On the heels of its approval for Japan’s first casino-resort, MGM Resorts International Executive Vice President and General Counsel John McManus told Nevada regulators Thursday that the company is well positioned to sustain its success, even if the economy slows down. McManus appeared before the Nevada Gaming Commission for licensing in his position as secretary for MGM.
Commission members congratulated MGM on Japan’s approving a plan last week for the country’s first casino in Osaka. MGM and its Japanese partner Orix Corp. each own a 40% stake in the company managing the complex.
McManus couldn’t go into detail about MGM, given that its first-quarter earnings report is scheduled for May 1, but he did say that the business has been strong in Nevada, based on the monthly-gaming revenue and quarterly-earnings reports that have been coming out over the last year.
“The company is in a good place,” McManus said. “Our balance sheet is strong. You hear a lot about inflation and a potential recession. I remember all too well when City Center was going to open and we had the financial crisis. Frankly, we were scrambling. But we have lots of cash, so we’re in a good place from that standpoint if we do see a dip. So far things have been good in our industry and hopefully that will continue.”
In 2022, MGM took over the operations of The Cosmopolitan on the Strip and sold The Mirage to Hard Rock International owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
“I think they (the Seminoles) will do a great job of re-inventing what we did there,” McManus said. “We look forward to continued strength in the Las Vegas market. Some competitors are about to come online with some nice projects. It’s been a history of a rising tide lifting all boats here and as new things come, they attract more tourists. We’re continuing to invest in our Las Vegas and regional properties.”
As for Osaka, when asked by the Commission about the regulatory framework in Japan, McManus said he hasn’t been involved in the day-to-day logistics of the project and couldn’t answer that.
Some of the challenges the industry has faced coming out of the pandemic have improved, he said. MGM, like other operators, has dealt with labor shortages and challenges to get back to full staffing. “We’re more or less there. We used to get reports of how many thousands of positions were open, and now it’s hundreds. We’ve gotten pretty efficient with how we filled those.”
Besides the licensing of McManus, the Commission also licensed Joe Asher, the president of IGT PlaySports; Julie Mireille Cameron-Doe, chief financial officer at Wynn Resorts; and Judith Lavoie, senior vice president and chief financial officer at The Cosmopolitan.
The Commission also forwarded to Gov. Joe Lombardo recommendations from the Nevada Gaming Control Board on proposed regulatory changes. The Board and Commission will consider formal changes once they’re reviewed by the governor’s office.
Lombardo issued a statewide directive for departments to review existing regulations and remove at least 10. Most of the changes made involved outdated regulations or those reducing burdens on gaming operators without harming state oversight. Because of the May 1 deadline for getting the recommendations to the governor, state regulators said there wasn’t enough time to address more complicated matters, but will bring them back for discussion at a later date. The Gaming Control Board will be holding workshops.
“There are regulations being looked at outside these immediate lists, but the problem is some of them are fairly complex,” Commission Chair Jennifer Togliatti said.
