Ed McMahon in bingo game deal

Thursday, March 13, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.

Entertainer Ed McMahon will join in a new multimedia venture called BestBet Media Group Inc. that will involve a partnership between McMahon's magazine, website and television show and a bingo game offered by Multimedia Games Inc.

Multimedia Games makes a game called "MegaBingo," introduced in tribal casinos in 1989 as the only daily game where players could win a $1 million jackpot. The company focuses on bingo gambling machines as well as video lottery terminals for tribal casinos nationwide.

McMahon, known as Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show and the host of Star Search, will become a new spokesman for the game by hosting MegaBingo's $1 million jackpot competition on April 16 at the showroom at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Seventy-two players qualified for the event by winning MegaBingo Bonus Rounds at participating tribal casinos and bingo halls across the country.

The Orleans is owned by Coast Casinos Inc., which also runs the Barbary Coast, Gold Coast and Suncoast casinos in Las Vegas.

BestBet is a subsidiary of Las Vegas-based Entertainment Marketing Technology Worldwide, a company that aims to create high-tech marketing programs for the gaming and entertainment industries.

The company is run by Steven Meistrich, Ed Fishman and Doug Wise. Clients include International Game Technology, Aristocrat Technologies, Park Place Entertainment Corp. and the Palms casino resort in Las Vegas.