Vegas International Gambling Conference

Steve Wynn was the keynote speaker at the 16th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking in Las Vegas June 6-10. He addressed that nightclubs and non-casino amenities were the drivers in revenue and in the same breath criticized the patrons of such attractions, particularly millennials.

Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP

Michelle Talayer takes a group photograph with friends as she waits in line to attend the Ultra Music Festival in Miami.

Wynn said his nightclubs generate $40 million a year but he didn’t necessarily appreciate the culture of the younger audiences and their obsession with social media, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I’m one of those old white guys that think the millennials are sort of short on brains,” Wynn said. “But in the meantime, we’re doing well with them. We put the little darlings in the nightclubs and they get drunk and they give us a ton of money and it’s probably the only part of my business where I have cognitive dissonance,” he added. “I walk into the clubs and I say to myself either we have attracted every moron in the world, or there’s something about the sound that allows normal people to check their human sensibilities at the door,” news3lv.com reported.

In its first year The Mirage, owned by Wynn, took in an annual revenue of $500 million while non-casino revenue amounted to $600 million. The Bellagio’s annual casino revenue was $600 million and amenities made $800 million, according to the Review-Journal.