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MGM Resorts International is one of the largest resort and casino companies in the world. It is also a company that has shaped a huge portion of the gambling scene in the US and revolutionized online gambling through BetMGM.
Even though the history of MGM Resorts International is barely longer than three and a half decades, going over every venture, investment, merger, and property development individually would require an entire book. So, instead of going that deep into it, let’s go over a quick list of the company’s most notable achievements and endeavors.
The Pre-History and Early Years of MGM Resorts (1969 to 1988)
The official creation of what would later become MGM Resorts International occurred in 1986, back when the company was called Grand Name Co. However, the history of MGM Resorts stretches a couple of decades before that to 1969 when Kirk Kerkorian bought a controlling share of the famous movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Being the casino tycoon that he was, Kerkorian decided to branch out MGM into the gambling industry after he was forced to sell his casino company, International Leisure, to Hilton Hotels in 1971. He opened the original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino (later renamed Horseshoe Las Vegas) in 1973 and the MGM Grand Reno in 1978.
By the end of the 1970s, the two casino hotels were responsible for most of MGM’s income, and the company was split into two – the MGM movie studio and MGM Grand Hotels Inc., which retained the two casinos. However, MGM Grand Hotels isn’t considered part of MGM Resorts’ official history because it’s not the same company. That’s because Kerkorian sold MGM Grand Hotels to Bally Manufacturing in 1985 and then established Grand Name Co. a year later. He renamed it MGM Grand Inc. in 1987.
Therefore, you can see how MGM Grand Hotels is the “spiritual predecessor” of MGM Resorts even though it’s not technically the same legal entity.
Once MGM Grand Inc. was set up, it didn’t waste time branching out into different industries. It created MGM Grand Air in 1987, a luxury airline flying between New York and Los Angeles. The next year, MGM Grand acquired the Sands and Desert Inn casinos and officially branched back into the casino business.
A Decade of Rapid Development (1989 to 1999)
The next ten years were full of rapid-fire purchases and developments for MGM Grand. The company acquired the Tropicana Country Club and the Marina Hotel and Casino, began constructing the MGM Grand Las Vegas and the MGM Grand Adventures theme park, moved its headquarters from Beverly Hills to Las Vegas, and created the New York-New York Hotel and Casino as a joint venture together with Primadonna Resorts.
The company also started expanding into foreign markets when it purchased the Diamond Beach Hotel and Casino in Australia and renamed it the MGM Grand Darwin. That was followed by the opening of MGM Grand Detroit in Michigan while plans were also put forward for a casino in Atlantic City.
Soon after, MGM Grand bought the entirety of Primadonna Resorts, including its half of the New York-New York. The deal included Primadonna’s three other casinos and two golf courses.
A Decade of Mergers, Investments, and Slow Growth (2000 to 2009)
The turn of the millennium was marked by MGM Grand’s merger with Mirage Resorts. The deal gave MGM ownership of numerous casinos such as Bellagio, Boardwalk, Golden Nugget (in Las Vegas and Laughlin), Treasure Island, the Beau Rivage in Mississippi, half shares in the Monte Carlo and the Atlantic City Borgata, as well as the entirety of the Mirage Casino itself. Following that deal, the company was renamed MGM Mirage.
After that blockbuster merger, however, MGM’s developments stalled for a while. The company attempted quite a few deals, but few came to fruition. MGM Mirage also sold the two Golden Nuggets and the MGM Grand Darwin. Slow growth is still growth, however, and the company kept developing both domestically and abroad.
Going Digital (2010 to Present Day)
MGM Mirage changed its name once again in 2010 (this time to MGM Resorts International) to emphasize its reach into the global resorts and casino scene. This was followed by further investments, such as the two new $1 billion resorts in National Harbor, Maryland, and Springfield, Massachusetts, and various other lucrative investments and sales.
One of the most important developments for MGM Resorts during that period was the development of several online ventures. The most notable of these is the creation of BetMGM in 2018 after the Supreme Court struck down the PASPA ban on sports betting.
BetMGM was set up as a 50/50 joint venture with the UK gambling operator GVC Holding (known today as Entain), but that has not made BetMGM any less lucrative for MGM Resorts International. In fact, BetMGM is probably MGM Resorts’ most recognizable brand worldwide, as the majority of MGM Resorts’ physical locations are still concentrated in the US. Currently, BetMGM is a market leader in the iGaming niche and continues growing every year.
In the five years since its inception, BetMGM has revolutionized the online sports betting scene with its unrivaled digital technology and user-friendly approach. However, even that doesn’t exhaust MGM’s many forays into the digital world, as there are also BetMGM’s sister businesses Party Casino and Party Poker, a Nevada sportsbook created in 2017, and the Borgata Online casino in New Jersey. Suffice it to say, if you’re thinking of playing jackpot games at MGM Casino NJ, there are plenty of options.
Conclusion
MGM Resorts International has been such a powerhouse in the casino and hospitality industry that it shouldn’t be surprising if more people start associating the MGM acronym with the Resorts International brand than they do with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio.
Of course, the casino business is not without risk – just like the casinos themselves – so no one really knows what the future holds for MGM Resorts International. If they continues navigating the tricky waters of the casino resort niche as well as it has, however, we can expect it to keep thriving and innovating for years to come.
