MGM China has described its Macau promotional and reinvestment strategy as a “package” approach aimed at optimizing the yield of every square foot of its casino floors.
The question of player reinvestment was raised again during MGM’s 2Q26 earnings call on Thursday morning after the group’s Macau entity saw margins compress to 23.3% from 27.1% a year ago, impacted by a much higher branding fee charged by parent MGM Resorts. Macau revenues were flat year-on-year.
In response, MGM China CEO Kenneth Feng said Macau would continue to be a competitive market but expressed his belief that MGM continues to showcase a deeper understanding of its customers’ expectations.
“We deliver the appropriate offerings, catering to premium demand,” Feng explained. “It’s not purely like a promotional reinvestment – what we are offering is a package. It’s our products, our services, our innovation and then our promotion. It’s really a package.
“For example, during the [June] quarter we completed some meaningful projects including our suite conversions and our premium gaming space at [MGM COTAI]. These projects have been well-received by all premium customers. Moving on, we will continue to renovate 100 suites at MGM MACAU.
“And our strategy is really to focus on optimizing the yield of every table, every slot, every square foot of the casino floor. That’s our strategy. It’s not purely a reinvestment. It’s a package.”
Feng added that MGM China has achieved margins in the mid-to-high 20% range since the COVID-19 pandemic and was confident it would sustain similar levels in the future.
On market performance during and since the recent World Cup – which is known to have impacted premium gaming volumes as players diverted their gaming spend – Feng said volumes had rebounded strongly in recent weeks to exceed even Q1 performance levels.
“We are seeing pent-up demand from the World Cup period,” he explained.
“Both visitations and business volumes have strongly picked up even since the second week of July, when there were still a few matches remaining before the end of the World Cup, and the weekly performance has improved week-over-week. We believe Macau, the entire market, has recovered nearly to Q1 levels, and at MGM the property visitation and normalized GGR have already exceeded the Q1 levels.
“With the events and the concerts in town in this month and next month, we are confident we will see a busy summer in Macau.”
In separate comments, MGM Resorts CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle said development the group’s US$10 billion integrated resort in Japan, MGM Osaka, was on track with over 60% of foundation piles completed and the main structure taking shape above ground.
As such, MGM Osaka – described by Hornbuckle as “the greatest greenfield opportunity in the world” – remains “on time and on budget” for its scheduled 2030 opening.
