Super Bowl 58 was big revenue driver for MGM Resorts

Super Bowl 58 helped produce three of the top five room revenue days ever for MGM Resorts International, the company said in Tuesday’s fourth-quarter earnings call with investors.

“Strategically, you’ve heard me talk a lot last year about the evolution of Las Vegas as a new sports and entertainment capital of the world,” MGM President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle told investors.

“You saw that fact proven out again Sunday as the city proudly hosted Super Bowl 58 right in our own backyard. The game was another strong hotel and casino event for us with ADRs (average daily room rates) near $1,000 and posting three of the top five room revenue days ever recorded and near-record-event gaming volumes. The game weekend is typically a strong event for MGM Resorts but having the game in town amplified those results dramatically.”

While the Super Bowl occurred in the company’s first quarter, Hornbuckle said the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31 and full-year 2023 results for MGM hit record levels.

November’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix race and the steady recovery of Macao, where the company has two resort properties, helped MGM achieve records for the quarter as well as all of 2023.

“Our Las Vegas Strip Resorts and MGM China set new all-time records for full year and fourth quarter (cash flow),” Hornbuckle said.

“The game on Sunday followed our inaugural Formula One race in November which was also an incredible success as the largest city event in our history,” he said. “Additionally we gleaned valuable insights from the event and specifically on how to better price and program all of our resorts and streamline the preparation work for future years. With both F1 and Super Bowl, our brand was on full display. Our proximity to Allegiant Stadium, the F1 track, and of course T-Mobile Arena afford us the opportunity to expand our reach during these citywide events.”

With the launch of a long-delayed brand partnership with Marriott International that began in late January and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter, MGM will be able to get direct bookings through the Marriott Bonvoy customers to 16 MGM-branded properties.

The strong quarter enabled MGM to retire debt and position itself for more growth. Hornbuckle said the company would be able to use available cash flow to finance construction of its new integrated resort in Osaka, Japan, any opportunity that may be approved in New York and possible Las Vegas upgrades at MGM Grand which may see the Oakland A’s Major League Baseball stadium across Tropicana Avenue.

Construction is underway in Japan, New York officials are still reviewing requests for proposals for three downstate casino licenses, which could be finalized later this year, and the company plans to spend $600 million a year in maintenance capital as it has done historically. The company also is keeping its eye on the prospect of legalized gambling in Dubai and Abu Dhabi where it has branded nongaming properties.

Hornbuckle said the resiliency of the company and its focus on attracting customers to luxury properties is what kept it buoyant after a cyberattack crippled operations in September.

“You’ve heard me say and use the words ‘resilient’ and ‘luxury’ a couple of times,” Hornbuckle said. “If you think about particularly this last quarter, we were on our heels with the cyberattack. You all understood what that did to us and so as we entered October to think we’d end up having the quarter we had, I couldn’t be prouder of the organization, and it particularly shone through in luxury. Bellagio, after 25 years, had its best quarter in its history and its best year in its history, and so it does prove that continuing to invest in these properties in the right place at the right time does make a difference.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.