MGM Mirage, Silicon Gaming to Start Internet Site With Games
Las Vegas, Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- MGM Mirage, the casino company controlled by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, and slot-machine maker Silicon Gaming Inc. agreed to create an Internet site featuring casino-style games to promote MGM's casinos.
The companies won't take bets on the site, to be called WagerWorks.com. They will, though, offer prizes such as free rooms at MGM Mirage casino resorts and tickets to shows.
The Web site could put Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage in position to quickly begin taking bets over the Internet if online gambling is ever legalized in the U.S., an analyst said. Most states consider gambling on the Internet to be illegal under their laws, though court rulings haven't clarified the issue, legal experts have said.
``I think it's at least a symbolic event toward the legalization of online gaming,'' said Bear, Stearns & Co. analyst Jason Ader, who rates MGM Mirage shares a ``buy.''
The Web site will have graphics of MGM Mirage's casino resorts, which include the Mirage, the MGM Grand and the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Games on the site will let players win points that they can later redeem for vacations and other prizes. The companies said they plan to start the site in the fourth quarter.
MGM Mirage shares today fell 9/16 to 33 3/8 in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Silicon Gaming shares rose 3 cents to 27 cents on the over- the-counter Bulletin Board. The Palo Alto, California-based company's chief executive, Andrew Pascal, is the nephew of former Mirage Resorts Inc. Chairman Stephen Wynn. Wynn sold Mirage Resorts to Kerkorian's MGM Grand Inc. in May to form MGM Mirage.
Aug/23/2000 18:09 ET |
