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LAS VEGAS – A federal lawsuit has been filed in Nevada alleging that most hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip have used a third party to illegally set prices.
The lawsuit seeks a class action Compensation for hotel guests who booked rooms in Las Vegas since 2019.
The complaint alleges that casino giants MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, along with Treasure Island and Wynn Resorts, shared information with a company that uses pricing algorithms to “maximize market-wide prices.”
She accuses the resorts and Rainmaker Group Unlimited, a Cendyn Group revenue management company, of “algorithmically driven price fixing … at the expense of consumers and in violation of antitrust laws.”
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The strip on Las Vegas Boulevard is seen May 30, 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Robert Mora/Getty Images)
The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages for “tens, if not hundreds, of thousands” of people for alleged antitrust violations of the federal Sherman Act.
FOX Business has asked the companies involved to comment.
On MGM Resorts The spokesman issued a statement saying, “The allegations against MGM Resorts are factually inaccurate and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these baseless allegations.”
MGM Resorts operates properties such as Bellagio, New York-New York, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay.
The Bellagio Hotel & Casino water fountain lagoon is viewed from Caesars Palace Hotel on May 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
A Cendyn Group spokesman said they have no comment at this time.
Caesars Entertainment operates Properties on the Las Vegas Strip including Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, the Horseshoe, Paris Las Vegas and the Flamingo.
Wynn Resorts also had no comment at the time.
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Exterior photo of the Wynn Las Vegas Resort October 14, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The lawsuit highlights concerns about algorithmic pricing identified in a 2017 speech by Maureen Ohlhausen, a former acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
Ohlhausen said companies share their pricing data with “a shared, outside agent” who uses the information to program its algorithm “to maximize industry-wide pricing.”
The court filing said two former Rainmaker employees told attorneys the company’s products are used by 90%, or “almost every” property on the resort-lined Las Vegas Strip. The lawsuit did not identify the former employees.
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Average daily room rates for Strip resorts hit record highs in 2022, topping $200 a night in October, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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