When MGM Resorts International debuts its new Park Theater at Monte Carlo on this weekend, it could reveal the future of live theater in Las Vegas.
With Las Vegas resorts angling for more millennials via events and unique, immersive experiences that they can share with their friends, the Park Theater is ideally suited to provide that level of entertainment.
Slated to debut Saturday with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, the theater’s layout and design is one that fits well with what global ticket-provider Eventbrite says millennials are looking for in a concert and theater experience. Millennials are Americans roughly born from 1980 to 1996.
In its 2014 commissioned study entitled Millennials: Fueling the Experience Economy, Eventbrite says “this general not only highly values experiences, but they are increasingly spending time and money on them: from concerts and social events to athletic pursuits, to cultural experiences and events of all kinds.”
“For this group, happiness isn’t as focused on possessions or career status,” Eventbrite says. “Living a happy life is about creating, sharing and capturing memories earned through experiences that span the spectrum of life’s opportunities.”
The Park Theater includes many elements that support the types of live events and experiences millennials say they desire.
“This new space is unlike any venue in the MGM Resorts portfolio,” MGM Resorts International President of Entertainment Richard Sturm said when announcing the Stevie Nicks concert.
“Guests will be wowed to see their favorite entertainers … in such an intimate environment with unbelievable sound and video capabilities,” Sturm said.
MGM says the Park Theater includes “cutting-edge technology, resulting in an intimate entertainment space customizable for every artist and event” and will “provide each patron with the ultimate experience.”
Helping to create the types of immersive experiences millennials crave are an 80-foot-wide and 40-foot-high LED display with 4K resolution, and a 240-foot-wide “immersive projection surface” that supports 3D motion graphics.
That immersive technology should help to provide the kinds of desirable experiences upon which millennials say they want to spend their money.
The Eventbrite study found 78 percent of millennials polled prefer to spend their cash on a “desirable experience or event over buying something desirable,” and 55 percent of those polled indicated they are spending more money than ever on live experiences.
Those experiences include concerts, sports and live theater, but in more modern settings.
Another 77 percent said some of the best memories of their lives have occurred at live events, which make them feel more connected with people, the community and world, and typically attend with family and friends.
Because they enjoy live events so much, many millennials say they are looking to boost their spending on live events. Eventbrite reports some 55 percent said they intend to spend more money on events than ever before, and do not intend to slow down when it comes to events spending.
With millennials spending an estimated $1.3 trillion rising each year, according to Eventbrite, that bodes well for the future of the Park Theater.
The theater features up to 5,200 seats, with none more than 145 feet from the stage, but a section in front of the stage can be removed for general admission attendees. That boosts its maximum total audience to 6,400.
Better still, general admission tickets enable millennials to attend events in larger groups without concern for seating location and ensuring all group members can attend and share a show or other event together.
The Park Theater also can be converted into a sporting events venue and likely will host basketball events.
That helps to attract millennials and people of other generations to MGM properties along the Las Vegas Strip and to the many restaurants and pubs located nearby at The Park. And when millennials come to Las Vegas, they seldom come alone.
A 2016 study published by the UNLV Gaming Research Center and entitled Elvis Who? Understanding, Attracting and Retaining the Next Generation of Las Vegas Customers indicates millennials nearly always come to Las Vegas either with friends and family or to meet friends and family.
The study shows more than 64 percent of millennials polled said they come to Las Vegas with friends, while more than 35 percent cited family as their travel companions. Only about 17 percent said they come alone.
While in Las Vegas, the UNLV study says millennials are not property-loyal and typically spend their cash at properties other than where they are staying. Often, they venture out for food and beverage, as well as to take in new sites and experiences.
That spending activity fits well with the Park Theater’s location among MGM properties along the Las Vegas Strip and the many restaurants, bars, clubs and other available entertainment within them. That enables MGM properties to retain a good portion of the money millennials spend while in Las Vegas, so long as they attend shows at the Park Theater.
That the theater can hold up to 6,400 when general admission offered also helps to provide the kind of volume necessary to generate greater revenue from a millennials-focused event. That’s because when millennials spend their money, they often are frugal.
The UNLV study indicates about 44 percent of millennials will spend less than $200 on bars and clubs while in Las Vegas, while another 23 percent will spend up to $400, and another 23 percent up to $1,000 on bars and clubs while in Las Vegas.
Only 7.7 percent indicated they would spend more than $1,000, with another 1.5 percent saying they would spend more than $5,000 on bars and clubs.
Gaming spend among millennials, though, varies more greatly with nearly half of millennials indicating they would wager between $400 and $5,000 while staying in Las Vegas.
The UNLV study shows a plurality of 33 percent of millennials polled saying they would wager less than $200 while in Las Vegas, followed by nearly 17 percent indicated they would wager less than $400 but more than $200.
Encouraging for casinos, though, more than 25 percent said they likely would wager between $400 and $1,000, and 22.3 percent between $1,000 and $5,000 while in Las Vegas. Another 2.5 percent indicated they would place more than $5,000 into play.
Those numbers bode well when multiplying individual spend by seating totals at events at the Park Theater and again by the number of events to be held each year, which already surpasses 100 during its inaugural year.
Its combination of location, advanced technology, intimacy and customizability make the Park Theater an ideal venue for hosting millennials-focused events, while also creating a blueprint for future theater developments along the Las Vegas Strip.
