Very true. So true, in fact, that it knocked the imminent opening of Steve Wynn’s Encore off the front pages for the better part of a week. Wynn himself was as excited as anyone else, telling Robin Leach: "The financial structure of this transaction is over-the-moon strong! Stronger than it had to be ... [Ruffin] is a cool guy and a canny guy – a cunning fella."
One could even argue that Phil Ruffin is Las Vegas’ canary in the coal mine: He sold the New Frontier for an astounding $1.24 billion in July 2007, at the apex of a bubble in the Vegas economy. His return suggests that the future of the Strip is not as dire as many fear.
The "financial structure" that Wynn refers to could also be described as a heckuva deal, for both parties. MGM Mirage gets $775 million for a 15-year-old casino-hotel that it purchased from Steve Wynn in 2000, money it sorely needs to finish CityCenter. Ruffin not only gets a "name-brand" Strip resort, he’s able to pay for it mostly out of cash on hand. Only $275 million of the purchase price is borrowed. And, as Ruffin would be the first to tell you, there’s no way you could build a Strip resort for $775 million any longer.
Very unusually for Las Vegas, it’ll be a symbiotic relationship between Ruffin’s Treasure Island and MGM Mirage. The TI will continue to honor MGM’s player-loyalty system and the MGM will avail Treasure Island of the its reservation system. Ruffin will also keep Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere and the nightly "Sirens of TI" pirate show in place. Ruffin inherits the rights to Mystere, but loses access to it or any other Cirque show if he terminates the contract. (Cirque is exclusive in Nevada to MGM Mirage properties.)
Ruffin told the Las Vegas Sun that Treasure Island "was not for sale. But I pestered them and pestered them until they finally gave in." Ruffin also took a look at the Mirage, but decided that it would be a much pricier acquisition, more than he could afford. Still, despite feverish speculation to the contrary, Ruffin says he’s not going to snap up any more casinos until the banking industry recovers. "No," he told KNPR-FM. "We’re tapped out."
As for the Israeli company that bought the New Frontier from Ruffin, then demolished it, what does it have to show for its $36 million/acre? An empty lot across from Encore. They wouldn’t –- or couldn’t –- spring for the money to take down the New Frontier sign or mask the vacant acreage. So Steve Wynn did.
