MLife: Think Club Grazie 2009

MGM Resorts M Life Players Club — M Life

MGM(RI) is making a big public push for MLife, which comes to Las Vegas in the next couple weeks. It will replace Players Club as there errr, players club. They’re doing a huge PR push this week and there’s news everywhere, like this article in the Las Vegas Sun today.

Las Vegas casinos pioneered the concept of comps — freebies, discounts or special treatment for gamblers to soften the blow of gambling losses and make regular folk feel like VIPs. As loyalty programs spread to nearly every corner of the consumer products landscape, Las Vegas and the gaming industry have been behind the curve in including all forms of spending in the reward equation, however.

And today, with 60 percent of Strip revenue derived from nongambling activities, tracking a customer’s spending off the casino floor has become vital to a rewards program.

Yes, I can mock MGM for taking 2 years to do something they should have already done, but kudos to MGM for catching up with the competition. This seems to be no different from what the other properties started doing a few years ago when Sands reskinned Club Grazie.

MGM owns half the properties on the strip, so this is a welcome addition. Just remember that comp rooms aren’t free when a resort fee is involved!