LAS VEGAS — MGM Grand announced its buffet will close at the end of May, ending a 30-year run at the resort.
The closure is the latest in a series of buffet closures on the Strip in recent years.
Tanja Rakovic, a tourist, said she has noticed the high prices.
“I haven’t seen really any cheap like dining options. I’ve seen some advertisements for breakfast that go for at least $30, which I think is pretty expensive,” Rakovic said.
Revenue shift changes casino priorities
Corey Levitan, a journalist in the Las Vegas Valley for decades, said the economics of casino operations have changed dramatically.
“Just kiss goodbye to the idea of Vegas as a buffet capital. It’s not,” Levitan said.
Historically, 75% of casino and resort revenue came from gambling with 25% coming from other entertainment. Buffets were designed to keep gamblers on property.
“Historically, 75% of casino resorts revenue was made on the gaming floor, only 25% in other ways. So why a casino had a buffet was to say, and it started with El Rancho, why they had buffets was to say, oh, don’t leave. We don’t want you going somewhere else to eat, because they would probably go to another casino and then gamble there after dinner,” Levitan said.
But in the 2000s, that ratio flipped.
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“By the 2000s, it was 75% money revenue made in an average strip casino was through entertainment and dining, and only 25% was made through gambling. So that was definitely the death knell for buffets,” Levitan said.
Levitan said another factor emerged about 10 years ago, when many Strip properties sold their land to clear debt after the Great Recession.
“They have to make a hundred million dollar a year in rent on each one of their properties. They don’t have the luxury of giving food free away anymore,” Levitan said.
“No casino can afford to give away food for free, much less, for less than free, for a loss. They can’t afford that anymore. Every inch of that casino space has to be maximized for the shareholder profit. That’s just the way it is,” Levitan said.
Brian Dranichak, a tourist from Kentucky, said the changes have priced out many families.
“I think it’s taken away just the average person that, the medium-sized family and the, middle-class family that, wants to, wants to keep it under, even $80.00 a person. You don’t get many of that on the strip anymore,” Dranichak said.
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