Two of the Las Vegas market's most closely watched operators used their second-quarter earnings calls to deliver the same message: professional sport has become a core driver of visitation to the city, and the prospect of an NBA franchise joining the Athletics on the Strip would only strengthen that engine.
Key takeaways
- Red Rock Resorts vice chair Lorenzo Fertitta says visiting teams and event weekends are lifting the company's hotel and table-game business.
- Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings would welcome an NBA team but confirmed the company has no plans to build an arena on its vacant Strip land.
- Billings ranks leagues by how much premium visitation they generate — the NFL is the strongest, the NBA sits in the middle, high-game-count leagues skew local.
- The Athletics are due to begin play in Las Vegas in 2028.
- On the Caesars and MGM takeover approaches, Billings argues the bids reflect how far gaming equities have been undervalued.
Speaking on Red Rock Resorts' second-quarter call on Tuesday, vice chair Lorenzo Fertitta described the arrival of professional franchises as a compounding benefit for the whole city rather than a one-off marketing opportunity.
"There are a number of different benefits we get from it and a lot of interest as these professional teams come to Las Vegas. They generate and draw a lot of fans and help the overall hotel room base for the city."
— Lorenzo Fertitta, vice chair, Red Rock Resorts
An events city, not just a casino city
Fertitta pointed to the company's partnership with the Vegas Golden Knights as the clearest proof of concept, noting the depth of local affinity for the NHL team. The Raiders have been similarly productive, he said, with visiting NFL sides regularly booking Red Rock properties.
He expects the same pattern to repeat as the Athletics settle in and if the NBA follows. "When you start to get that amount of activity, Las Vegas is really turning into an events' city," Fertitta said, describing weekends increasingly anchored by a major fixture, a fight or a headline entertainment booking.
The commercial read-through, in his telling, lands squarely on the higher end of the customer base. Red Rock sees stronger table-game business around large boxing cards and UFC events, with travelling guests staying at Red Rock, Durango and Green Valley Ranch. The teams also give the casino marketing department a loyalty tool for its best local players.
"We use them as other casino properties do as a benefit and amenity to create brand loyalty and excite our guests about playing with us and staying with us. Overall, it's a big net benefit."
— Lorenzo Fertitta, vice chair, Red Rock Resorts
Wynn is supportive — but it is not building an arena
On Wynn Resorts' call, chief executive Craig Billings fielded an analyst question about whether the operator might follow the likes of Caesars Entertainment into an arena partnership, using the vacant parcel it owns across the Strip from Wynn Las Vegas. His answer was direct: no arena plans, but plenty of enthusiasm for more teams in town.
Billings then laid out how he actually values each league, and the distinction is about game count rather than prestige. Leagues with dense schedules, he argued, function as local products. The NFL's short, weekend-weighted calendar does the opposite — it pulls travellers in, and specifically the premium travellers Wynn wants.
"It is the latter category – the Raiders in particular – that are most beneficial, in my humble opinion, to the town, because they drive visitation and in particular to us, they drive premium visitation for a subset of customers that go to those games."
— Craig Billings, CEO, Wynn Resorts
By that measure the NBA lands between the two poles. Billings said Wynn would nonetheless welcome a franchise and expects to play the role it already plays around Raiders fixtures — hosting the premium end of the visitation, plus league personnel and travelling opposition.
"We would love to see an NBA franchise in Las Vegas… They're great customers and good for our business."
— Craig Billings, CEO, Wynn Resorts
Takeover talk and a market Billings thinks is mispriced
The same call turned to consolidation. Analysts pressed Billings on Tilman Fertitta's move to take Caesars Entertainment private and on Barry Diller's People Inc. approaching MGM Resorts International, and on what either outcome would mean for competition on the Strip.
Billings framed both approaches as evidence that gaming assets are trading below their worth. The idea that a shrinking public float would reshape the sector he waved away — "that ship sailed a long time ago," he said, recalling the earlier generation of public companies that still owned their own real estate.
That split between owner-operators and asset-light structures, he added, has fragmented valuations to the point where the last decade is hard to compare on a like-for-like basis. "That creates complications for investors," Billings said. "I don't think having a smaller set of public comparables makes it any more or less complicated."
