What do adult clubs, movie theaters and Las Vegas casinos have in common? A lot more than you might think.
(Note: This article was originally published in the January issue of ED Magazine.)
“Shame on us.” It’s not every day that the president of a company that’s worth $10 billion admits to fleecing its customers, but that’s exactly what MGM President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said on an earnings call in late October 2025.
Hornbuckle was referencing the out-of-control prices at MGM’s Las Vegas properties, noting specifically, “We should have been more sensitive to the overall experience at a place like Excalibur,” he said, adding, “you can’t have a $29 room and a $12 coffee.”
And of course it wasn’t just the MGM properties that “lost control of the narrative,” as Hornbuckle alluded. Las Vegas had its worst summer in decades this past year. For example, earnings at MGM’s Las Vegas properties dropped from $731 million in September 2024 to $601 million this year, according to a company news release. Overall, Las Vegas saw significant drops in overall visitor traffic (11-12% lower in June/July 2025) compared to 2024.
While there are all sorts of reasons for this huge loss in guest traffic and revenue, Hornbuckle honed in specifically on pricing — because, after all, that’s where it begins and ends, doesn’t it? When the economy is down, people are more selective with their spending. If guests have to pay $15 or $20 for a bottle of water, $50 for parking and $20 for a Starbucks, they’re going to look elsewhere for their vacations and entertainment options.
The movie theaters have also been hit hard by current economics. Although it’s true that movie theaters have bounced back significantly from the gut punch that was COVID (where theaters were shut down and most movies went straight to streaming and pay-per-view), US box-office profits are still billions below where they were in 2019 ($11.7 billion then, $8.3 billion in 2025).
Like the Vegas casinos, movie theaters seem to be the victim of their own nearsighted greed. The graphic shown above is one that’s appeared in one form or another all across social media over the past few years. The general thought is, while streaming (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) makes viewing movies more convenient in the home, it’s more likely the ridiculously high price of concessions that are keeping people away from theaters. Or — and this might be even worse — they’re continually pissing off their regular customers and creating resentment with those prices.
So, what does this have to do with adult nightclubs? I’m sure there are quite a few of our readers who’ve already figured out where I’m going with this. Let’s swap out some of the verbiage from that graphic and replace it with terms that might apply to our industry:
“Everyone blames (OnlyFans) for hurting adult clubs. But let’s be real: It’s the $25 cover charge, $12 beer & $10 water that really hurt the clubs.”
Much like Las Vegas and movie theaters, there was a time when people were willing to pay those higher prices at adult clubs because they realized it was the cost (figuratively and literally) of the overall “experience.” But how would we define the adult nightclub “experience” today? For movie theaters specifically, they realized that they needed to offer an upgraded “experience” (think IMAX screens, recliner chairs, full menus and liquor) to justify those higher prices. But what have clubs done to justify those higher prices?
People of all ages are making more discerning decisions as to where they’ll spend their “disposable income” on entertainment. An adult club customer knows that getting lap dances and VIP room visits won’t be cheap. But if he knows that he’s already going to spend $200 on valet parking, cover charges and a round of drinks before he even gets to see an entertainer, he’s going to go somewhere that offers him better value for that hard-earned dollar.
I’m not telling you that I want you to make less money as a club owner/operator. I’m suggesting that you take a cue from Las Vegas casinos and course-correct your pricing to offer a more “valuable” experience for your guests. I’m suggesting that you take a cue from movie theaters and upgrade the “experience” you offer to your guests.
What I don’t want is to be one of those customers who stops coming to your clubs because it continues to be “business as usual.”
Dave Manack
Publisher
