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News August 6, 18:05 Eastern Time <Picture: News Provided by Comtex>
The World Wrestling Federation Sees Snake Eyes
STAMFORD, CONN. (Aug. 6) ENTERTAINMENT WIRE -August 6, 1998--World Wrestling Federation (Titan Sports, Inc.) Chairman, Vince McMahon, announced today that his company, in conjunction with the Parkview Group from Cleveland, has purchased the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
"Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world and definitely our audience," said McMahon. "Through our worldwide television network which is seen in over 115 countries and in 11 languages, we will promote the World Wrestling Federation Hotel & Casino as well as Las Vegas as nobody else can. Our theme hotel, casino and restaurant will attract our fans not only from the United States and Canada, but also from around the world as well. WWF events over the past two years have drawn fans to the United States from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland."
McMahon is confident that the hotel and casino is a logical expansion of the WWF brand. It is a new venue in which to entertain our fans and have them participate. We are anxious to get the plans developed for renovation of the property and to inject some WWF attitude into Las Vegas.
Titan Sports, Inc. the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation, is a privately owned marketing and communications company with its corporate offices located at its world headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The World Wrestling Federation's goal has always been to provide quality entertainment both live in arenas and on television around the world. Under the guidance and creative force of Vince McMahon, Titan's Chairman, the WWF has grown from a northeastern regional business to an international television and marketing enterprise. The business structure in place to create, market and manage this global WWF sports-entertainment property consists of both national and international sales, marketing, promotions, television distribution, properties (domestic and international), publishing, pay-per-view and public relations, making the World Wrestling Federation the leader in sports-entertainment for over 50 years.
CONTACT: World Wrestling Federation, Stamford
Jay Andronaco, Manager, Media Relations
203/353-2893
KEYWORD: CONNECTICUT
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Wrestling group buys Debbie Reynolds' hotel-casino
By Sarah Tippit
LOS ANGELES, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Actress Debbie Reynolds stoically faced the music as the World Wrestling Federation bought her struggling Las Vegas hotel and casino for $9 million at a bankruptcy auction on Wednesday, her son said.
The star -- one of the few remaining Las Vegas nightclub originals -- remained somber during the sale, Todd Fisher said. "No one is overjoyed. A lot of people won't get paid," he said.
Although she recently said she was willing to negotiate the licensing of her name to the buyer and continue performing there, Fisher said he was not sure how much World Wrestling and Debbie Reynolds had in common.
"They're talking to Debbie, but I don't know what they're planning to do. I'm not sure what they could do with Debbie," he said.
The auction of the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino Inc., which Reynolds opened in 1992 as a hotel, casino, museum and nightclub, ended a six-year struggle against a sea of red ink.
The auction covered the 193-room hotel and casino, the 500-seat showroom and the six acres of land where the hotel sits a half-block off the Las Vegas Strip.
George Simon, representing the WWF and an investor group known as 950 Parkview, placed the winning bid.
Not included in the auction was the Hollywood Motion Picture & Television Museum, owned by a separate company that withdrew its assets in May, Fisher said.
For several years, Reynolds, 66, had been performing for free at the property as it sold off its slot machines, went through several corporate reorganizations and spent millions to renovate. Fisher, the chief executive, has not drawn a salary in several years, he said. The purchase price barely covers the cost of the renovations, he said.
The resort declared bankruptcy a year ago, as did Reynolds. Several bids submitted through federal bankruptcy court were later withdrawn.
Reynolds became a movie star as a teenager in the 1940s and has never stopped performing. In 1952 she sang and danced alongside Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly in the classic musical "Singin' In The Rain." In 1996 she starred in the title role of Albert Brooks film, "Mother."
If the WWF is not interested in continuing a relationship with Reynolds, her association will end, according to Fisher. He also said he would stay on a few weeks during the transition and then return to Hollywood to resume his career as a film producer and director. The WWF is privately owned and its programs are broadcast on USA Networks Inc. |
