Las Vegas Casino Owners Betting Billions As Gambling Loses Its Luster

Billions of dollars in construction along the Las Vegas Strip illustrate the changes in ownership and strategy that are remaking the glitzy thoroughfare as the city has sought to navigate big changes in gambling and tourism in recent years.

But more could be coming, brought on by macroeconomic headwinds that dampen discretionary spending and a change to the way gamblers’ income is taxed. Owners of casinos and other major properties are gearing up to face the latest round of challenges. 

“We take a very long-range view in terms of anticipating where the culture is going and, based on where the culture is going, what experiences will be in demand and how we continue to invest to capitalize on that,” said Ed Pitoniak, CEO of gaming REIT Vici Properties.

June 2025 visitation fell 11% year-over-year, with revenue per available room down 8%, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The softness comes even as the city draws a younger, wealthier crowd. 

The average visitor age fell to about 44 in 2024, with two-thirds earning $100K or more. The drop in visitation hasn't affected gaming numbers, with gambling revenue flat year-over-year. 

“Gaming revenue used to be two-thirds of revenue. It's probably closer to one-third now, and room rates are higher, food and beverage spend is higher,” said Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “Entertainment is much higher than it used to be 20 or 30 years ago. Entertainment really wasn't much of a factor. It was almost an amenity. And now it's a much bigger component of revenue.”

Making the changes necessary to capture the growing entertainment revenue stream usually means turning a casino into an “integrated resort,” which includes luxe shopping and dining, access to live entertainment and day clubs, which tend to feature things like live DJs and poolside bottle service.

“All in, if you're going to build an integrated resort, you're going to spend over $2M a key,” he said. “You couldn't build a competitive property for less than that on the Strip right now, and interest rates aren't low.”  

That includes all of the amenities: restaurants, theaters, spas, pools. For the investment to make sense, operators need to make one-tenth of that per room. 

“That's a tough thing to do,” Hill said. “Trying to make $500, $600 or $700 a night for every room you have every night of the year is hard.”

Operators are funneling capital into room renovation, between $4B and $5B, by Hill’s estimation. The MGM Grand, Orleans Hotel and Caesars Palace are all renovating rooms. 

The Venetian is renovating 4,000 of its 7,000 suites, in addition to introducing new restaurants. It is partnering with celebrity chef José Andrés on one and bringing in a Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse. 

“We created a very robust strategic plan that outlined at that time about a billion dollars of capital,” said Patrick Nichols, President and CEO of The Venetian. “It's grown to about $1.5B. The themes are consistent with what they were three years ago.”

Vici acquired The Venetian in 2022 for $4B. It purchased Blackstone’s 49.9% stake in the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay for $5.5B in the same year as part of a divestment of Las Vegas assets for Blackstone. The world’s largest alternative asset manager sold The Cosmopolitan for $5.7B in 2021.

Also in 2022, Tilman Fertitta, owner of Fertitta Entertainment and the Houston Rockets, bought a 6.1% stake in Wynn Resorts, making him the second-largest investor in the company, behind co-founder Elaine Wynn.

Fertitta increased his stake in Wynn Resorts in February to more than 10%. Those investments also played a role in putting the brakes on a $1B, 43-story hotel and casino Fertitta had proposed. His stake in Wynn Resorts is now worth an estimated $1.4B, setting up a possible conflict of interest, his attorney told a local news station last month.

And in one of the most visible transformations, the Tropicana was imploded in 2024 to make way for a $1.5B stadium for Major League Baseball’s A’s, slated to open in 2028. Around the same time, The Mirage Hotel & Casino was closed and is now under construction as a new Hard Rock-branded casino-resort set to open in 2027. 

Drooping tourism numbers aren’t what these casino owners want to see, but they are confident that a pivot to luxury experiences can reinvigorate Vegas.

“The broader numbers are concerning. We don't ever want visitation falling to our destination,” Nichols said. “These are really large resorts that require a lot of people to make them work really well, but the luxury side of the business is holding up quite well.”

At the same time, new federal policy could add more pressure to the lackluster gambling revenues. 

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, includes a provision that limits gambling loss deductions to 90% of winnings, down from the full write-off allowed previously. 

Critics say the change could discourage high-limit and professional gamblers from reporting losses, pushing them toward offshore platforms and prediction markets that don’t contribute to Nevada’s tax base or labor economy. 

Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada argues the measure punishes players who follow the rules while hurting casinos that depend on big-ticket customers. She is attempting to undo the change with an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.  

Pitoniak pointed to structural advantages that he said will keep Las Vegas attractive to CRE investors. 

In addition to an influx of sports activity demonstrated by the A’s stadium as well as Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL’s Raiders began playing in 2020, he said that more large-scale infrastructure and event investments are on the horizon. These include the Brightline West high-speed rail and the extension of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix contract through 2027.

“We diversified pretty well over the last several years where gaming was what we relied on heavily,” Newmark Senior Managing Director Mike Tabeek said. “We've done a good job through sports and entertainment to help diversify.”

He pointed to the city’s position as a major West Coast distribution hub, the growing presence of healthcare, as well as DraftKings’ 100K SF West Coast headquarters as examples of that diversification.

Online sports betting is allowed only via licensed Nevada casino mobile apps, and requires in-person registration. DraftKings and FanDuel do not operate in Nevada.

The diversification is spilling into new submarkets as well. A $1.8B movie studio and mixed-use project backed by Howard Hughes Holdings, Sony Pictures Entertainment and actor Mark Wahlberg was first announced in 2024 and received approval in August 2025. 

“Gaming operators have more levers to pull in relation to cycles,” Pitoniak said. “Vegas is the world capital of envisioning, creating, executing and delivering adult experiences.”

CORRECTION, SEPT. 15, 11:45 A.M. PT: This story has been updated to accurately reflect Nevada’s online gaming regulations.