Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox isn’t quite ready to reopen his luxurious Las Vegas Strip property, but he told President Trump, who also owns a hotel — Trump Tower — in Sin City, that he believes his mega-resort will be open for business by Memorial Day Weekend.
Wynn recently announced a number of new health and safety procedures that will be implemented upon its reopening, including the use of non-invasive thermal cameras to take guests’ temperatures before they are admitted to the casino. As for the casino’s popular poker room, chairs and tables will be disinfected regularly. Supervisors will also be tasked with ensuring the card room never gets too full.
These procedures, however, will not matter until the resort reopens. When will that occur? Maddox has a specific date in mind.
Maddox Confident Casino Closure Won’t Last Much Longer
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Las Vegas casinos have all been closed since March 18. Maddox, who’s served as President of Wynn Resorts since 2013 and CEO since 2018, told President Trump at a White House roundtable discussion on Wednesday that he believes Las Vegas casinos could open Memorial Day Weekend. This year’s three-day holiday weekend begins on Friday, May 23. That gives Wynn and other resorts four weeks to prepare, assuming his prediction is correct.
“Let’s start phase one,” Maddox said. “Golf course[s], tennis courts, small restaurants, small retails, nail salons etc., with social distancing in place. Judge the benchmarks that we’ve prepared. We’ve prepared three benchmarks based on disease growth, ICU capacity, and [the] testing positivity rate. We’re going to have them out there in public every day.”
Maddox suggests that should those businesses have successful reopenings, and the coronavirus doesn’t spread at an alarming rate in Nevada as a result, “then on Memorial Day I would hope we’re open,” he said.
Trump praised Maddox and Wynn Resorts for continuing to pay its 15,000 employees during the pandemic. He told the CEO at the “Plan for Opening Up America Again” roundtable that he hopes the casino giant will be rewarded for its good deeds.
Maddox stepped into his role as CEO of Wynn Resorts in 2018 after casino founder Steve Wynn was accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women. Wynn was the Republican National Committee Chairman at the time, but was relieved of his duties following the allegations.
The current CEO, while hopeful for a Memorial Day reopening, doesn’t have the authority to make that decision. That power lies with Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, who has a press conference scheduled for Thursday to discuss the state’s updated coronavirus plans.
