Gambling executives believe that the casino industry consolidation will continue
Influential casino executives met at the 27th annual Gaming Conference
After several high-profile mergers that dramatically changed the gambling industry's landscape, a panel of influential casino executives said Monday that consolidation will continue as companies scout out growth opportunities.
The executives also said at the 27th annual Gaming Conference that the billions of dollars pouring into the Las Vegas area will create a major metropolis rivaling any city in the Southwest, and Reno's casinos could flourish again as gambling companies start to invest there.
The two-day conference being held at Wynn Las Vegas covers industry issues such as casino operations, technology and regulatory oversight.
The event's highlight is usually a panel of financial gurus who offer their insights and expound on current industry trends.
Monday's discussion didn't disappoint, as some of the top guns in the business let opinions fly in a forum other than a prosaic investor's call.
Jim Murren, MGM Mirage president and chief financial officer, said his company was not finished consuming rivals.
"Are we done?" he asked. "Absolutely not."
But Murren tempered his comments by saying MGM Mirage, which recently completed a $7.9 billion merger with Mandalay Resort Group, would need time to absorb the new employees and properties that currently make it the biggest gambling company in the world.
"It's always best to digest before eating again," Murren said.
Murren also emphasized that consolidation was inevitable as companies looked to make strategic acquisitions in an industry with few places to grow, especially on the prized and lucrative Las Vegas Strip.
"If you've got the land, you've got the keys to the kingdom," he said.
Station Casinos CFO Glenn Christenson agreed that the buyouts and mergers would not stop.
And like Murren, he believed that Las Vegas was undergoing a watershed period as more megaresorts and local casinos are built and a high-rise condo craze continues.
"Over the next 10 years you are going to see things that are hard to believe," he said.
Christenson estimated that $25 billion would be invested in the area over the next five or so years - much of that on the Strip and its environs. Murren called that figure conservative.
Ellis Landau, Boyd Gaming treasurer and CFO, said the north part of the Strip would no longer be neglected. He said his company will redevelop the aging Stardust but wasn't ready to release details about the project that could span 63 acres.
"The growth corridor is clearly the north end," Landau said.
Murren and Christenson both expressed confidence in the Reno market. Station Casinos recently purchased land in Reno.
"We think we can be successful there," Christenson said.
The conference keynote speaker was Bill Weidner, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands.
The former business professor talked about economics, endorsing entrepreneurs such Steve Wynn and Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson - men who reinvented Las Vegas with their megaresorts and ideas.
"Only entrepreneurs can propel Las Vegas to the next level," he said.
Weidner said to reject institutional thought and naysayers, and let the market determine the winners and losers, not rivals, pundits or government.
