MGM want to Asian
Last month the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement gave MGM an ultimatum: cut ties with their questionable partnership with alleged crime syndicate member Pansy Ho, or lose their gaming rights in Atlantic City. To cut ties with either their Asian partner or their Atlantic City operations could be potentially devastating to MGM’s financial outlook in consideration of the current economy.
Ho is MGM’s partner in their lucrative Grand Macau resort, and MGM recently announced their intentions to expand on their Asian campaign. Across the board, gambling industry analysts have lauded Macau as the safest bet in the resort/casino market, and MGM’s Asian holdings have already saved their stocks from the falling profits that have afflicted less diverse gambling brands.
Alternately, Atlantic City has traditionally been a money earner for the MGM brand. They are longtime partners in the city’s most profitable gambling establishment, the Borgata Hotel and Casino, and have future plans to build a multi-billion dollar gambling complex called MGM Grand Atlantic City. MGM is largely credited with revitalizing the Atlantic City scene; the development of their Borgata property marked the first new hotel in the historic city in over a decade.
It’s understandable then that the people at MGM Mirage are reluctant to abandon investments made in either city. On June 3, MGM’s global gambling development president Lloyd Nathan released a clear statement on their stance in the matter, insisting that they will uphold their agreements with Pansy Ho and that they likewise intend to continue all existing operations in Atlantic City. Nathan went on to say that MGM would appear at any hearings resulting from this decision, wherein they would, “Make our opposition clear.”
