MGM Cotai Opens In Time For The Chinese New Year

After many delays, MGM Resorts has finally opened its MGM Cotai Casino Resort in Macau’s Cotai District. The $3.4 billion casino resort opened on February 13, just a few days before Chinese New Year but the casino resort will not be fully operational as there is still work to be done.

However it was important for MGM China to open MGM Cotai at the earliest as the two-week-long holiday plays a major role in boosting revenues for Macau’s casinos since there will be a huge influx of mainland visitors heading over to Macau.

In a statement, James Murren, Chief Executive Officer for MGM Resorts said

It's a perfect time to open right at the eve of the year of the dog. I believe we have created a resort that exactly targets the market that's the fastest growing today, the upper-end mass market

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MGM Cotai Opens but with Limitations

MGM Cotai staff had to put a lot of effort into opening right before the holidays. The delays that have plagued the casino for over two years have slowed down MGM Cotai’s opening and is likely to cost the company revenue due to the fact that MGM Cotai will not be opening at its full operational capacity. According to original specifications, the casino resort is supposed to have 1390 rooms and suites. This is divided into several villas, VIP suites, skylofts and standard rooms. However, the property only has 500 rooms available and all of them have been reserved for the Chinese New Year festivities. The plan is to open up the remaining rooms in phases.

MGM Cotai was designed to have around 500,000 square feet of gaming space and included around 2500 slot machines and 500 gaming tables. As of now, there are only 982 slot machines and 177 table games available because the gaming regulator in Macau has sanctioned a limited amount of gaming tables for now. As a result, MGM Cotai will initially focus on mass market and premium mass gamblers with VIP gaming taking a backseat for now.

Casino operators such as Wynn Macau and Galaxy Entertainment have confirmed that all of their hotel rooms across multiple properties have already been sold out for the Chinese New Year holiday. MGM China has also confirmed that all rooms at its MGM Macau property has been sold out and the casino operator will be disappointed that it could not open MGM Cotai at full capacity and take advantage of the spike in gaming and non-gaming activities during the two week holiday.