After years of rising prices and mounting customer frustration, one of Las Vegas’ biggest casino operators admits it may have gone too far.
During an earnings call Wednesday, MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle delivered the strongest admission yet 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 prices and things that got everyone’s attention, whether it’s the infamous ($26) bottle of water or the $12 Starbucks coffee at Excalibur, shame on us,” Hornbuckle said. “We should have been more responsive to the overall experience at a place like Excalibur. For those customers, you can’t have a $29 room and a $12 coffee.”
Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts executives said some rates have already been adjusted, particularly at the lower-end casino hotels in 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 with that in retrospect,” 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 have gone through the organization – we believe, we hope, we believe – and we price corrected.”
MGM Resorts’ 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” for expensive items in Las Vegas
Although pricing is not the only reason for the decline in tourism, the growing public perception that Las Vegas casinos are price gouging customers is having a negative effect on business. Both MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, The Strip’s two largest operators, reported year-over-year declines in net income in each quarter of 2025.
The day before Hornbuckle’s comments, Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg also addressed the value issue in Las Vegas during the Reno-based gaming company’s earnings call.
“I’m not discounting that there are areas in our business and in Las Vegas that may have gotten over their skis price-wise,” Reeg said. “But, to put into context, you know, we’re in a quarter where while we’re talking about pricing and deteriorating demand, our occupancy rate was over 90 percent in the quarter.”
Reeg went on to add that “it won’t be long” before stories of expensive bottles of water are a thing of the past.
“When you’re pricing thousands of things every day like we are and our peers are, it’s going to be easy to find things where you say, ‘Look what this bottle of water costs.'” But the value proposition in Vegas matches almost anywhere you might want to travel, he said.
“Must fix” the price problem
The latest comments from Hornbuckle and Reeg are not the first from Las Vegas casino executives this year centered around the concept of value in Las Vegas. Casino operators in Downtown Las Vegas, including Circa/The D/Golden Gate CEO and co-owner Derek Stevens, Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel and Rio President and CEO Patrick Miller have each talked about pricing concerns among customers.
“We have to fix it, as a community,” Jossel said on a podcast in August after recounting an international news story that highlighted a patron who paid $33 for a bagel and a cup of coffee. “It’s a worrying trend.”
Casinos have matched their words with action, with some operators eliminating parking and resort fees, launching exclusive promotions for Las Vegas locals or creating packages and packages designed to offer value.
In September, LVCVA and its resort partners launched the first-ever City Sale. The spectacular 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 “almost double our usual pace.”
“I think the sale that the community did — and we participated in a meaningful way — showed that we understand value, we understand Las Vegas,” Hornbuckle said Wednesday. “And we always will be. We will always have to be.”
Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@ theplayerlounge.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.
