MGM Grand bullish on Tyson bout

Gary Thompson

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999 | 10:25 a.m.

By all accounts, the New Year's weekend was a winner for top-line Las Vegas casinos.

And MGM Grand Inc. executives believes this weekend will be one, too, setting the stage for a first quarter that could be one of the company's best ever.

MGM's Grand Garden Arena will be the site of Saturday's heavyweight fight between Mike Tyson and Frans Botha. Sandwiched in between the New Year and Super Bowl weekends, traditionally two of the year's biggest, the fight is expected to be a success despite a slow start to ticket sales, the executives said.

And with the Chinese New Year and other popular events to follow, 1999's first three months look good, they said.

"We expect our rooms to be sold out for the weekend," said Alex Yemenidjian, MGM Grand president. "And for a regular Tyson fight, we usually get 16,500 in the arena, and we expect to do that for this one."

Acknowledging the initial slow pace of ticket sales for Tyson's first fight after the infamous ear-biting bout with Evander Holyfield, MGM Senior Vice President Don Welsh said things turned around earlier this week.

"What we're seeing now is incredibly strong activity," Welsh said. "Once Mike arrived in Las Vegas and began his workouts and our ad campaign hit, it all began to jell. I'll be surprised if we don't hit a sellout.

The Tyson-Botha bout isn't the only boxing-related attraction at MGM Grand this weekend. On Sunday, the resort will host a birthday party for legendary heavyweight Muhammad Ali.

Yemenidjian and Welsh both said the 5,005-room hotel should be booked solid for the weekend, not just because of the boxing attractions but also due to strong weekend convention business.

Yemenidjian said that despite past problems, MGM Grand remains committed to staging additional fights.

"We're the most lucrative site in the world for boxing events because we command the highest gate," he said. "Our arena is attached to the whole MGM hotel-casino-entertainment complex, and it's in Las Vegas, and you can get prices here you can't get anywhere else."

Tickets for the Tyson-Botha fight range from $200 to $1,200. About 8,000 were bought by MGM Grand, the Showtime cable network, and other hotels for their bigger casino players.

MGM Grand has been stung by its association with past Tyson fights, one of which resulted in a mob scene that forced the casino to close for several hours, another that was followed by the slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur in a street shooting a few blocks away.

The resort also paid dearly for its now-terminated contract with promoter Don King, who collected about $30 million for a six-fight deal. But prize fights, especially between heavyweights, traditionally draw lots of free-spending gamblers whose table losses can help offset the expenses.

"The King contract ended some time ago, and we have no currently existing contractual relationship with him," Yemenidjian said. "We do have a multi-fight deal with Mike himself, but we aren't allowed to discuss the details due to confidentiality provisions."

He said MGM Grand does expect to host two more Tyson fights this year, which could be even more lucrative if the heavyweight wins decisively Saturday night and erases questions about his ability and desire.

"We're in discussions right now for some other events, as well," Yemenidjian said, "but they're still in the embryonic stage. We will, however, have an entertainment calendar that's second to none for the sixth year in a row."

MGM Grand will face competition hosting fights from other Las Vegas venues, including the new Mandalay Bay resort that's scheduled to open March 2. In return for co-promoting an Oscar De La Hoya bout at Thomas & Mack, Mandalay Bay will host De La Hoya at its new 16,000-seat arena in May.