{"id":14444,"date":"2025-12-04T12:54:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T12:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?p=14444"},"modified":"2025-12-04T14:08:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:08:37","slug":"mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg\" alt=\"Jonathan Halkyard\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14445\" title=\"MGM Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Halkyard Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip\" \/><strong>Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CFO says fewer drive-in visitors from California hurt 2025 numbers but expects a rebound.<\/li>\n<li>He argued Las Vegas hasn\u2019t lost its value and noted MGM has adjusted some fees after criticism about visitors feeling \u201cnickel and dimed.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>MGM has stepped away from the New York license race and is focusing on projects in Las Vegas, Osaka, the UAE, and digital gaming.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Jonathan Halkyard<\/strong>, the CFO of MGM Resorts International, spent part of his Wednesday walking Nevada regulators through the company\u2019s year and how shifting travel habits have shaped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/blog\/structures-that-make-vegas-worth-remembering\">Las Vegas<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>His appearance before the Nevada Gaming Control Board was part of the standard licensing process, coming right after CEO Bill Hornbuckle\u2019s review with the Commission.<\/p>\n<p>Halkyard didn\u2019t shy away from admitting that <strong>2025 hasn\u2019t matched the strength of 2023 and 2024<\/strong>, especially when it comes to occupancy. A few MGM properties didn\u2019t reach the levels the company expected, even though numbers that would thrill most operators still felt a little underwhelming for MGM. <\/p>\n<p>As he put it, <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>When you\u2019re operating at 90% occupancy in most markets, that would be a banner year. For us, it\u2019s a little bit of a disappointment. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He added that he expects things to level out as visitation picks up again. MGM is already looking ahead to 2026, pointing to upcoming events and attractions that continue to draw strong interest. \u201c<em>The attractiveness of those are unabated<\/em>\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2>Decline in Drive-In Visitors <\/h2>\n<p>One of the key issues this year has been a noticeable drop in drive-in visitors from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/us\/states\/california\">Southern California<\/a>. While that decline has been widely discussed, Halkyard pushed back on the idea that Las Vegas has suddenly become too expensive or lost its appeal. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I don\u2019t think it\u2019s valid to say Las Vegas lost it value when one compares the cost of hotel rooms here and the cost to get here and all of the options here for entertainment and food and beverage<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He also acknowledged that visitors have real concerns about added fees and feeling \u201c<em>nickel and dimed<\/em>\u201d. According to him, MGM has made some targeted price adjustments in areas where costs didn\u2019t make sense. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>These aren\u2019t large issues in the grand scheme of things, but they do matter to the reputation of the city. So we changed some of those.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>The New York License Matter<\/h2>\n<p>Board members also asked about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/mgm-pulls-out-of-yonkers-casino-plan-leaving-city-stunned\">MGM\u2019s decision to pull out<\/a> of the competitive race for a gaming license in New York. Halkyard said the company spent a long time weighing that choice, but the investment size, long timelines, and competitive environment made it hard to justify. <\/p>\n<p>Instead, MGM is concentrating on other projects. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We do see growth opportunities here in Las Vegas investing in our properties<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He also pointed to major work in Osaka, where a large integrated resort is underway, and a non-gaming project in the United Arab Emirates that could eventually open the door to gaming. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary: CFO says fewer drive-in visitors from California hurt 2025 numbers but expects a rebound. He argued Las Vegas hasn\u2019t lost its value and noted MGM has adjusted some fees after criticism about visitors feeling \u201cnickel and dimed.\u201d MGM has stepped away from the New York license race and is focusing on projects in Las [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-casino","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MGM\u2019s CFO says this year\u2019s slowdown is tied to less California traffic, but he believes Las Vegas still gives visitors strong value and expects growth ahead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MGM\u2019s CFO says this year\u2019s slowdown is tied to less California traffic, but he believes Las Vegas still gives visitors strong value and expects growth ahead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T12:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T14:08:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ella McDonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ella McDonald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ella McDonald\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2\"},\"headline\":\"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T12:54:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-04T14:08:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Casino\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/\",\"name\":\"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T12:54:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-04T14:08:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2\"},\"description\":\"MGM\u2019s CFO says this year\u2019s slowdown is tied to less California traffic, but he believes Las Vegas still gives visitors strong value and expects growth ahead.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Jonathan Halkyard\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2\",\"name\":\"Ella McDonald\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ella McDonald\"},\"description\":\"Worldwide gambling related news stories are what you will find being written by Ella, she has a keen interest however in UK and European based new stories relating to all gaming environments, and she is always prepared to ask the difficult questions many other journalists avoiding asking those in power.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/ella-mcdonald\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip","description":"MGM\u2019s CFO says this year\u2019s slowdown is tied to less California traffic, but he believes Las Vegas still gives visitors strong value and expects growth ahead.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip","og_description":"MGM\u2019s CFO says this year\u2019s slowdown is tied to less California traffic, but he believes Las Vegas still gives visitors strong value and expects growth ahead.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/","article_published_time":"2025-12-04T12:54:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-04T14:08:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":380,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ella McDonald","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ella McDonald","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/"},"author":{"name":"Ella McDonald","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2"},"headline":"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip","datePublished":"2025-12-04T12:54:49+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-04T14:08:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg","articleSection":["Casino","USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/","name":"MGM CFO Says Vegas Still Offers Strong Value Despite Visitor Dip","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-04T12:54:49+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-04T14:08:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2"},"description":"MGM\u2019s CFO says this year\u2019s slowdown is tied to less California traffic, but he believes Las Vegas still gives visitors strong value and expects growth ahead.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/mgm-chief-financial-officer-jonathan-halkyard-says-vegas-still-offers-strong-value-despite-visitor-dip\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jonathan-halkyard.jpg","width":380,"height":250,"caption":"Jonathan Halkyard"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2","name":"Ella McDonald","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Ella McDonald"},"description":"Worldwide gambling related news stories are what you will find being written by Ella, she has a keen interest however in UK and European based new stories relating to all gaming environments, and she is always prepared to ask the difficult questions many other journalists avoiding asking those in power.","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/author\/ella-mcdonald\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}