MGM CEO: ‘Shame on us’ about high prices in Las Vegas

After years of rising prices and mounting customer frustration, one of the largest Las Vegas casino operators is acknowledging that it may have pushed too far.

During an earnings call Wednesday, MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle delivered the strongest, to date, admission by a Las Vegas casino executive that the industry’s post-COVID reputation for nickel and diming customers was becoming a problem.

“When we think about pricing and things that got everyone’s attention, whether it’s the infamous ($26) bottle of water or Starbucks coffee at Excalibur that cost $12, shame on us,” Hornbuckle said. “We should have been more sensitive to the overall experience at a place like Excalibur. To those customers, you can’t have a $29 room and a $12 coffee.”

Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts executives said some prices have already been adjusted, particularly at the casino hotels at the lower end of the company’s portfolio, such as Excalibur, Luxor and New York-New York.

“Look, we lost control of the narrative over the summer. I think we would all agree to that in hindsight,” Hornbuckle said in response to a question about “consumer awareness” around the perception of value during the Las Vegas-based company’s third-quarter earnings call. “We’ve gone through the organization — we think, we hope, we believe — and we price corrected.”

MGM Resort’s mea culpa comes as visitation to Las Vegas continues to trend downward. September was the ninth consecutive month of a year-over-year decline, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Through September, 28.9 million visitors have come to Las Vegas, down 7.8 percent from the same nine-month period in 2024.

‘Easy to find’ over-priced items in Las Vegas

While pricing is not the sole reason for the dip in tourism, the growing public perception that Las Vegas casinos are price-gouging customers is having an adverse effect on business. Both MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, the Strip’s two largest operators, reported year-over-year decreases in net revenue every quarter in 2025.

The day before Hornbuckle’s comments, Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg also spoke to the issue of value in Las Vegas during the Reno-based gaming company’s earnings call.

“I don’t discount that there are areas in our business and in Las Vegas that might have gotten over their skis pricing-wise,” Reeg said. “But, to put in context, you know, we’re in a quarter where while we’re talking about pricing and degradation to demand, our occupancy percentage was over 90 percent in the quarter.”

Reeg went on to add that “it won’t be long” until stories about overpriced bottles of water are a thing of the past.

“When you’re pricing thousands of things every day as we are and our peers are, it’s going to be easy to find things where you say, ‘Look at how much this bottle of water costs.’ But the value proposition in Vegas stacks up versus just about anywhere that you could want to travel,” he said.

‘Got to fix’ the pricing problem

The recent comments from Hornbuckle and Reeg are not the first by Las Vegas casino executives this year centered around the concept of value in Las Vegas. Downtown Las Vegas casino operators, including Circa/The D/Golden Gate CEO and co-owner Derek Stevens and Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel, as well as Patrick Miller, president and CEO of the off-Strip Rio, have each talked about pricing concerns among customers.

“We’ve got to fix that, as a community,” Jossel said on a podcast in August after recounting an international news story that highlighted a visitor paying $33 for a bagel and a cup of coffee. “It’s a concerning trend.”

Casinos have coupled their words with actions, with some operators eliminating parking and resort fees, launching exclusive promotions for Las Vegas locals, or creating packages and bundles designed to offer value.

In September, the LVCVA and its resort partners launched the first-ever citywide sale. The Fabulous Five-Day Sale was a “success,” according to LVCVA officials and casino operators, including MGM’s Hornbuckle, who said the company booked 300,000 room nights during the event, which was “nearly double our typical pace.”

“I think the sale that the community did — and we participated in a meaningful way — demonstrated we understand value, we understand Las Vegas,” Hornbuckle said Wednesday. “And we’ll always be that. We’ll always need to be that.”

Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.