Liz Benston

Reporter/ Gaming

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Call Liz at 702-259-4077.

Recent Stories (view all stories)

MGM Mirage following Harrah’s lead on marketing conventions: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009; In its last earnings report before the company opens its $8.5 billion CityCenter complex next month, MGM Mirage on Thursday projected an improvement in business next year. Part of this optimism is based on a new sales strategy for filling its hotels.
Steve Wynn’s politics in the news, but not new: Casino magnate was an industry advocate before an Obama critic; Monday, Nov. 2, 2009; Steve Wynn, one of the most charismatic figures in American business and the man largely credited with launching the modern building boom in Las Vegas, is also fiery-tempered, with mercurial moods and politically incorrect outbursts.
Casinos saving face online: Companies use social networking to connect, lessen damage from complaints; Monday, Oct. 26, 2009; Social media Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are changing the face of customer relations at major Las Vegas hotels. Resorts are setting up their own fan pages where executives can monitor customer suggestions on how to improve business, bask in guests’ kudos, offer immediate assistance to customers in distress — and cringe when unhappy patrons post critical remarks that ding their companies.
How CityCenter’s room rates will compare with Strip rivals’: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009; Online reservation sites are offering discounted room prices that reflect the effects of the recession on the three hotels opening for business in December at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter complex.
In down economy, crimes against casinos are up: Agents making more arrests; casinos reluctant to publicize cheats; Monday, Oct. 19, 2009; The state’s casino cops have been busy. Could recession-fueled money troubles be blamed for the brazen acts of theft that have surfaced in recent months? Gaming board agents have made nearly 400 arrests in connection with casino and gambling-related crimes in Nevada this year, compared with fewer than 300 for all of 2008.
MGM Mirage wants the right tone for CityCenter’s first night: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009; In another economy, CityCenter might have opened with the kind of pageantry befitting royalty.
Unpaid bills may deter a bid for Fontainebleau: The bills amount to more than likely offer; Penn National exec says building worth 'about zero'; Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009; Whether front-running bidder Penn National Gaming buys the unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort out of bankruptcy in coming weeks may turn on the success of recent negotiations with attorneys representing the resort’s subcontractors. They are owed about $375 million for work completed in the months leading up to the end of work on the resort. Penn wants to use the Fontainebleau as the flagship destination for customers who patronize its nationwide network of smaller casinos, much as Harrah’s Entertainment does with its Las Vegas properties.
Fontainebleau a symbol of bad timing, not the only victim: Monday, Oct. 12, 2009; Of all the buildings under construction nationwide left unfinished because of the recession, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort, which analysts say may be nation’s largest and most expensive stalled construction job, might be the poster child for badly timed development.
CityCenter reduces condo prices 30 percent: MGM Mirage planning one-on-one meetings with buyers; Monday, Oct. 5, 2009; CityCenter has reduced prices of its condos by 30 percent in an effort to satisfy concerns from condominium buyers who signed purchase contracts for the units more than two years ago, when the real estate market was booming. "We believe that in this economic climate this price reduction is an appropriate step to take on behalf of our buyers as to provide them greater flexibility in closing on their residences," Bobby Baldwin, president and CEO of CityCenter, said in a statement.
P.R. efforts low-key even as opening of CityCenter nears: Monday, Oct. 5, 2009; In normal times, a casino company within months of opening a major resort would use every opportunity to tout its virtues. But until recently, MGM Mirage has been distracted by a steady grind of negative news surrounding CityCenter.

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Recent Blog Entries (view all entries)

Deals hit the buffet line: Eat all day for $25: Friday, Feb. 13, 2009; The economic slump has Las Vegas casinos blitzing the Internet with offers that include free rooms, half-price show tickets and airplane vouchers for future trips. The Excalibur is filling a new niche, so to speak, for the gluttonous crowd.
CityCenter jobs a bright spot in down economy: Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009; The prospect of getting a job at CityCenter, which is hiring some 12,000 people for a late 2009 opening, has thrown some locals into a state of anxious excitement. Officials now expect more than 150,000 applications, including some 50,000 flooding the site within three weeks.
Primm hotel rates for locals: free: Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008; Remember the days when casinos gave away rooms and meals to attract gamblers?
Casino companies, even the competition, wish Aliante well: Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008; While the buzz at Station Casinos’ Aliante Station grand opening party Tuesday was shaded with concern about the company’s ability to generate decent money at this suburban casino amid this downturn, everyone is hoping for the best.
Casino stocks plunge to new lows: Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
MGM Mirage stock still on downslide: Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008; Those investors who figured MGM Mirage couldn't trade much below $20 a share a few weeks ago got another nasty surprise today, when bond rating agency Fitch Ratings issued an especially bearish outlook on the company.
MGM Mirage announces end to bonuses: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008; While some Strip operators have been cagey about layoffs, firings and other employee moves during this time of economic turbulence, MGM Mirage appears to be going the route of full disclosure.
MGM Mirage splits from Nevada Resort Association: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008
CityCenter secures $1.8 billion; Wynn avoiding worst of crunch: Monday, Oct. 6, 2008; It wasn't that long ago that Wall Street was criticizing Steve Wynn, who then owned Mirage Resorts, for spending money like a drunken sailor.
Adelson bails out Las Vegas Sands with cash: Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008; It takes more than skill to survive on the Strip, especially now with business plans and financing deals imploding like so many old hotels.