Featured Articles Archive - Page 572

The Strip: A drive for diversity

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Damon Tooles operated a successful contracting business in Detroit when he learned about MGM Mirage's corporate supported diversity initiative that gave opportunities to minority-owned businesses. Tooles set up a branch of his Tooles Contracting Group in Las Vegas in the fall of 2006, earned his Nevada contractors license within seven months and was ready to work...read more

Inside Gaming: Blackjack win dip? Don't look at us

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Maybe those crazy kids from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology held a class reunion. Gaming analysts had trouble explaining why blackjack revenues on the Strip fell almost 18 percent during March. Gamblers wagered $746.6 million on the game, 1.3 percent more than a year ago...read more

Gaming: Economic woes hurt U.S. casinos

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- In the 10 years that the American Gaming Association has been tracking the facts and figures produced by the nation's commercial casino industry, gaming revenues have climbed more than 73 percent. The Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group's leader acknowledged Wednesday, however, that 2008 might be the industry's most challenging year...read more

CityCenter budget hits $9 billion

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The cost to build MGM Mirage's massive CityCenter development has cracked the $9 billion mark. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, MGM Mirage said the construction budget for CityCenter had increased to $9.2 billion, which includes capitalized interest...read more

The race to break the clouds

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- One down, five to go. MGM Mirage officials will top out CityCenter's 57-story Vdara Condo Hotel today. The brief ceremony is something the company plans to repeat several times before the year is out. Vdara is one of six high-rise towers under construction within the massive $8.4 billion CityCenter complex. "It's a good feeling because it's the next step in the process," said Bobby Baldwin, MGM Mirage's chief design and construction officer who also serves as CityCenter's president and chief executive officer...read more

Off to Cyprus...with the latest GPWA Times magazine

So...I was just kidding last week. We are not bringing any brand new and delightfully uninformed females to Cyprus. Only me. Sorry boys! I will, however, be accompanied by my faux hawk bearing partner in crime Eric and our CEO's twin (and son) Steven...read more

Bally Technologies triples earnings for Q3

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Bally Technologies said Monday revenues from its systems division helped it more than triple quarterly earnings from a year ago. The Las Vegas-based slot maker reported a net income of $30.2 million, or 52 cents per share, for its third quarter ended March 31, up from $6.6 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial thought Bally would earn 48 cents a share in the quarter. Revenues rose 32.8 percent to $232.6 million from $175.2 million. "The continued momentum in all of our technology businesses drove record third-quarter earnings," Bally Chief Executive Officer Richard Haddrill said. The company released earnings Monday after trading closed on the New York Stock Exchange...read more

Quarterly loss slims for Progressive

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas casino technology provider Progressive Gaming International Corp. reduced its net loss from a year ago. Progressive said monday its net loss was $8.4 million, or 11 cents per share, in its first quarter ended march 31, compared with a loss of $8.7 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales from the company's systems business rose 3.4 percent, to $15.2 million from $14.7 million. Progressive gaming ceo russel mcmeekin said the results reflect the company's continued transition from a slot maker to a technology company focused on casino-game management systems...read more

Inside gaming column: MGM Mirage may say 'take two'

MGM Mirage investors may soon be able to double down. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Lanni said last week the company might consider splitting its nongaming hotel subsidiary into a separate publicly traded operation. The idea may sound familiar...read more

The Strip: The day the muses died?

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Did the notion of culture on the Strip die today? To some, the closing of the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum at The Venetian after its 61/2-year run signals the end of nontraditional, nongambling-type resort amenities. Others pointed toward the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts and a planned $40 million public arts program at the under-construction CityCenter as signs that refined activities unrelated to gambling are still alive and well. "I still think we'll see these type of amenities," said David Schwartz, director of UNLV's Center for Gaming Research...read more