As everyone knows, Caesars Entertainment basically owns the east side of the Strip and MGM Resorts owns a big part of the west side. However, Caesars Palace is on the west side and MGM Grand is on the east, something of an anomaly. Frankly, I don't care about Caesars. But I am curious about how MGM wound up at one time owning almost the entire west side of the Strip.
Before MGM sold off Treasure Island (2008) and Circus Circus/Las Vegas Festival Grounds (2019, both to Phil Ruffin) and the Mirage (to Hard Rock in 2022 for $1.1 billion), the giant casino corporation owned the entire west side of the Strip from the corner of Sahara Avenue all the way down to Mandalay Bay -- except for the Westward Ho (closed 2005), Stardust (closed 2006, now Resorts World), Cosmopolitan (opened 2010), Jockey Club timeshare property, and of course Caesars Palace.
As for how that happened, MGM didn’t set out from the beginning to own nearly the whole west side of the Strip, but through a mix of acquisitions, partnerships, megaprojects, and some favorable timing, it ended up controlling the largest contiguous footprint in Las Vegas. Here’s how it all occurred.
MGM acquired Mirage Resorts -- Treasure Island, the Mirage, and Bellagio -- in 2000 when Kirk Kerkorian took advantage of a drop in the Mirage stock price and bought out Steve Wynn in a deal that was worth $6.4 billion all told.
Five years later, MGM bought out Mandalay Resort Group for $7.9 billion, picking up Circus Circus, Monte Carlo (now Park MGM), Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.
MGM and Primadonna Resorts (the Primm casino company) opened New York-New York as a joint venture in 2007; in 2009, MGM completed buying out NY-NY, giving them full control of the property.
MGM completed City Center in 2009, consisting of Aria, Vdara, Veer Towers, Mandarin Oriental (now Waldorf Astoria), and the Shops at Crystals.
In 2016, a partnership between MGM and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) opened T-Mobile Arena behind New York-New York.
Finally, in 2022, MGM paid Blackstone $1.6 billion to take over hotel and casino operations for the Cosmopolitan. Cosmo's real estate was sold separately to a group of investors, including Blackstone REIT, for $5.6 billion.
Speaking of which, over the years, MGM has sold off almost all of its real estate holdings on the Strip and now is the leaseholder for its casinos.
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David Miller
Oct-12-2025
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Gary Hansen
Oct-12-2025
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