{"id":912825,"date":"2026-04-08T08:43:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=912825"},"modified":"2026-04-08T08:43:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:43:37","slug":"mixed-signals-in-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/mixed-signals-in-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Signals in Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There’s a fundamental flaw to Las Vegas<\/strong>‘ “Soak the Rich, Screw the Poor” business model. Somebody has to fill that preponderant number of hotel rooms (over 154,660) and gambling positions (too many to count). And the “Epstein class” isn’t going to stay at Circus Circus<\/strong>. But there’s hope. Maybe it’s recognition of our K-shaped economy, so called for the widening gap between rich and poor it manifests. Or, more likely, it’s the one-two punch of customer discontent and adverse media coverage of things like $13 candy bars at MGM Grand<\/strong>. Either way, there are signs that Big Gaming is finally waking up to the repulsive, anti-value message that Sin City has latterly presented to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Casino executives claim their asses are chapped by negative news reports. But it’s working. Shamelessly stealing an idea from Jonathan Jossel<\/strong> at the Plaza Hotel<\/strong>, a Cerberus of MGM Resorts International,<\/strong> Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> and Resorts World Las Vegas<\/strong> has started rolling out all-inclusive room packages<\/a> and they’re pretty George. True, you have to stay at dumps like Excalibur<\/strong> and Luxor<\/strong> (which was recently stripped of its buffet). But the word “value” no longer sends a casino executive into a hot conniption fit.<\/p>\n\n\n

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At $330 night, that’s a lot to stay at Excalbur (which Playboy<\/em> long ago proclaimed to be “tacky even by Vegas standards<\/em>“) but you do get free parking, three square meals a day and a pair of show tickets. Caesars’ offer is slightly less George: $300 a couple, two free meals and free parking. In lieu of show tickets, you can ride free on that colossal waste of time, the Linq<\/strong>‘s Ferris wheel (which offers no good views of anything except the backside of certain low-end Caesars resorts). And you have to stay at the wretched Linq or at Harrah’s Las Vegas<\/strong> or the Flamingo<\/strong>, which is probably your best option of the trio. Resorts World\u2014which really could use the business\u2014charges $300 a night with free valet service, plus nightclub admission to Zouk<\/strong>. It might be the George-est deal of the three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the plan is <\/strong>to recoup the upfront discount on the back end, in the form of gambling and other discretionary spending. It’s not a bad scheme and should shore up the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong>‘s weakest spot: low-end business, which has suffered mightily over the past year. Given current inflation and $4\/gallon gasoline, perhaps MGM and CZR should consider extending the all-inclusive principle to their middle-class properties. As for the high end, it will always be able to afford those $26 in-room bottles of water and $25 room-service utensils.<\/p>\n\n\n

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At bottom, what Las Vegas is confronted by (as outlined in a splendid Nevada Independent<\/em> study) is a gross imbalance in its customer base. Consumers whose income hovers around $80,000\/year represent but 6% of Sin City’s customer base<\/a> (locals not included). If that’s not a canary in the coal mine, nothing is. Big Gaming has been trying to cover its nut on $150,000+\/year customers and therein lies the flaw we mentioned earlier. Las Vegas was built on a scale for the masses, not the privileged few. Yes, Wynncore<\/strong> is making out like a bandit in the present economy, as are a few other high-end properties. But baccarat whales can only carry the Strip’s business model so far. Like them or loathe them, Vegas execs need fannypackers and lots of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have they waited too long?<\/strong> A recent review by David Katz<\/strong> of Jefferies Equity Research<\/strong> found weakness on the Strip not only persisting through the first quarter of 2026 (remember, this was supposed to be a rebound year) but infecting the locals sector as well<\/a>. Katz projects a 4.5% cash-flow decline for Boyd Gaming<\/strong>‘s Nevada<\/strong> casinos this year. He’s more sanguine about Station Casinos<\/strong>, mainly due to an aggressive program of upgrades. However, Station’s far-flung expansion program throughout the Las Vegas Valley<\/strong> seems to have gone quietly onto a back burner. When your company is 95% exposed to one market and one market only, that’s good sense. Let it not be said that Station failed to learn from being caught out during the Great Recession<\/strong>. As for Strip casinos, Katz wrote, \u201cThe more economically sensitive portion of gaming demand is likely to face continued near\u2011term headwinds, as consumers contend with elevated airfares<\/em>.” Put bluntly, it’s helluva time for Strip casinos to be having to strain their customer base through the twin sieves of the latest Persian Gulf<\/strong> war and long, long TSA<\/strong> lines at airports.<\/p>\n\n\n

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One other factor finally working against Sin City, one we’ve been derelict in addressing, is the proliferation of regional casinos. For a surprisingly long time, Big Gaming was able to expand its offerings beyond all expectations. Casinos popped up from coast to coast, leading to the hub-and-spoke business models of Caesars and Boyd, in particular. But the rubber band has finally snapped back. With Vegas priced out of reach, more customers are voting with their feet in favor of regional casinos, which continue to see improvement while the Strip languishes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately for Big Gaming, it’s making money regardless of where the customers go. But to say it isn’t hurting the legacy properties in Vegas is to ignore the verifiable, dollars-and-cents facts. It’s got to be even harder for the Sin City casinos that have no corporate siblings and no regional outreach. Strip-adjoining The Rio<\/strong> just saw a big executive\/ownership shakeup<\/a>, Palms Casino Resort<\/strong> makes about a 4.5% return on investment (and has gone through three general managers in five years) and there are others facing challenges. We wish them luck, as they’re going to need it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Even the regional casinos aren’t<\/strong> immune from economic setbacks. Those in Maryland<\/strong> slumped 3% last month. One less weekend day certainly didn’t help. Only mammoth MGM National Harbor <\/strong>defied the trend, up 2.5% to $72 million. Maryland Live<\/strong> slid 6% to $60 million and Horseshoe Baltimore<\/strong> also dropped 6% to $16 million. Hollywood Perryville<\/strong> fell 8% to $7.5 million, while Ocean Downs<\/strong> also made $7.5 million whilst dipping 2%. Rocky Gap Resort<\/strong> was down just a point at $4.5 million, showing continued traction for Century Casinos<\/strong>, after a long, post-Golden Entertainment<\/strong> swoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a fundamental flaw to Las Vegas‘ “Soak the Rich, Screw the Poor” business model. Somebody has to fill that preponderant number of hotel rooms (over 154,660) and gambling positions (too many to count). And the “Epstein class” isn’t going to stay at Circus Circus. But there’s hope. Maybe it’s recognition of our K-shaped economy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":847148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1728],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/luxor-buffet-good-spread-too-bad-otherwise-2.jpg?fit=866%2C759&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":912833,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912825\/revisions\/912833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}