The casino operator has not made any early moves in New Jersey or Pennyslvania, while DraftKings and FanDuel have generated impressive results in those markets to date.
The results have prompted industry analysts to discuss at length whether the two fantasy sports giants can be caught by their sports wagering rivals.
However, Butera, gaming veteran and MGM’s President of Interactive Gaming, thinks MGM’s product is “built to last.”
Butera told Gambling Insider: “Well, we’re built to last; we’re going to do it right. There’s a lot yet to be determined; sports betting itself is a fairly low-margin business, so it’s really by having a full breadth of product it becomes interesting.
“Generating sports betting customers is great for sports betting itself but they’ve also created great uplift for our properties.
“Those companies (DraftKings and FanDuel) have established some decent market share because of their fantasy product. But they’ve spent a lot to get there; quite a lot.”
Butera is confident MGM’s product will “sell itself” over time and has emphasised the operator’s long-term approach.
He explained: “I think what will happen is, over time, the product will sell itself a little more. We think we’re positioned to capture that.
“We’re not going to chase some short-term business at the expense of spending a lot of money that won’t really bring long-term results.
“We’re more focused on having a great platform, a great product and rolling out our app. We want to sell what we have as opposed to enticing people with a lot of incentives.”
Butera was speaking exclusively to Gambling Insider at the Bellagio in Las Vegas; the full interview will be available in an upcoming Gambling Insider publication.
