Mandalay Resort Group (formerly Circus Circus Enterprises) was an American

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

operator based in

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. Its major properties included

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circ ...

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-ai ...

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in t ...

and Circus Circus, as well as half of the

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino i ...

. In terms of market capitalization, it was one of the largest

operators in the world. Its stock traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

with the ticker symbol "CIR" and "MBG".

History

The company was originally known as Circus Circus Enterprises and originated with Jay Sarno's 1968 opening of the Circus Circus as well as a Circus Circus in Reno, which opened in 1978. The company incorporated as Circus Circus Enterprises (CCE) in 1974 to purchase Circus Circus from Sarno at a time when the casino was experiencing financial difficulties. The original majority owners of CCE were

William Pennington William Pennington (May 4, 1796 – February 16, 1862) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the 13th governor of New Jersey from 1837 to 1843. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives, during which he served a ...

, a former oil lease speculator and

William Bennett William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office o ...

, a former furniture salesman and the manager of

The Mint Las Vegas The Mint Las Vegas was a hotel and casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The Mint was the sponsor of the Mint 400, the largest off road race from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. The Mint was made famous (or infamous) as the first night's stay ...

casino. Circus Circus Enterprises purchased the Silver City Casino and Slots-A-Fun Casino in 1979 for $30 million, then refurbished both the interior and exterior. The company went public in 1983 and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's properties found success in the 1980s offering a Las Vegas experience to families subsequently experimented upon by its competitors. Its converted Circus Circus (originally developed for the upmarket) and later Excalibur properties offered gaming opportunities for adults and separate non-gambling games and theme-park-style experiences for underage visitors under the same roof. In 1983, Circus Circus purchased the Edgewater Hotel and Casino in

Laughlin, Nevada Laughlin is an unincorporated resort town and census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is located on the Colorado River, directly across from the much larger Bullhead City, Arizona. Laughlin lies south of Las Vegas ...

for $17 million. The next year, the company bought the neighboring

Colorado Belle The Colorado Belle is a casino hotel on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada, owned and operated by Golden Entertainment. Initially closed on March 17, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 18, 2020, Golden Entertainment annou ...

casino from

Advanced Patent Technology Bally Technologies, Inc. is an American manufacturer of slot machines and other gambling technology based in Enterprise, Nevada. It is owned by Light & Wonder. The company was founded in 1968 as Advanced Patent Technology. It eventually changed ...

and John Fulton for $4 million. The company planned to move the unprofitable Colorado Belle to make room for an expansion of the Edgewater. The group subsequently developed the

in 1990, the

in 1993 and the

in 1999 for which the group was renamed. The group entered into a joint venture in 1993 with Don Carano of Eldorado in Reno to develop and build Reno's largest and tallest megaresort titled Silver Legacy. The $350 million hotel opened on July 28, 1995. Circus Circus Enterprises held a majority stake in that Reno resort. Circus Circus Tunica opened on August 29, 1994. It was rebranded in 1997 as

Gold Strike Tunica Gold Strike Tunica (formerly Circus Circus Tunica) is a casino hotel in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi, 20 minutes south of Memphis, Tennessee. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. Casino In 2008, MGM Mirage ...

and given a more upscale theme. The total cost for the remodel was estimated to be $125 million. On March 20, 1995, Circus Circus Enterprises announced that it had agreed to acquire

Gold Strike Resorts Gold Strike Resorts was a family of gaming companies based in Jean, Nevada. History In 1994, Gold Strike announced a partnership with Mirage Resorts to build a $250-million casino targeted at budget-conscious visitors, on part of the site of th ...

, a closely held budget casino owner and operator based in

Jean, Nevada Jean is a small commercial town in Clark County, Nevada, United States, located approximately north of the Nevada–California state line along Interstate 15. Las Vegas is located about to the north. There are no residents of Jean, making it th ...

, in a deal valued at more than $600 million. At the time of the acquisition, Gold Strike Resorts owned the

Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall Terrible's Hotel & Casino, formerly the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall, is a defunct casino hotel in Jean, Nevada, approximately north of the California state line, and about south of Downtown Las Vegas. It opened in 1987, and closed in ...

, Nevada Landing Hotel and Casino,

Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino Railroad Pass Hotel & Casino, named after nearby Railroad Pass, is a hotel and casino located in Henderson, Nevada. The casino has of gaming space, with 323 slot machines and six table games, and a William Hill sports and race book. Location T ...

and 50% of the under-construction

Monte Carlo Resort and Casino The Park MGM, formerly Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, is a megaresort hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel, with a height of , has 32 floors, including a casino floor with 1,400 slot machines, 60 ...

. The acquisition did not include the original Gold Strike near

Boulder City Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon. Boulder City is one of on ...

, because the owners wanted to pass it on to their children. In 1995, Circus Circus purchased the

Hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...

from Archon Corporation. By this time, the Hacienda was dwarfed by the many new megaresorts that were being built, in particular the

, which had just been recently completed. On December 10, 1996, the Hacienda was closed to the public after 40 years, and imploded later that month. This implosion was broadcast on the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations a ...

as a part of their

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

1996 telecast. Despite the implosion, parts of the old resort still stood, due to the building not falling into its footprint, but toppling into its parking lot. The next day a wrecking crew was brought in to bring down the remaining parts. In March 1999, it was replaced by the

. The group was also a partner with Mirage Resorts on the 1996 opening of the nearby

. Circus Circus Enterprises closed the Silver City Casino on October 31, 1999. Following the completion of

in 1999, the name of the company was changed to Mandalay Resorts Group. On December 14, 1999, MotorCity Casino Hotel opened. On May 23, 2002, the Mandalay Resort Group announced a second 1,122-room hotel tower at their Mandalay Bay property, with a cost of at least $200 million. Construction began on the tower in September 2002. The name of the tower, THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, was chosen in September 2003. The tower opened on December 17, 2003. On June 4, 2004, one of Mandalay's largest competitors, MGM Mirage, announced a bid to acquire it for $68 per share plus assumption of debt. The stock closed at $60.27 per share on June 4. Although the proposal was announced after the close of trading on June 4, the volume of trading in Mandalay Resort Group stock on that day was quadruple the normal, with the stock closing at $60.27 per share. The ensuing negotiations between the two companies included at one point an announcement that the Mandalay board was rejecting the offer because of antitrust concerns. On June 15, 2004, however, both companies' boards approved a revised offer of $71 per share. The agreement called for MGM Mirage to pay $4.8 billion and to assume $2.5 billion in debt. The transaction was completed on April 26, 2005 for $7.9 billion. MGM executives were confident that antitrust regulators would not require the sale of any of the two companies' properties. Michigan law, however, forbade one company from owning multiple casinos, requiring the sale of either the MGM Grand Detroit or Mandalay's 54% stake in the MotorCity Casino. After some vacillation about which property to sell, Mandalay accepted a $525-million offer for its interest in MotorCity from Marian Ilitch, the casino's second largest shareholder.

Hotels and casinos when acquired by MGM Mirage

* Circus Circus, Winchester,

* Circus Circus,

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, Laughlin,

* Edgewater, Laughlin,

* Gold Strike, Jean,

* Gold Strike, Tunica,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

* Grand Victoria,

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

* THEhotel at Mandalay Bay,

(50% owner in partnership with MGM Mirage) * Nevada Landing, Jean,

* Railroad Pass, Henderson,

* Silver Legacy,

(50% owner in partnership with

Eldorado Resorts Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpor ...

) * Slots-A-Fun, Winchester,

Former properties

* MotorCity,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

* Silver City Casino, Winchester,

References

{{Mandalay Resort Group 1974 establishments in Nevada 2005 disestablishments in Nevada Hospitality companies established in 1974 Hotels disestablished in 2005 Gambling companies established in 1974 Gambling companies disestablished in 2005 Defunct companies based in Nevada Defunct gambling companies Companies based in Paradise, Nevada Gambling companies of the United States MGM Resorts International

History

Hotels and casinos when acquired by MGM Mirage

Former properties

See also

References