Gaming briefs for June 13, 2003

Friday, June 13, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

Ad agency selected to revamp resort image

MGM MIRAGE has selected Brown & Partners Advertising, Public Relations and Public Affairs to re-brand the company's Treasure Island resort.

Brown & Partners is crafting a print and broadcast campaign to "reflect the change in atmosphere" at Treasure Island and "appeal to an unquestionably adult demographic," Creative Director Rob Catalano said.

The print ads will appear this month in In Style, People, Playboy and Maxim as well as publications across Southern California, San Francisco and Phoenix.

In April MGM MIRAGE announced it would replace Treasure Island's famed pirate battle with a sexier performance featuring women. The resort's pirate-theme sign also will come down and the property will be renamed "TI" to further distance the resort from its Disneyland-like atmosphere.

The changes are part of a years-long transformation to a more adult look. People who haven't been to the resort think it's a place for families rather than an adult hangout, executives say.

The print ads will feature amber-hued photos with guests enjoying themselves, the agency said. TV spots will follow different characters from the gaming tables to a bar and restaurant.

Gala, Harrah's may start Vegas-style casinos in U.K.

LONDON -- Gala Group Holdings Plc, a U.K. operator of casinos and bingo halls, and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas, the second-largest U.S. casino company, may agree within two weeks on a joint venture to bring Las Vegas-style casinos to Britain, the Financial Times said, citing no one.

Changes to U.K. gambling laws, which include scrapping permitted zones for casinos, have been postponed until 2005 due to the busy parliamentary program, the paper reported.

The agreement, which is likely to include several hundred millions pounds of investment, is not said to rest on the timing of new legislation, the FT said.

Nevada Power losing a big customer

Station Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas has become the first company to take advantage of a 2001 state law allowing large power users to buy electricity independently of Nevada Power Co.

The locals' casinos company on Thursday reached an agreement with Coral Power LLC, a subsidiary of Shell Oil, on a 3 1/2-year electricity contract that is scheduled to begin in October.

Station Casinos Chief Operating Officer Stephen Cavallaro said the deal is a chance to secure stable, long-term energy prices.

"Station remains committed to containing energy costs," he said. "We are pleased that our decision to obtain electricity from Coral removes significant volatility in our energy costs."

Station uses about 44 megawatts of peak load power. To date, 11 other power users, which use about 280 megawatts of peak load power, have also received permission to leave Nevada Power but have yet to announce new contracts.

Nevada Power's projected peak demand for this summer is about 4,800 megawatts.

Station will still contract with Nevada Power for transmission services. The state Public Utilities Commission must still review Station's deal with Coral Power and the transmission deal with Nevada Power.

New meters must also be installed at Station's properties before the power is delivered Oct. 1.

In May the PUC upheld an order allowing large users, including Station, to exit the Nevada Power System without paying an exit fee to cover the exiting users' portion of the costs to build the existing generation and distribution system.

The commission ruled that the money the utility will save in buying power to serve the exiting users will offset the negative effect of lost generation payments.