Gaming briefs for July 28, 2003

Monday, July 28, 2003 | 11:22 a.m.

Report says casino theme may be tied to soccer team

LONDON -- The soccer club Manchester United Plc is in talks with MGM MIRAGE, the Las Vegas casino resort giant, about a team-themed casino, the Financial Times reported.

The venture is conditional on changes to U.K. law, due to come into force in the next two years, that will allow casinos to accommodate more customers and install more gambling machines, the paper said.

Neither MGM MIRAGE nor Manchester United would comment, the Times reported.

The newspaper reported the talks come as MGM MIRAGE scours the U.K. for partners and potential deals.

Second casino approved

MACKINAW CITY, Mich. -- A Traverse County Indian tribe is eying the city for the site of a new casino.

In an amendment to an existing compact, the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians last week received approval from Gov. Jennifer Granholm for the second casino in either Emmet or Charlevoix counties.

"Getting approval for a second casino is really unprecedented for this state," tribal Chairman Gerald Chingwa told the Petoskey News-Review for a recent story.

The amendment revises the initial compact of 1999 that gave the tribe the right to operate one casino. It comes after months of negotiations between the tribe and state officials.