MGM's CityCenter Not Rejuvenating Las Vegas Casino Industry

The Las Vegas Strip was desperately in need of something to rejuvenate the city last year in the midst of a devastating economic recession. MGM Mirage and Dubai World were set to open their highly anticipated CityCenter project, and that appeared to be the shot in the arm the city was looking for.

Now, however, the CityCenter project is having trouble meeting their financial expectations, and is threatening to become another source of bad news for Sin City. CityCenter has had trouble selling their condos, and that has contributed to the economic troubles.

"CityCenter is a worry," said Sanford C. Bernstein Analyst Janet Brashear, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. "MGM obviously has high hopes and we know the market is going to receive, but the casino world is fickle."

One of the reasons the casino world is fickle is the increased competition around the US. Many states have expanded their gaming laws to allow for more casinos, and gamblers no longer have to travel to Las Vegas to get their gambling fix.

In addition, many foreign travelers that were coming to Nevada from Asia, have an alternative closer to home. Macau has become the new gambling capital of the world, and casinos in Macau are showing record breaking revenue for the past couple of months. MGM Mirage has casino properties in Macau.

MGM released their first quarter figures this past week and showed a loss of $96.7 million. That was down from the $105.2 million revenue from the same period in 2009, and CityCenter is being blamed for much of that change.

May 9, 2010
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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