LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The sports boom continues in Las Vegas as more and more teams look to call the valley home. That includes teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, the Las Vegas Aces, and the Las Vegas Raiders.
According to Jonathan Halkyard, Chief Financial Officer for MGM Resorts International, it has "dramatically changed" how companies in the valley do business.
"It's certainly true that Las Vegas has always had a symbiotic relationship with sports but had never been a home for sports other than college basketball and a few other things," Halkyard said during the Leveraged Finance Conference. "I left Las Vegas in 2014 and came back two and a half to three years ago. That is singly the biggest change I've seen in the market, not only the investment but the embrace of locals and the professional sports leagues themselves in Las Vegas."
He added that MGM Resorts casinos are "uniquely situated" to continue big business thanks to sports in the valley.
"Our particular campus at MGM Resorts, we are within a mile or so of Allegiant Stadium, T-Mobile Arena, the F1 paddock, and eventually, the A's stadium at the corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard. This is a vicinity in which we have 30,000 hotel rooms," Halkyard said. "[Las Vegas] is also a different market when it comes to these events. As an example, when the Raiders play at home, you'll see 50% or better of the fans will be from the visiting team and make not only the game, but the entire weekend a part of their experience. These events, for us, turn into what our CEO has called turning a three-hour game into a three-day weekend and that happens routinely."
Speaking of the A's stadium, Halkyard said it's another chance to improve business and they're already looking at ways to capitalize on it, if the team comes to town.
"The first thing we're looking at is circulation amongst the different properties because in a market like Las Vegas, we know that all of our guests really do make several stops. They'll stay at one place but they'll go to several other properties," Halkyard said. "Winning that second, third, or fourth stop is really critical to winning in-market share. spend among our guests. With customers who will come for an A's game or one of our other properties, improving circulation among those four corners, I think, will be an important part of our investment."
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MGM Resorts International CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle said in a previous earnings call that he expects MGM to invest heavily in the A's transition to Las Vegas.
"They are excited to be coming," Hornbuckle said at the time. "I think you'll see us invest in the way people move around that corner and make it in concert and synergistic with the design I saw."
Horbuckle also said he connected the company's architect with the team working on the stadium to help "this thing go up in the air."
Major League Baseball owners have given the A's permission to move the team from Oakland to Las Vegas. However, there are still a lot of things that need to be worked out. In September, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority said they're still working on a development agreement, a lease agreement, a non-relocation agreement, and a community benefits agreement.
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"It is intended to be an agreement that was negotiated with the Stadium Authority," Steve Hill, the Chief Executive Officer and President, from the LVCVA, said at the time. "We think it will be a generous investment, which is $2 million or 1% of ticket revenue, whichever is more. They will also be making contributions to these efforts prior to the stadium opening. That's half a million dollars a year."
Hill said the Las Vegas Stadium Authority is also required to appoint a director to oversee the efforts of the Community Benefit Player Agreement and staff a seven-person oversight committee.
"In this particular case, the seven representatives on that oversight committee are appointed, as outlined in law," Hill said. "The governor will get an appointment. The majority leader and speaker will as well. Clark County will get two and the Stadium Authority will get two as well, including the chair of that committee."
In June, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 1 into law, which would allocated up to $380 million in public funding for a new Major League Baseball ballpark. However, that is being challenged in court by the Schools Over Stadiums political action committee.
Earlier this month, the group filed a lawsuit to "look deeper into conflicts between the language of Senate Bill 1 authorizing the stadium deal and the Constitution of the State of Nevada." The group said they believed the bill violates at least five sections of the state Constitution. The case is currently being reviewed by the Nevada Supreme Court.
