Mirage, now what?

I don't think they would remove any of those things. They will want as much foot traffic as possible and those things are great attractions to get people in the door.

 

All of those things are key elements in the Mirage brand. Without those things, it would just be the Monte Carlo with gold windows.

 

Kind of like the pirate show was key to the TI brand?

 

Yep, these deals take a long time to close so business as usual for the next 4-6 months (maybe longer) This is still in the rumor stage, the whole thing may fall through so don't fret.

 

Take the original comment in context. Mirage is isolated from the rest of the Mlife properties and there is a big swath of CET in between it and the nearest one. Its not about if we can easily get there from the south. From MGM's perspective, they need cash and it's clear that ditching properties away from the south made sense to them.


As for reservations, no halfway intelligent business is going to fool with existing reservations. They need as much cash coming in as possible when they get the keys. I don't think this has to clear any gaming boards outside of Nevada so the closing is probably dependent on the financial end of it all. And the clock doesn't even start until there is a formal announcement. They should be able to give a clue to the turnover date then. Unless you have a reason to have your next trip be under Mlife, I don't see a reason to change.

 

Isolated not from a tourists point of view but from a corporate one.

It is not about anyone on here not being willing to walk or thinking it is too far. It is about

a) having adjacent properties providing far more options for an operator than disconnected ones.

and

b) where your guests spend their money.

A tourist coming in to Mirage may just like the Mirage casino, and buffet, and restaurants, and shops. If they don't, none of the first ones they will encounter when stepping out the door are owned or operated by MGM. Can Mirage steal business from TI/Caesars guests the same way? Perhaps, but they are one of many.

Put that same tourist at MB, Luxor, Excal, NYNY, MGM, or MC and there is a way higher chance that tourists money stays in the "MGM family". Heck, even out to citycenter and bellagio, you have trams leading them into MGM owned properties, and if you want to go elsewhere you end up walking through MGM shopping centres.

That is the point about isolation.

 

Sell MGM, will create more competition. And greater competition tends to increase customer satisfaction through various means. CET please do the same. Let's get back to more independent hotels.

 

Then why do they still have the Circus Circus. Talk about isolated. That place is so far below anything else they have, even the Ex, and they keep hanging on to it. I'm befuddled.

 

Revenue must outweigh their tiny expenses by a healthy margin. And at least with CC, unlike Mirage, what competition are you going to run to easily? CC is pretty hoppin' on the weekends considering the location. The gaming floor isn't much more dumpy than Excal or Luxor. Since we have a car, will probably make another stop by next month. But without a car, yeah, not going.

 

I mostly play at Mlife properties and based on my play, I get pretty good marketing offers. And usually the home casino gets the majority of the play.

Given this, if I had a Mirage reservation in the near future, I would've cancelled it too (unless it's comped). It's only rational to not to give any more play to a casino, that will be out of one's preferred loyalty program soon. I don't see it as panicking behavior like the one you mentioned about Cosmo, but it is kind of a smart response to a potential change.

 

I do understand that Mirage is mid strip and all other MGM properties are South Strip, but so what.... RIO is off Strip and RIO is still being inhabited as a Caesars property.
I just don't get why location is so important on the Strip from Wynn down to Mandalay Bay even if they're owned by someone else.
As a corporate entity, most tourists either don't care who's owning what, or many long timers have MiLife and Caesars cards and stay where the best deal is, but their overall budget most times are used at various places. See a show at Mandalay Bay, eat at Giada's, go to Clubs at Cosmo, MGM, Caesars, or Wynn, etc.
Perhaps i'm still being naive after all these years, but i still spend money at Gold Coast, Rio, Wynn, V/P, Mirage, Luxor, Caesars, FSM, etc. I may only stay at Caesars now, but my non gambling money is equally distributed throughout Vegas.
I guess i'm just trying to say that it's still Vegas, which i have loved since i first drove here many moons ago.
To me, it doesn't matter where or who owns what, my overall budget is used in Vegas......not just Caesars, not just MGM, not just Station, etc.etc, but everywhere. My money is not prejudiced........LOL.

 

I agree. I also find it a bit weird that people say Mirage is isolated from the other MGM properties. Sure, it's not connected to other properties but it's not really that far from, let's say, Bellagio. There's only one property in between. Location wise Mirage is great, compared to Luxor or Mandalay Bay for example.

 

They've probably tried to sell it and just haven't had any takers. First, a new buyer would have to implode it. Then they would have to spray millions of gallons of Purell over the site just to get it to the point where it was safe for construction workers to begin construction on a new place . Purell and explosives are expensive lol.

 

I am sure mgm is holding it for property value. Once the north strip picks up again hopefully with projects like sls and resorts world then perhaps mgm will try to sell circus circus. or rebuild around that area.

 

I received offers from the Mandalay Bay, and the Mirage. I booked MB because it arrived first, and the Mirage would not match it. Two days later I received an offer from the Mirage which was comparable to the MB. I called MB and cancelled, and booked the Mirage. IMO, the Mirage has a one of the best locations on the strip, and we love the feel and size of the Mirage...it's comfortable. I for one hope the rumors do not come to fruition, but if they do, I'll definitely have one last trip to enjoy it as an MGM property.

 

1) It makes money and has no debt

2) No one really wants to buy it anyway. Certainly not enough to pay what it would take.

If someone really wanted it and MGM needed the money they would sell CC I think. But they aren't in enough trouble to have to, and its not worth what Mirage is.

It is funny, while Sahara and Riviera in turn have faded and aged and suffered and closed in part due to the state of the north strip, I wonder if Circus Circus has actually benefited from its little bubble. A family property like that probably doesn't get too much adult walk-in play from neighbouring hotels anyway. But they bring in families to stay, and the parents have limited close by options for their gambling dollars.

I agree that tourists don't care who is owning what. I disagree that they spend money evenly all over town.

You may, but I think if you did a heat map of tourist dollars relative to where they stay, it would be centered on their hotel and weakening as it radiates outward.

This doesn't mean that Mirage is terrible to own or they hate it. I mean, they kept it this long, didn't they? It just means it is not as high a strategic priority as the others, especially given the new entertainment district they are building in the middle of the other properties. So if you are going to pay down debt, Mirage makes sense. That is all anyone is saying.

 

Exactly what Nevyn wrote.

 

Sorry if this double posts.
Just read on Vegas Inc. that on today's conference call Jim Murren said "the Mirage is not on the market."

 

I saw that too. Here is the link.

http://vegasinc.com/business/gaming/2015/aug/04/mgm-resorts-revenue-drops-76-percent-2nd-quarter-c/?_ga=1.7159794.1758239148.1400885130

 

He didn't exactly say there wasn't something in the works. Further down in the article he stated they weren't marketing it and they'd know more about it's future later in the year.
I would have expected a more definite answer of "no, we aren't in any deals", instead he really skirted around the issue.