Dive Brief:
- Wynn Resorts posted a profit of $105.2 million in its second-quarter results Wednesday. Operating revenues were $1.6 billion, an increase of $687 million over the second quarter of 2022.
- The company generated a new record for adjusted property EBITDAR at its North American properties, and operating revenues were up among the company’s Las Vegas operations — $578 million, compared to $561 million in the same quarter last year. Wynn Las Vegas delivered $224 million of adjusted property EBITDAR.
- In an earnings call with analysts, CEO Craig Billings said Vegas operations are being boosted by consumers that are “more than willing to continue spending on unique luxury experiences.” He added that its Vegas property will benefit in the second half of the year from citywide programming.
Dive Insight:
Billings projects tailwinds from several Las Vegas events scheduled for the second half of 2023.
Those include pro baseball games — a new lure for sports fans to the city. In May, MLB team the Oakland Athletics announced it would host its new ballpark on a portion of the 35-acre Tropicana Las Vegas casino resort. The ballpark will seat more than 30,000 fans.
Vegas will also host a Formula 1 racing event, the Las Vegas Grand Prix, in November. Meanwhile, the city will be gearing up for an influx of fans next year when it hosts Super Bowl LVIII.
Wynn’s neighboring MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment also noted these tailwinds in their recent earnings calls.
Billings, however, said on the earnings call that Wynn Las Vegas has “a very particular customer type, skewing heavily to luxury.”
“We continue to closely monitor whether or not interest rates and inflation begin to impact that consumer, but so far, so good,” he said. “In fact, drop, handle and RevPAR are all up year over year in July.”
In Q2, Billings said, that consumer’s interest in luxury experiences led to Wynn Las Vegas’ “strength all over the place — the casino, the hotel, the restaurants, retail, you name it.”
Outside of Vegas, Billings also noted Encore Boston Harbor generated an all-time property record EBITDAR of $69 million. The property is progressing in its East of Broadway expansion project, which will add a second building to its complex.
