MGM Selling Slot Machine Casinos

MGM Mirage announced Wednesday that they are planning on selling some of their slot machine casinos to Herbst Gaming. They are planning on selling Primm’s trio of casinos for $400 million. Herbst is known for their roadside slot machines as well as gas stations and gambling casinos.

They are selling slot machine casinos as well as hotel space, but are not selling the golf course. "These are wonderful assets, and in the hands of great operators like Herbst they're going to continue to be great assets," said MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman. "But our company's focus is really on our core strategic properties in Las Vegas, Mississippi and, in the future, New Jersey, as well as in our Asian expansion in Macao."

Experts say that the sale of the slot machine properties is a good deal for the MGM Mirage, and that it makes financial sense that they would choose to sell the slot machine casino. "It makes sense that they would sell it," said John Restrepo of Restrepo Consulting Group. "They're taking their product to a whole new level — high-end, full-service resorts and mixed-use entertainment resorts [and] the properties out there did not meet that criterion."

The Primm slot machine casinos are really more of a pitstop for roughly 40,000 who drive by the machines each day. They took in almost $40 million in slot machine and gambling earnings for the MGM Mirage, but the slot machines just aren’t worth the effort for the main company.

Back to November Archive or Slot Machines