Dive Brief:
- MGM Resorts International reported record full-year consolidated net revenues of $17.2 billion in 2024, up 7% year over year, according to a Wednesday earnings report. However, the company also posted decreased net revenues and adjusted EBITDAR in its Las Vegas segment in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- In Las Vegas, where MGM operates prominent resorts along the Strip, the company’s net revenues declined 6% year over year in Q4, due primarily to a decrease in casino and room revenues compared to the strong results from Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix in Q4 2023, according to the report. MGM’s Las Vegas adjusted EBITDAR also decreased 11% in the quarter.
- Despite the declines, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said he’s encouraged by the pacing of future bookings in Las Vegas as well as January revenue gains, with conventions being a significant growth driver.
Dive Insight:
Excluding performance variances related to November’s Formula 1 race, other underlying trends in Las Vegas remain solid, MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard said during a Wednesday earnings call.
Hornbuckle echoed a similar sentiment, saying a “promising trend for our future” is convention demand in Las Vegas. He said that December brought the strongest convention booking month ever for the operator, with bookings 43% higher than its prior record.
Additionally, December occupancy and ADRs in Las Vegas were up by single digits compared to the same month in 2023, Halkyard said. And MGM’s revenues were up for its domestic operations in January, Hornbuckle noted.
Group bookings are pacing well for 2025, according to Hornbuckle. MGM is “bringing to fruition our goal of being the industry leader in groups and meetings, with over 2.2 million room nights on the books for 2025,” he said on the call, referring to the Las Vegas segment.
An additional growth opportunity in Las Vegas comes from several renovated properties, including Bellagio Resort & Casino and MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, which is currently undergoing a $300 million makeover.
MGM’s partnership with Marriott International, meanwhile, drove growth for the Las Vegas segment in 2024, with more than 660,000 room nights stayed in the year, Hornbuckle shared on the call. The partnership has “outperformed our original expectations,” he added.
As part of that loyalty tie-up, MGM’s Delano Las Vegas on the Mandalay Bay Campus joined Marriott’s luxury W Hotels brand in Q4.
