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Inside Gaming Column: Maturing Suggests More Mergers

This year's gaming industry megamergers were just part of a historic business trend. Overall, worldwide mergers and acquisitions exploded to $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2005, up 40 percent from the same period a year earlier. The mergers of MGM Mirage with Mandalay Resort Group and Harrah's Entertainment with Caesars Entertainment were also a sign that gaming is a maturing industry with executives scraping for growth, despite claims casinos are still a growth industry. Industry leaders say that means more M&A activity is on the way.

The worldwide market for mobile wagering is set to soar from its level of $1.2 billion a year to $7.5 billion within the next five years, industry analysts are saying. By 2010, more than 200 million consumers will be gambling using their personal data assistants, according to Informa Telecoms & Media's latest report, Mobile Gambling. To rock the gambling world that way, however, the companies involved will have to negotiate a mire of legislative, social and technology hurdles, Wall Streeters argue.

The lines at McCarran International may look long to Las Vegans, but they pale by national comparisons. Data out of the Transportation Security Administration show McCarran ranks 45th nationwide in the proportion of travelers whose waits are 10 minutes or longer. Worst of all are Piedmont-Triad, N.C., and Philadelphia. Best service is Kahului, Hawaii. Why? Growing pains in crowded but expanding terminals, capacity to add lanes and seasonal differences explain most variations. But most of all, the local commitment to handle crowds makes the difference.

Whatever the expectations, chances for legalized gambling in Mexico are deader than ever, Las Vegas operators say. The murder of three would-be casino developers in Monterrey, Mexico, has thrown plans off track and there's little chance for a vote by legislators in the foreseeable future. Legislation has been winding its way through Mexico's Legislature but has now dropped off the radar. The issue has been a bouncing ball for at least a decade with proponents arguing job creation but opponents pushing to wipe out organized crime.

Forbes magazine recently reported the newest gaming billionaires are four Gibraltar-based online gamers who took their company, PartyGaming, public last month. They are worth a combined $8 billion. Also in the magazine's gaming industry billionaire's club: Sheldon Adelson ($11.9 billion), Kirk Kerkorian ($9.5 billion), Steve Wynn ($1.9 billion), Bill Boyd ($1.6 billion) and Phil Ruffin ($1.3 billion).

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