Nevada gaming regulators, after seeking more information, signed off on Park MGM operating a gaming salon that also serves as a studio where players can be filmed playing at table games.
Chandler Pohl, vice president and legal counsel for MGM Resorts International, said it will be a mixed-use private salon and public gaming area. He said MGM Resorts International has had success with salons at Aria, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, and MGM Grand and will apply for a waiver, so patrons don’t have to meet an elevated financial threshold to enter as required under older regulations.
“As a new innovation to Nevada’s gaming industry, MGM Resort’s interactive team guided Park MGM in creating a turnkey video production suite that co-habits the space that will be used as a gaming salon or the public space when it switches back and forth between a private salon and public space,” Pohl said.
Previously, when it came to private salons, video streamers and social media influencers brought their own equipment to the casino. Pohl said they saw it as an opportunity to build an in-house production suite, in which “we remove a lot of the hurdles of outside equipment coming in and slowing down our floor operations. We have the cameras under our control and it makes things a lot smoother and more efficient. It relieves the burden of the players from having to do multiple things at the same time.”
Pohl said other properties in Las Vegas have similar concepts, but this is the first build of this type. Any decision on expanding to other properties will depend on how it goes at Park MGM, he told the Commission.
“There’s been some success so far in our trial with it as a public space,” Pohl said.
MGM said it has a growing list of players and celebrities interested in appearing on video in the salon. When asked, Pohl declined to name the celebrities. It’s up to them to post the video, he added.
Commission member George Markantonis, who referred to himself “as a bit of a dinosaur on the issue,” asked Pohl what analysis has been done to show people want this.
“When you say there’s some demand, (you’re saying) people want their play in a private salon recorded and shown to other people,” Markantonis said. “Between the word private and what the result is seems to me to be the complete opposite. Am I missing something?
Pohl responded a new digitally native generation views the world differently, with 100% connection all the time to cyberspace. While they prefer to play in private, they may also wish at a later date to release that video of their play to their friends and public.
“This is an amenity that’s catering to potentially new types of player profile,” Pohl said.
Markantonis responded, “Thanks for doing your best with that one.” He said he will support the concept, but pointed out that the signage between what’s public and private has to be “meticulously planned” or it could lead to complications even if there’s no recording. “I know that’s in the conditions, and I want to reiterate that’s very important to us.”
Pohl said when it’s a public space, people who enter are on notice and consent is obtained that their image is being recorded and potentially released.
“It’s quite easy to get their consent. At the doorway to enter the salon, we’re able to identify the people we have not obtained consent from,” Pohl said.
Pohl told Commission member Rosa Solis-Rainey that the taping can be streamed nearly live or shown at a later date.
In response, Solis-Rainey said she has heard that some people don’t want to post any video until they know the outcome of their play in the casino.
The move comes after Nevada regulators last fall made gaming salons more accessible under new regulations.
Commission member Brian Krolicki said it is a decision MGM is pursuing, because it thinks the concept will be good for business and branding and the Commission supports that.
The cameras installed in the room are remote controlled. The control room has a gaming-registered employee who in real time is monitoring the cameras and audio being captured. There are also supervisors in the room, Pohl said in response to a question of oversight.
Commission Chair Jennifer Togliatti told members that videos posted on social media of people cleaning their house are actually relaxing to viewers.
“You watch that?” Markantonis asked Togliatti.
“No. I don’t watch that stuff,” Togliatti said in response with laughter among her colleagues. “I’m just telling you. You’d be amazed what people will record.”