According to a ecent report by Associated Press, MGM Mirage is to build a hotel-casino next to one of the largest retail centers in the United Kingdom.
The report goes on to say that it was the second major deal in the past two weeks that the gambling giant has signed in anticipation of gambling expansion in Great Britain.
MGM Mirage officials said they had reached an agreement with The British Land Co. PLC to construct a $364 million to $455 million leisure and entertainment complex next to the Meadowhall Shopping Center in Sheffield, England. The shopping center is also owned by The British Land Co., one of the United Kingdom’s biggest property companies.
The agreement between the two companies will include building a multipurpose leisure development, including a casino and other related facilities such as restaurants, entertainment venues and a hotel and conference center.
The casino would be operated by MGM Mirage, and the development could create as many as 4,500 construction jobs and 2,000 leisure-related jobs.
Completion of the complex is contingent upon gambling laws being reformed and building permits being issued. Industry observers say the United Kingdom could pass new gambling legislation by late this year or early next year. Revised gambling laws also would bring new taxes.
“This agreement represents a further key element of our ambitious plans to invest in the United Kingdom,” Terry Lanni, MGM Mirage chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
MGM Mirage said last week that it has agreed to pay about $490 million for London-based Wembley PLC, owner of a Rhode Island dog racing track and video slot center and race bitcoin dice tracks in Colorado and England.
MGM Mirage owns and operates 12 casino resorts in Nevada, Mississippi, Michigan and Australia.
Boss Media Sells Gold Club Casino
Internet gaming software company Boss Media has announced that it intends to sell Gold Club Casino, part of its business to consumer division.
The buyer of Gold Club Casino has asked to remain anonymous.
“We have now completed what we set out to do during 2003, to sell our gaming operations in order to fully focus on our core business of developing software for the gaming industry. In addition, by selling Gold Club Casino, we have established a business relation with a gaming operator which has substantial future plans”, says Peter Bertilsson, CEO of Boss Media.
19 Million Euros…Need We Say More?
The winner of the first Euro-Lottery draw landed $19 million on Friday 13th of February in the first ever trans-national lottery draw for punters in France, Britain and Spain.
The launch of the weekly ‘Euro Millions’ draw took place in Paris with the results broadcast later on television in the three countries. The winning numbers were 16, 29, 32, 36, 41. The Lucky Star numbers were 7 and 9.
The winning ticket was bought in the central French town of Bourges, but no details were of his or her identity was available.
The lottery operators, La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ), Loterias y Apuestas del Estado and the UK’s Camelot were hoping for a wave of late coupon sales on a date which is considered continental lucky in most of continental Europe, but distinctly inauspicious in the UK. In France the FDJ’s average Friday turnover is three times higher on a 13th of the month.
Tickets cost two euros ($2.56) or £1.50 in the UK. Punters choose five from 50 numbers and two from nine stars. The odds of winning the minimum prize of ten euros are one in 24, and the jackpot carries over to the next week if there is no winner.
The benchmark for Euro Millions is the massive jackpots paid out in Canada’s Super 7 or Powerball-the US mega draw, which had a $363 million jackpot winner in May 2000.
State treasuries will take a big slice of the turnover in taxes. In France, gambling is taxed at 27 percent.
