in more than $1 billion to the valley.

On the call, MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard also noted that players aged 65 years and older are returning to Las Vegas, adding that the company has seen a steady increase of visits by this demographic “each quarter for the past three or four quarters.”

In addition to the renovation of Bellagio’s Spa Tower, MGM is enhancing high-end gaming at the resort with a newly remodeled club, Prive, designed for table games customers.

Significant room remodels at New York-New York MGM and the Water Club at Borgata are also in the works, in addition to an update to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.