MGM Resorts International Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 2, 2022

Key Takeaways

  • Domestic operations set new records in Q3 with Las Vegas Strip revenues and adjusted property EBITDAR both reaching all-time highs, driven by 93% occupancy and a 26% year-over-year increase in ADR to $227.
  • MGM completed the acquisition of LeoVegas and named Gary Fritz President of Interactive, positioning the company for aggressive expansion in international and online gaming.
  • BetMGM remains the leader in iGaming with a 29% market share, launched in Kansas (its 24th market) and plans to enter Massachusetts, Ohio and Maryland, while focusing on profitability and disciplined reinvestment.
  • Development pipeline includes an integrated resort bid in New York (RFA expected by January), an Osaka, Japan area plan submitted with Oryx, and a Macau concession renewal application under government review.
  • With over $6 billion in domestic liquidity, minimal net debt and $4.4 billion returned to shareholders via share repurchases since 2021, MGM maintains a strong balance sheet to fund growth and weather macroeconomic uncertainty.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
MGM Resorts International Q3 2022
00:00 / 00:00

There are 17 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good afternoon, and welcome to the MGM Resorts International Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. Joining the call from the company today are Bill Hornbuckle, Chief Executive Officer and President Corey Sanders, Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Halkyard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Hubert Wang, President and Chief Operating Officer of MGM China and Andrew Chapman, Director of Investor Relations. Participants are in listen only mode. After the company's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. In fairness to all participants, Please note this conference is being recorded.

Operator

Now, I would like to turn the call over to Andrew Chapman.

Speaker 1

Good afternoon, and welcome to the MGM Resorts International Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. This call is being broadcast live on the Internet at investors. Njimresorts.com. We have also furnished our press release on Form 8 ks to the SEC. On this call, we will make forward looking statements under the Safe Harbor provisions of the federal securities laws.

Speaker 1

Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated in these statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward looking statements is contained in today's press release and in our periodic filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or otherwise. During the call, we will also discuss non GAAP financial measures in talking about our performance. You can find the reconciliation to GAAP financial measures in our press release and investor presentation, which are available on our website.

Speaker 1

Finally, this presentation is being recorded. I will now turn it

Speaker 2

over to Bill Warmbuckle. Thank you, Andrew, and thank you all for joining us this afternoon. I'm pleased to report another phenomenal quarter of financial results driven by our domestic business with the Las Vegas Strip setting a new record for revenues and adjusted property EBITDAR. These results come on the heels of a record setting Quarter in Las Vegas our 2nd quarter in Las Vegas and our regions. Also, the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas had one of its best quarters in its 1st full quarter of operation Under MGM Resorts leadership, it continues to outperform our initial expectations.

Speaker 2

We continue to see further opportunity with the Cosmopolitan for many resorts and we believe a fundamental change in people's perception of travel and the value that it brings to their lives in Las Vegas and MGM Resorts is benefiting This emerging theme. I want to thank our employees again for the tremendous efforts they put forward to achieve these outstanding results. We know that our guests are experiencing greater satisfaction in their stays as measured by our internal net promoter scores, which continue to exceed our projections as well as our TripAdvisor rankings, which have improved significantly across our portfolio in the last year. Put all together and MGM continues to make great progress towards our long term vision, which is to be the world's premier gaming and entertainment company. We've achieved this vision by remaining laser focused on that strategic plan.

Speaker 2

Let me hit some of the highlights of the quarter and then Jonathan will dig into the results in more detail. First off, I'm pleased to share that we've completed our acquisition of LEO Vegas in September. This important acquisition represents the first step of an aggressive expansion in international and online gaming for MGM. I'd like to again welcome Gustaf Hagman and the team. And we also recently announced the addition of Gary Fritz as our President of Interactive.

Speaker 2

Gary will lead our broader digital strategy both here in the U. S. And internationally, at which Leo Vegas is a significant part. Staying with digital for a moment, we remain bullish on BetMGM, which continues to build on success every quarter. In the Q3, BetMGM launched in Kansas, representing its 24th market to date and the 8th new market we have added since November of last year.

Speaker 2

Looking forward, we will add Massachusetts, Ohio and Maryland to our online Sports Betting Portfolio. BetMGM remains the clear leader in iGaming with a 29% market share, and Preliminary metrics, reinvestment has remained within our expectations and market appear to be acting more rationally. As BetMGM shared in May at its Investor Day, Our strategy is to focus on profitability by allocating spend to geographies with the highest ROI and targeting bonusing. We believe this is being executed exceptionally well. Our investment in Bedroom GM and Leo Vegas will allow us to continue to drive our omni channel strategy, a key competitive advantage that over time allows us to generate incremental earnings between our brick and mortar and our online channels.

Speaker 2

Early results of this strategy have been positive With a strong acquisition story as well as the creation of brand stickiness, of the players that play in both channels, we've seen a younger customer, in fact, almost 90% Of the Bet MGM omnichannel customers who visit Vegas are younger than 50 and over 50% are under the age of 35. Overall, customers who play online at our properties have increased engagement and are at lower cost per acquisition, which reflects the operating leverage we can and will drive into the future. Now I'd like to talk about the Integrated Resorts development opportunities we have. New York State Pointed the majority of the gaming facility location board members in October and we anticipate the state to issue the casino's RFA by early January. We are developing a compelling proposal and we look forward to submitting it in the coming months.

Speaker 2

Beyond the United States, MGM and our development partner, Oryx, along with the City of Osaka, Submitted our area development plan to the Government of Japan in April, and we are optimistic that we will receive certification in the near future. I recently visited our development site and we and the Oryx team couldn't be more excited by the opportunity to bring a fully integrated resort to Japan. Turning to Macau, we officially submitted our application for new concession in September and we remain committed to supporting Macau's Continued development is a world class tourism and leisure destination. We aim to support the Macau government in achieving its diversification goals and We'll continue to invest in the innovative projects and programs that help the region flourish. The Macau government is in the process of reviewing each of the concessionaire's proposals and we expect a decision to be made by year end.

Speaker 2

Let me close by making some high level comments on the current state of business and our future outlook. Business is exceptionally strong right now in Las Vegas at MGM Resorts, and we see the market remaining exceptionally hot. In particular, we are seeing outsized strength in our luxury resorts where pricing remains robust. In fact, October was our Highest month ever in terms of hotel revenue. As we look at the convention segment, which has the longest lead time and gives us visibility into the future, Our convention room mix is pacing in our goal of 19% with increased ADRs year over year.

Speaker 2

Our outlook continues to be positive and Our operations to take full advantage of the demand we are experiencing in the marketplace. Programming also remains an exceptional story which further solidifies Las Vegas as the nation's top sports destination. We will host the men's NCAA West Regional for Suite 16 and Elite 8 rounds at T Mobile in March and Formula 1, as you know, was selected the weekend of November 16 next year Toast the 1st ever Las Vegas race on the Strip. That weekend happens to be one of the slowest historic weekends of the year for us ahead of Thanksgiving. We'll open our hotel calendar tomorrow for those dates and expect an exceptional demand based on our studies of other host cities.

Speaker 2

We believe the prime positioning of our properties will allow us to fully capture the benefits of this exciting race. So right now, we have reasons to be optimistic as we look ahead. That said, we're not blind to the overall macroeconomic conditions and we remain keenly aware of the impact of inflation and the concerns of a potential recession. We We continue to stay alert and are actively monitoring our business and indications of a slowdown. Our operations teams have become incredibly nimble over the last few years and and are prepared to quickly adjust our business to the changing demand trends if they occur.

Speaker 2

In the meantime, we'll continue to look for opportunities to drive organic growth In our core business, we select key capital investments in our properties and through our MGM Rewards program. MGM Rewards continues to deliver on our promise to provide more compelling benefits to all of our members. In fact, since we launched the new program, we've seen a greater portion of our direct bookings from MGM Rewards members and an increased tier progression, particularly for our Gold Plus players. With that, I'll turn this over to Jonathan to discuss more details of the quarter. Jonathan?

Speaker 3

Thanks very much, Bill. Let me start my remarks By also welcoming Gustaf and the over 900 LEO Vegas employees to MGM Resorts. No doubt the future of LEO Vegas is bright and I'm confident this enterprise will serve as a meaningful contributor of talent and earnings to our company. I'd So like to echo Bill's comments and thank all of our employees for the 2nd straight quarter of record results. Our people are the best in the business and they demonstrate that every day With the care they show for our guests.

Speaker 3

Now let's discuss our 3rd quarter results in some detail. Our consolidated 3rd quarter net revenues were $3,400,000,000 an increase of 26% compared to 2021, despite the 70% revenue decline at MGM China due to closures and other COVID related limitations. On the Las Vegas Strip, top line demand was strong with same store net revenues increasing 18% and same store adjusted property EBITDAR up 8%. Occupancy was a major driver of the improvement year over year, reaching 93% for the quarter, the highest it's been since the start of the pandemic and an improvement of over 1,000 basis points year over year. The key driver of the occupancy gain is midweek demand, which is returning to more normal levels as conventions and groups return.

Speaker 3

The value proposition of our group business supports our pricing power in Las Vegas. ADR hit a record $2.27 in the 3rd quarter, an increase of 26% year over year. We continuously work to optimize the hotel mix in our business. Over the past 2 years, We've increased the effectiveness of our casino marketing and loyalty programs to drive the casino and direct high rate transient business mix up by several percentage points each. And this has helped offset the decrease in the convention mix that we experienced in 2020 2021.

Speaker 3

Now, as our convention mix returns, we're generally displacing less profitable, but still important leisure business. This convention business comes at a higher average rate typically between $30 to $40 higher and brings with it higher margin catering spend. Our 3rd quarter regional net revenues grew 5%, while adjusted property EBITDAR declined 8%. During the quarter, our highest daily worth casino segment remained our best performing with the greatest increase in both rated days and theoretical win. Our casino customers aged 65 and above grew again this quarter as compared to last year 2019, but it still hasn't reached the visitation frequency pre pandemic.

Speaker 3

Our local and cross property efforts will continue to address these important segments to drive further growth. Adjusted property EBITDAR margins were 33%, a decrease of approximately 450 basis points compared to the Q3 last year. This margin result is consistent with our prior commentary. And as the markets stabilize, we expect to maintain 400 to 600 basis points of margin improvement versus 2019. We've increased our employee headcount by low double digits.

Speaker 3

During 2021, we faced a difficult hiring environment and had a number of outlet closures, but we're now fully staffed, Fully open and have returned to the service levels for which we are known. In Macau, adjusted property EBITDAR was a loss of $70,000,000 in the Q3 of 2022 due to property closures and COVID-nineteen related policies limiting visitation to the market. On BetMGM, the growth and continued improvement we are seeing in this business is overwhelmingly positive. Our 50% share of the losses in the 3rd quarter narrowed to $24,000,000 which is reported as a part of the unconsolidated affiliates line of our adjusted EBITDAR calculation. This brings our year to date loss to $186,000,000 and we remain comfortable with our guidance for a 2 and $25,000,000 contribution for the year.

Speaker 3

Net revenues associated with Bet MGM operations were $400,000,000 this quarter, exhibiting an approximately 90% year over year growth from the Q3 last year, led by the continued strength in iGaming and new markets as well as disciplined reinvestments within sports betting by the management team. Through the 1st 9 months of the year, BetMGM's revenue associated with have surpassed $1,000,000,000 which puts them well on track to achieve their target of over $1,300,000,000 this year. Looking forward, improved design and functionality of the BetMGM app, launch of a single wallet and omni channel growth will be the tailwinds behind future growth of their business and its impact to MGM as we look to reach profitability during 2023. Our 3rd quarter corporate expense, including share based compensation, was $117,000,000 which included $9,000,000 of transaction costs related mostly to LEO Vegas. We do expect corporate expense to remain elevated in the 4th quarter due mostly to transaction costs related to the Mirage sale.

Speaker 3

We're strategically investing our corporate resources in growth areas, including improvements to our IT infrastructure, enhanced digital offerings and our IR development efforts in Japan and New York. And finally, Our capital allocation priorities are as follows: 1st, we'll maintain a strong balance sheet with adequate 2nd, we'll invest where we have clear advantages, exercising prudence and measuring prospective returns for for shareholders and finally, we'll return cash to our shareholders. These priorities are manifest in our major allocation decisions this year. We bolstered our liquidity through the closing of the VICI transaction and the announced sales of the Mirage and Goldstrike. We acquired the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, which strengthened our portfolio.

Speaker 3

We're making strategic capital deployments into improving our existing product with room remodels across 3 of our major properties and an announced refresh of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center to shore up our long term group market share. We returned cash to our shareholders through share repurchases. During the Q3, we repurchased 10,000,000 shares for $307,000,000 From the beginning of 2021 through yesterday, we repurchased 115,000,000 shares for $4,400,000,000 were 32% of our market cap. This activity brings our share count down to 384,000,000 shares. Last quarter, I made the case for the attractive valuation of our shares and I feel even more strongly now.

Speaker 3

With market leading domestic operations Driving record results, leases limited to 2% or 3% escalation for the next 10 years, Embedded cash flow growth in BetMGM and MGM China and about $11 per share in cash, I think our stock trades at pretty attractive levels. We plan to continue to buy back stock through our authorized program. And moving forward, We will also continue to invest our capital in growth projects such as New York and Japan as well as strategic M and A. With that, Phil, back to you.

Speaker 4

Thanks, Jim.

Speaker 2

We believe we've accomplished a great deal year to date. I'm optimistic about our path forward. What we are doing is working. Our existing operations continue to grow as evidenced by another record quarter in Las Vegas with a positive outlook Thinking about October and beyond, our balance sheet is in a position of strength as we have more than $6,000,000,000 in domestic liquidity with almost no net debt. That MGM is firing on all cylinders, demonstrating tremendous growth and remains on track to achieve profitability during 2023.

Speaker 2

We also expect further global digital growth with LEO Vegas, MGM China and Macau market are showing some productive signals and we believe we are well positioned with respect to licensing renewals. Also, New York and Japan represent future development growth opportunities for our company. I would again like to thank our employees for their continued hard work and commitment to our company. And with that, we'll open this up for questions, operator.

Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. As a reminder, in all fairness, please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. And our first Question will come from Joe Greff with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Good afternoon, everybody. Bill, Jonathan, whoever wants to take this question. I was hoping you can just talk a little bit more about where you do have visibility into next year, The group and convention business in Las Vegas, what percentage of your anticipated room nights are on the books right now? And at what price is that relative to this year or if you want to look at it in relation to 2019?

Speaker 2

Sure. Let me kick it off and I'll probably turn it over to both of my colleagues here. So we're targeting, as I mentioned in my comments, 19% market mix. Couple of things. We've been as high as 2021.

Speaker 2

We've got about 100,000 room nights offline. We're doing a Mandalay Bay complete remodel, Which is undertaken and underway and it's been highly well received. We were able to preview it recently through IMAX. We've taken 100,000 room nights off of weekends. Given the strength with weekends, we're very positive on our ability to drive higher rated business, particularly through leisure and casino ultimately.

Speaker 2

ADR is in the mid single digits. And then Corey, if you want to talk, I

Speaker 6

think, a little bit. The percent? Yes.

Speaker 7

Yes. We usually are about 80% on the books right now. I think we feel pretty good on where we are. In addition to that, we also are looking at where we place convention. In the past, we had a lot of convention room nights on weekends.

Speaker 7

So we strategically think we could do better cash flow by Not placing some of that business on weeknight, so you'll probably see our mix come down

Speaker 8

a little because of that also.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you. And then with respect to New York, can you just remind us The scope of the all in investment, the timing of the spend and anticipated timeline to complete once you start, once you get approval.

Speaker 2

So You said New York, correct?

Speaker 9

New York, yes.

Speaker 2

Yes, yes. So, hopefully, we hear something. Obviously, we get this RFA request. They have a 90 day window to issue it, which means by January 1. There is some debate over if they can issue all three licenses at once or If they will issue all 3 at once or they'll go independent of that, but we're hoping for 2023 in terms of being awarded a license.

Speaker 2

If you factor in the licensing fee and the initial expansion, we're looking at about a $2,000,000,000 to $2,200,000,000 investment, Which given, let's just say it takes to the end of 'twenty three, probably the spend on that is going to be between 'twenty four and 'twenty five.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Our next question will come from Carlo Santarelli with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hey, everyone. Good afternoon. Jonathan, you provided a lot of color on kind of the mix and you guys just hit on the group pace for next year. But

Speaker 2

what was how do you

Speaker 6

think about kind of the target of casino what is casino running at this year as a percentage of Nice. And what is kind of the target next year within the 19% group and obviously trying to pull out of FIT and Some of the OTA channels, things like that.

Speaker 3

I'll just I'll make a couple of comments and Certainly invite Cory to comment as well. Casino room mix be in the high 20s to low 30%. It's pretty stable. A lot of our work recently has been around yielding the casino Even more effectively, particularly during mid week, the casino business was very strong for us in terms of room nights A year ago, as I noted in my comments, but that has since that and some of the leisure business has been overtaken profitably by group business. The other thing I'd mention, which is important is Our direct bookings through our proprietary channels are up about 11 1% this quarter versus a year ago.

Speaker 3

And that's it, nearly 3 times the rate of the growth of our overall web bookings. So this is one of the areas in which our MGM Rewards program and the improvements we've made to that as well as other marketing efforts Have really helped drive the leisure business even through our proprietary channels.

Speaker 10

John, I agree.

Speaker 7

I mean, we've got our Casino room nights about where we want them, making sure that we have the most profitable customers on the weekend there. The goal would be as this group business comes back to shift it really out of the package business, our lowest rate of business.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you both. And then if I could just one follow-up. Jonathan, I know you mentioned the target for regionals was kind of to remain 400 to 600 basis Points north of 2019 for that segment. With respect to Vegas and acknowledging a lot of moving parts With Cosmopolitan coming in, City Center being consolidated, Circus Circus going out if we're going back to 2019 and then obviously Mirage going out later this year.

Speaker 6

On an apples to apples basis relative to 2019, do you guys have a similar kind of target range in mind?

Speaker 3

I actually think we can do better than that in Las Vegas, in part for a number of the reasons you mentioned, which is of course some of the changes we've made to the portfolio here or will have prospectively with the Sale of the Mirage, but also just increasing effectiveness in driving demand and yielding, I feel comfortable that the margins will stabilize at increments higher than that, that I described for the regional properties.

Speaker 6

Okay. Is it safe to say it's kind of 400 to 600 operational plus of the mix influence of those kind of 4 assets coming in and out?

Speaker 3

At a minimum, I would say, yes.

Speaker 9

Okay. That's helpful.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you very much. Okay.

Operator

Our Our next question will come from Shaun Kelley with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Speaker 11

Hi, good afternoon everyone. Just wanted to ask a little bit about mix and margins, specifically maybe sticking with Las Vegas for a moment. It looks like Continued pretty strong sequential growth on the casino side. And Jonathan, I know this has been an area where you've probably been expecting things to be At some point, maybe settle back into more normal behaviors, but it just still seems like it's really robust. So could you just give Just a little bit more color about the dynamic there, what you saw in the quarter and how you see that trending both sort of market wise and then things you might be doing Market share, because again that does look strong relative to the market.

Speaker 9

Yes.

Speaker 3

The margin performance is, Of course, a number of dynamics going into it, but one of the most important has been, our ability to yield on the room demand here. And we've seen it not only in our luxury properties, but also more recently in our other properties here in Las Vegas. So I would say the main contributor to it Has been the strength in the hotel yielding. We have grown our labor in both the regional markets and in Las Vegas in the past And we've done that intentionally. It's been reflected in our NPS scores and what our customers are telling us about their experience here.

Speaker 3

But it's also had some impact on margin, one that we intended and hopefully we've signaled pretty clearly in the past. And that's really important because it is All about growing long term market share for profitable market share for our businesses here in Las Vegas. And we think That those customer service scores and the retention associated with those customers are going to help us get there.

Speaker 7

And Sean, what I would add on the Every weekend here is just a major weekend with events between Allegiant, the 3 major showrooms here, The arenas, that demand we don't really see slowing down and probably the piece that's still missing, but we're starting to see some of this come back Is the Far East play. We've seen some groups from Hong Kong. We've had intentions from groups from Singapore that wanted to come back. So I I think we're pretty optimistic on what we've seen in the casino front in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2

And Sean, maybe final, just some color. It was kind of interesting to me last night. Elton John was here. On a Tuesday night, he put 50,000 plus in Allegiant Stadium. The south end of the Strip is Absolutely benefiting.

Speaker 2

We thought Aleafia could do like 40 events. I think it's going to do that and more. And if you think about the nature of people staying, That's like 100 days a year that people have visitation to Las Vegas driving a huge activity case, particularly at the south end of the Strip, which We're pretty excited by it. We think it underlines a foundation that just puts us at a different place than we've ever been historically. So That's one of the reasons I think we've seen this ADR growth has been amazingly substantiated throughout the company.

Speaker 2

This particular month in October, Excaliburlux had great months.

Speaker 11

Thank you very much.

Operator

Our next question will come from David Katz with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Speaker 12

In the past, I can recall, Jonathan, you're giving out some and land based MGM And MGM Rewards players. Are you able to talk about any of those this time?

Speaker 2

It's actually Bill, David. I'll take part of that. Yes, we are looking, it continues. The idea of omni Channel is still very strong. First and foremost, MGM Rewards has just surpassed 40,000,000 folks in our database.

Speaker 2

We get about 40 the key driver to that has been BetMGM. And so we're just supplying close to 40% of our new customer base. The inverse of that is we're supplying BetMGM with about 15% of its customers. And then we've seen and I know you've heard some other industry numbers on folks that have come in omnichannel spend. We've seen that number double in the last year between what happened in the Q3 of 'twenty one versus the Q3 of 'twenty two in terms of activity.

Speaker 2

So There's nothing to indicate. We're not extremely positive by that opportunity and the channel that brings us and the overall nature of it. And interestingly, we're excited to continue to project that into LEO Vegas and some of the things we want to do internationally over time. And so overall, it's working exceptionally well.

Speaker 12

Understood. And my follow-up question was going to be about LeoVegas. And if you could just be a bit more specific about what capabilities it brings you that may be transferable or helpful Within the United States or North America?

Speaker 2

Well, to be clear, within the United States and North America, of note, Canada and Ontario province to be specific, that is the domain of BetMGM. And so that all of that activity case would remain with that JV and that partnership. Leo Vegas was an opportunity to open up rest of the world. And so while relatively small, it scaled to some, It's probably going to be about $50,000,000 in cash flow. We love the team.

Speaker 2

We love the operating environment it has, the system it has. It's got a full slate of iGaming opportunities. Sweden is the benchmark, about 35% of its business comes from there. But, we've got a sports betting product. So it's got all of the tools.

Speaker 2

We look to add on to it with live dealer. We're looking at a studio increment that could be added on to this thing. And so we see it as a cornerstone to grow rest of world. If we think about places like Brazil, which has had activity And talking more and more about sports betting and hopefully and potentially casino gaming, we just see that as a leading opportunity for us and a vehicle to do that.

Speaker 12

Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

Our next question will come from Dan Politzer with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Speaker 13

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. John, you gave some detail on how you think about valuation for your stock. I think you called out the $11 per share of cash On the balance sheet, how do you think about the question here, given you have the $4,400,000,000 cash, the $1,600,000,000 of liquidity. What do you think is the normalized cash balance that you feel comfortable with given the macro and some of your rent and CapEx obligations?

Speaker 3

Yes. There's about $400,000,000 or so that's required in so called working capital in our cages, etcetera. And we have established as a financial policy that we will have $1,500,000,000 available to us in addition to our revolving credit, which is approximately $1,500,000,000 So that's The way we think about it, 1.5 would be considered our minimum cash.

Speaker 8

Got it. And then just as my follow-up on Vegas, Some

Speaker 13

of your competitors have called out one offs in the quarter such as utilities. Was there anything there that you'd call out or that you saw on your side?

Speaker 3

No, not in the Q3. We our utilities are largely bought Through the our energy costs largely bought through the end of 2023, so we didn't suffer any meaningful increase there. In fact, The opposite is that we continue our energy efficiency programs have had slight decline in usage. But no, there's really nothing unusual in Vegas. In the regions, there were a couple of unusual items.

Speaker 3

There was some minor hold impacts In the Q3, about 60 basis points. And we also had some hurricane Proceeds in the prior year quarter about 80 basis points. Most of the rest of it was labor increases when we look quarter over quarter, but we did probably have 1.5 points of Unusual margin items in the regions in the 3rd quarter.

Speaker 13

Got it. Thanks so much.

Operator

Our next question will come from Chad Beynon with Macquarie. Please go ahead.

Speaker 14

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Bill, Jonathan, I know you mentioned that, I guess firstly Bed MGM is coming in better than the 1,300,000,000 Dollar revenue projection and you're still on track on the losses for the year. You did mention that you still expect to achieve profitability in 'twenty three At some point, but given that everything is coming in better than expected, California, there's not going to be a big launch in 2023. Just given the maturation of the markets where you currently offer your product, are there reasons why you might not be able to hit that goal potentially earlier If hold is as expected?

Speaker 14

Thanks.

Speaker 2

Look, Chad, I wouldn't go so far as to change our projections and our prediction that by this time next year, we should be in a profitable scenario. So I want to stay on point on that. You know the new markets we've indicated we're opening up. We think we have real opportunity there. We're doing some very interesting one and only kinds of things in the iGaming marketplace where we have integrated jackpots that are omnichannel that will stretch across Our casinos as well as the digital channels, and so we've got 2 or 3 products coming out that are going to be exclusive and Excited by and I think you all know iGaming is the lion's share of the NGR in this whole universe actually.

Speaker 2

And so but no, I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We continue to invest in the business. We want to see it grow. We like the positioning we have both for my gaming in particular and ultimately in sports betting. And so it will take some investments.

Speaker 2

Point on California is well taken, but we're not going to get over headwinds right now.

Speaker 14

Okay, thanks. And then with respect To the 0 COVID policy in China and kind of where things stand right now, has anything changed in terms of your expectation of when the spigot could or should turn back on? And then if not, how should we think about the current burn rate in that market? Thanks.

Speaker 2

I'll let Hubert chime in here in a moment. I would say this because obviously we all got the message of 0 tolerance and it was demonstrated This week in Shanghai and ultimately at our own Cotai property, and Hubert can speak to that. Also, the other side of the coin is they've Opened up every province, all 31 provinces now are accessible to do e Visas, which is convenient and timely. And so we're encouraged by this signal and really what it means for Macau. Macau is obviously an SAR, but it is Obviously, considered part of broader China in every way, shape or form.

Speaker 2

And so the support I think it's trying to give it, by doing that I think is meaningful to us and hopefully over time I can get us to a different place. I'm not going to project when that time is. It's just been, as we all know, so many curves in this road. But I know Hubert, if you want to talk any more sentiments and particularly maybe talk about where you are with the lockdown?

Speaker 9

Yes. Thanks, Bill, and thanks, Chad, for your question. The policy that Recently, looking at the eVisa application and also the group visa applications for entire nation To Macau, I think that's a definitely a long term positive. Short term, we probably will still it's a gradual ramp up process And maybe with fluctuation between due to the dynamic 0 COVID policy in place. So I think that just to give you an example, in Macau, recently, there have been some cases.

Speaker 9

So we have seen the Measures to boiler processing has been tightened and there are cases there were one case single case Ming and Jin, Cotai, and we had to shut down the operation for 3 days, and we just reopened ended quarantine Yesterday and will reopen today. So these couple of things could happen from time to time if the policy is in place. But overall, I think over the long run, it's a positive. In terms of your question on the burn rate for us, I think that we're looking at OpEx of about US1 $500,000,000 a day in that range.

Speaker 2

Great. Thank you very much.

Speaker 15

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question will come from Robin Farley with UBS. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Great. Thanks. I know you talked a little bit about some of the factors with the regional margins being down with labor costs and things. I'm just curious if you're seeing anything in terms of marketing or promotions in the regional markets, just given that you mentioned that gaming revenue was Pretty much flat and the growth was coming from non gaming if that is starting to lead to anything promotional? Thanks.

Speaker 7

Hi, Robin. It's Corey. I think in general, in most of our regions, we're seeing some reasonable reinvestments. Atlantic City, We saw a little bit of a ramp. That market is a tough market right now.

Speaker 7

But in general, our reinvestments have stayed pretty consistent. As we add some of these amenities, which our players have been asking for, that component of Those comps will go against that gaming revenue, which would give it a reason why it'd be flat, but you would see profitability in other departments in the Reginald, I

Speaker 4

guess. Okay. Thank you. And just for the follow-up, I'm curious if you're seeing Anything different in terms of demand at your Vegas Resorts in terms of the more premium properties versus the properties That are sort of more broad market. Are you seeing any difference in demand trends there?

Speaker 4

Thanks.

Speaker 2

Look, I think we've said it in our general comments, Robin, although again October for some of our legacy properties was a bit surprising in the context of affirmative, part Part of it was probably due to the programming I mentioned earlier. But generally speaking, our ability to yield up is tied to luxury. It's tied to average rates at places like ARIA, Cosmopolitan and Bellagio. It's tied to fine dining. It's tied to the entertainment experiences that may be a Bruno Mars or something of that ilk.

Speaker 2

And so we just have not seen a slowdown in that matter of fact to the contrary. And so it doesn't mean We're not eyes wide open on what may happen here, but to date and through October, the phenom of what's happened in Las Vegas, particularly for our higher end properties continues, And we're pretty excited by all of that.

Speaker 4

Okay, great. Thank you very much.

Operator

Our next question will come from John DeCree with CBRE. Please go ahead.

Speaker 16

Hi, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. Bob, maybe one more in Las Vegas about your convention group bookings, maybe a bigger picture question. As you look forward to 2023 And we've got the big ones in 1Q. Maybe Corey, are you seeing attendance or bookings per the big events Get back closer to 2019 levels and when you start to see pacing, is it more driven by more events?

Speaker 16

I guess, we have a lot of conversations. Are those Big events going to see similar attendance as 2019 or might they be smaller and then you guys can kind of grow overall attendance through No various sales to other departments. I'm curious if you have any visibility on that yet.

Speaker 7

Yes. I think the answer is yes So all of them actually. The bigger events that are still coming in, depending on the type of industry, you'll see attendance reach The levels that they were before, especially if they're more domestic, they have an international component, maybe not. But we're also seeing a lot of smaller groups And medium sized groups come in and book also. So the business is definitely dynamic right now from that perspective.

Speaker 7

We're seeing a lot of demand for that business. We're seeing a lot of demand for that business in the year for the year also.

Speaker 16

Got it. Thanks, Corey. And Jonathan, maybe housekeeping one. In the press release, there was a little over $1,000,000,000 Amortization charge, I think related to the sub concession in Macau. I think we've maybe talked about this last quarter, but We've got a couple of questions.

Speaker 16

Could you remind us on the accounting of that and what's that for?

Speaker 3

Yes. When MGM Went to a majority position in MGM China. And in 2011, we recorded through the purchase accounting An intangible related to the concession, we've been amortizing that intangible To between 2,031,038, when the law was released back in June, we together with our Outside of auditing firm Deloitte, we came to the conclusion that it's a new concession that will be beginning post December, so the existing concession on which the intangible was based, we needed to amortize that Towards the end of its life or by the end of its life, which is this year. So we took a relatively small amortization charge in the second quarter and then we're Taking the remainder in the 3rd and the 4th quarter and so that's what that is.

Speaker 16

Got it. Understood. Thanks for that clarity. Thanks everyone.

Operator

Our next question will come from Barry Jonas with Truist Securities. Please go

Speaker 15

ahead. Great. Thank you. Just a follow-up on the Strip margin in the quarter. There was a call out in the 10 Q for Higher advertising costs,

Speaker 13

are we now at a

Speaker 15

more normal level there or could that line item fluctuate a little bit going forward?

Speaker 7

Yes. It's higher than 'twenty one because 'twenty one we cut back a little, but It's lower than we were spending in 2019.

Speaker 15

Got it. Okay. And then just

Speaker 7

Yes, it's probably a new normal of where we feel pretty comfortable plus or minus on going forward in the future also.

Speaker 15

Okay. That's great. Just as

Speaker 10

a follow-up, I wanted to ask about some

Speaker 15

of the partnerships and sponsorships that MGM has made. Wondering if you think some of the lower ROI deals could roll off over the next few years and maybe help drive profitability For BetMGM, if possible, maybe walk us through the setup there?

Speaker 2

So Barry, this is Bill. The answer is yes. We go into different markets. We try different things. Some of them are access deals.

Speaker 2

You need a partner and a sponsor to help you get state, etcetera, And get ultimately licensed and in some cases even get legislation through in terms of motivating the cause from the get go. Some of them have been very profitable, some of them have been not as. The team knows exactly the CPA cost Per market and it allocates certain percentages to what those sponsorships may feel like, but there's clearly an opportunity going forward. Those deals range anywhere from a single year up to 5. It just depends on market and depends on who and what they are.

Speaker 2

But yes, I think as we get all smarter about this, we all build a customer base That begins to plateau at a reasonable level, you'll see everyone get, including us, most notably more efficient at that.

Speaker 15

Great. Thank you so much.

Operator

Our next question will come from Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Speaker 10

Hey, thanks. In the deck, you did mention investing in advanced marketing and physicaldigital experiences is, I think, associated with the loyalty program. As you've ramped up to around, I think you said 44,000,000 members and continue to invest in engagement, how are you thinking about monetization opportunities or partnerships To fund reinvestment or even make the loyalty program a profit center?

Speaker 2

Look, we We have several different opportunities, whether it's around our existing partnership with Hyatt and expanding it. We just Actually did something with that MGM with Carnival that we'd like to bring into MGM Rewards over time as well. And so There are we obviously have a deal with Marriott at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. And so we'll continue to push on that. And obviously, we have something now to trade at 44,000,000 members that are active.

Speaker 2

There's real opportunity to go back and forth on that. As we've opened up, remember the whole essence behind MGM Rewards versus M Life was we've opened up for rewarding all spend, not just gaming spend. And so it's introduced a different set of customers to us. It's introduced a higher end retail customer. I think that gets expanded by things like F1 and some other things that are coming to town.

Speaker 2

And so, we've got a whole team structured and focused on doing exactly that. And we'll begin we're going to hit our 1st full year here coming up. We'll begin to give you some metrics here going forward about where we've been and where we're at, but some of the initial indicators are pretty affirmed very affirmative actually. So, General thinking.

Speaker 10

Sounds good. That's helpful. Thanks. One other unrelated follow-up. The market in Canada on the online side is a bit opaque at this point.

Speaker 10

I guess, what are you seeing In that market for BetMGM in terms of how it's ramping versus the U. S. And how it might evolve from here?

Speaker 2

Surprisingly well, And why I say that is, obviously, that's been a market that's been a gray market in Ontario of note for a decade or so and maybe more. And our ability they don't actually publish per share, so we can't have exact things, but I know what we're doing. We've done exceptionally well. I think part of it is our OntarioDetroit database and we've had exposure to those customers for 20 years. And so we have taken real share.

Speaker 2

And if we're not leading, we're damn close in the context of iGaming of note. And We have a real position in place with sports betting. We're fortunate enough to get Wayne Gretzky on board early, and he's just iconic. And so we feel really good about what's happened there and surprisingly so, which gives us a great deal of confidence in a highly competitive market before we entered.

Speaker 10

It's a great one. Thank you.

Operator

Our last question will come from Ben Chaikin with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Hey, how's it going? Sorry if I missed it. Just taking another swing at Vegas margins. Revenue and EBITDA improved kind of regardless of how you cut it. With this in mind, if we think about the sequential margin compression in Vegas 2Q to 3Q, how much of this is a mix dynamic, So adding lower margin revenues as you called out and how much of this is sequential margin compression on the existing business from headcount, for example, which you also called That didn't make sense.

Speaker 8

I can try it differently. Thanks.

Speaker 3

No, that's all right. It's this is Jonathan. It is mostly having to do with mix And to a minor extent, some addition of labor. It's almost impossible to overstate how Much. I know your question was around sequential, but year over year and sequential, just the volume Activity has increased here and that's required some additional labor resources.

Speaker 3

We've also opened Some final outlets that had been closed over the past year or 2. So it's really both of those dynamics which have caused that.

Speaker 8

Got you. And then just squeeze one more in. There seems to be I think you've highlighted a few times, but there seems to be a disconnect in your valuation. You've got the lease liability on the balance sheet And then you've got kind of the EBITDAR multiple discount. With this in mind, I guess just kind of like high level, is the OpCo structure You think it's still the most desirable strategy or would you ever consider a pivot from the satellite structure, if that's an appropriate way to phrase it?

Speaker 3

I think it is absolutely the right strategy. The valuation considerations aside for a moment, I love this capital structure. It's a perpetual capital structure with escalations of 2% to 3% over the next 10 years. It is one that we do not have to refinance. And when I look at what we've been able to accomplish on our M and A agenda, it's Probably not too difficult to tease out that the Cosmopolitan and Aria did Nearly $300,000,000 of EBITDA during the Q3.

Speaker 3

And these are businesses that when you look at what we paid to acquire them Our sub 6 times EBITDA multiples and at the same time we've sold the Mirage and the Goldstrike at 17 and 11 times multiples Effectively. So there is clear valuation disconnect going on here. But when I look at the capital structure, the combination of it And it's cost with what I think is our operating leverage in these other businesses, but the demand dynamics we've described and the fact that really our regional cross property efforts are just getting started to the cosmopolitan integration still very early in this whole event backdrop. I just think it's a fantastic opportunity for value creation. So I wouldn't change it.

Speaker 9

That's really helpful. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Bill Hornbuckle for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for your attendance and obviously your interest. Just some highlight comments again. We feel obviously very strong and excited by our business here in Las Vegas. You continue to see the strength and the growth. Again, we think there's been a couple of fundamental changes both in the context of the customer mix, And the desire to want to come to a place like Las Vegas and our position with the asset changes of Mirage for Cosmopolitan and some of the other things we do, We just really like where we are in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2

Macau, despite all of its trials and tribulations, in the month of October, did $450,000,000 at GGR. So annualize that and think about that marketplace and its potential long term. We have a great deal of faith in Macau long term, And I think we're really well positioned to get relicensed and are confident that we'll do so by year end. You heard obviously the success in BetMGM. It's absolutely tracking in the right direction and we're equally if not more excited ultimately for MGM Resorts, for LEO Vegas And our push into rest of world with that vehicle leading the way.

Speaker 2

I think most relevant is Jonathan's point about our balance sheet. The liquidity is amazing. It gives us 2 things. If we should go into a more significant downturn, Obviously, we've got the resources to sustain and ultimately enough resources to also be opportunistic. And so the opportunity that balance sheet presents We think it's very compelling and very exciting as we think about the next couple of years.

Speaker 2

We are keenly focused on margins. I can assure you, We are at a place, we said they would come back to where they are. We want to do more work and we will continue to do. They will not go backwards from this point. You have a commitment on that, and I think there's some room for enhancement in a couple of places, Las Vegas and potentially a couple of regional properties, Despite the one off opportunities and things that hit us, the rent is compelling, the 2% to 3% versus The cost of what's going on right now in the marketplace and ultimately our growth pipeline with New York and Japan around the horizon.

Speaker 2

We love that both of those opportunities for obvious reasons. And so I think we're well positioned in both of those places to take advantage of that as well. And then ultimately to the colleagues at the table and all of our team, I couldn't be happier with the crew and how it's performing. So thank you all And appreciate you're joining us today. Have a great night.

Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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