Gotta think it should be trivially easy to get validated.

If so, what would be the point of charging at all?

So it appears we may have only one website so far that is speculating this might happen.

Making it seem that the situation may be more like this:

That would be understandable. I can see how MGM could be frustrated with fights, etc when the garage fills up, and 80% of the people that came to the event leave and don't gamble a dime.

To make sure people using the lot are actually putting money into the facility instead of making it a nightmare for their actual guests to use. Every restaurant, spa, shop, table should validate.

If so, I can't imagine that more than 5% or so of current parkers wouldn't qualify for free. Seems like it wouldn't be worth the bother to charge.

Close, but not quite......

The CEO on the 7 figure salary tells his no.2 on the upper 6 figure salary that they have to come up with ways to generate more revenue. The no.2 then convenes a group of GMs on lower 6 figure salaries and they brainstorm ideas. A couple of weeks later when no traction has been made, one of them suggests calling in consultants.

An upper 6 figure salary consultant director tells them that his consultancy group can create additional revenue streams but it will require a team of six lower 6 figure salaried consultants and it will take 5 months, at $4K a day each. The CEO, no.2 and GMs agree that is the way to go and the $2.4M fee is a bargain because it means that they don't actually have to make any decisions and are therefore not accountable.

The lower 6 figure salary consultants come to Vegas, spend 5 months knee deep in hookers and blow and with a day to go, realise they have an impending deadline to meet. Quickly, they decide that charging for parking is the answer; it's the only asset that is not being sweat enough and, of course, **** the customers. They pull together a few PowerPoint slides and hope for the best.

The slides show that the revenue generated would be almost enough to cover the cost of the consultants brought in to come up with the idea in the first place.

But that doesn't matter. Because the CEO can show revenue growth and be paid his $1M bonus, the no.2 gets his $500K bonus because the CEO is happy, and the GMs get their $250K bonuses because they have hit their KPIs. The consultant director gets his bonus for selling a $2.5M piece of work, and the consultants are happy because they got to spend 5 months submerged in hookers and blow and the boss has promised not to post the pictures on Facebook.

So, the customers get screwed and foot the bill but no-one at MgM minds. The CEO, no.2 and GMs don't care because they have now updated their resumes explaining how they came up with an ingenious way of improving revenue in a declining market. They are now selling themselves to the highest bidder.

The consultants really don't care either because in a couple of years, they know that the new CEO will be inviting them back to come up with ways of increasing customer traffic. And they also know that they will be able to spend another 5 months knee deep in hookers and blow. And this time they have already prepared their slides with the solution to increasing customer traffic; offer free car parking!

The parking situation is why I almost never went downtown. But in reality, the terrible garages were at least half the reason.

I went to play poker a few times at Binions recently and it was super easy. Got a place to park maybe 100 feet from the elevator to the casino, got ticket validated at poker room when I checked in.

They own the main one that they built the sky bridge connecting it to the casino.

binnions is really good for parking downtown, prob the best choice imo, you need to get security to validate ur ticket and the office is right next to the poker room.

If you're playing poker the floor man will do it, no need to even go to security or anyone else.

Can you hire an Uber or Lyft driver to circle your car around for a half hour while you lose $300 in a 1/2 game? Seems would bump ev.

This sounds like what happened with resort fees

First mgm, then harrahs follow suit

Dealers and players at the MGM last night said this is for special event parking at new arena and will not be every day. Nobody seemed to be very sure about it though.

+1 brilliant lol...well written

next there will be "poker room resort fees"
Poker room resort fee includes padded chair to sit on, your choice of complimentary drinks from waitresses, complimentary card-dealing service from genuine casino dealer, complimentary access to poker table to sit at,..

umm we shouldn't give 'em ideas..

(and donk dunc, that's realistic about consultants...well said)

Yes, casinos can and sometimes do pay it for their customers. A.C. still gets theirs.. no free parking...

That's my feeling, too.

It seems like people don't even care at home. $20 "event parking" right next to the movie theatre is almost full, free parking one block down the street half empty..

The Vegas business model is build around people with a disregard for money anyway.

Really hoping that this is the case. It kind of makes sense.. but I'd be surprised if they actually charged for regular parking. Locals will just start flooding into Red Rock and Green Valley.

Getting validated wouldn't be worth the bother to the clientele that they want to attract.

Locals go to MGM over Red Rock and Green Valley currently?!?

There are definitely locals who gamble regularly on the Strip.

The article says that all cars entering the garage will be charged the fee. If the charge is only on entry, the only people who are really significantly affected are the ones who are using their cars a lot in Vegas. If you drive in and just park it once per trip, you're only out $20. It's only if you have multiple in and outs that cause the charges to pile up. Locals are obviously screwed by this.

Also kind of works for events. If you get unlucky and park during an event, you get hit for an extra $20, then the rest of the time is just like now.

No. It isn't a gain at all. It's a switch. People gamble within a range of discretionary income. If they spend $20 on parking that's just $20 less they'll have to spend/lose on other stuff. There will be zero net gain. In fact there will be a loss because locals will go elsewhere.

However I imagine they'll have a plan for free parking for whatever the MGM equivalent of Diamond Card is.

Or else it's just Orleans, Red Rock, etc, for the locals. Boyd Gaming and Stations will make more money from this than MGM.

The garages at Harrah's in New Orleans is like the Horseshoe in Cleveland. The garage is in some of the most prime real estate in the city. Harrah's will charge $20-40/day and offer validation to anyone who plays at the casino. If they didn't charge the non-gamblers those garages would be packed 24/7.

I'd be shocked if MGM didn't validate parking for their guests and gamblers. I think it's more than fair to charge parking for people who aren't paying customers.