There are far fewer publicly held casinos in Las Vegas than there even three years ago, thanks to the leveraged buyouts of Harrah’s Entertainment and Station Casinos. Those LBOs were executed just as the casino industry began heading into a downturn and the results for both Harrah’s and Station alike have been so disastrous that they’d have been better off relying on the tender mercies of the stock market. At 2008’s Global Gaming Expo, Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman said, with evident surprise, that the impatience of the stock market was nothing compared to that of the bond market, with which he’s been grappling ever since the company went private. But to your question …
MGM Mirage (ticker symbol MGM) owns Aria, which opens Dec. 16, along with Bellagio, Circus Circus, Excalibur, the Gold Strike (in nearby Jean, Nev.), Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, the Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, and Slots A Fun. The company also holds a 50% stake in M Resort, which is otherwise privately owned.
Boyd Gaming (BYD) dominates downtown Vegas, where it owns the California, Fremont, and Main Street Station. Farther out, it has Sam’s Town (the granddaddy of the Boulder Strip), Suncoast, Gold Coast, and the Orleans. Boyd also owns two small casinos in Henderson: Jokers Wild and Eldorado.
Wynn Resorts (WYNN) only owns two Strip casinos but they’re biggies: Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. One could say similar things, only more so about …
Las Vegas Sands (LVS), which owns the mammoth Venetian and Palazzo hotel-casinos, along with the Sands Expo Center.
Landry’s Restaurants (LNY) is owner of both the downtown Golden Nugget and the one in Laughlin. Although Landry’s owns more than 100 restaurants, the two casinos account for more than 40% of the company’s revenues.
Morgans Hotel Group (MHGC) holds a minority stake (less than 15%) of the Hard Rock.
Riviera Holdings (RIV) owns both the Riviera on the Strip and a like-branded casino in Black Hawk, Colo.
Pinnacle Entertainment and Ameristar Casinos (PNK and ASCA, respectively) are both headquartered in Las Vegas, but own no casinos in Southern Nevada.
