MGM Resorts casinos is much like the other major gaming companies that had to halt growth during the economic recession. MGM stopped several projects, and when the economy bounced back, MGM began building again. Now, the gaming company has their sights set on building a casino resort in Toronto.
MGM announced this week that they are prepared to build a $6 billion resort in Toronto. The facility would be unlike any other that the province has ever seen, and the goal of MGM is to go big with everything associated with the casino resort.
If all somebody is talking about is a room full of slot machine, Toronto could do that on their own, they don’t need us
MGM Spokesman Alan Feldman
“But if the discussion is going to broaden and going to involve more of a tourism and entertainment focus, that’s where we might step in and there may be an opportunity for us to come to town and invest quite a bit of money.“
Canadian provinces have always been open to casino gambling (including online bitcoin gambling), and over the past year, several provinces have shown an interest in online casinos. The land-based gaming industry in Canada is thriving, and MGM sees Toronto as a place where a full-scale casino resort could become prosperous for both the province and the casino operator.
Feldman stressed in his discussion with CBC that the gaming aspect of a casino resort is a very small portion of the overall experience related to a resort of this size. Restaurants, entertainment avenues, shopping, and nightclubs account for the majority of the space, and that is where Feldman believes MGM can make a difference.
There is strong support within Toronto for a casino resort. Mayor Rob Ford has been on record supporting gambling expansion. Ford has been discussing the possibilities of expansion with business leaders over the past few months, although he believes that the final say on whether to add a major destination casino should ultimately fall on the voters.
US gaming companies have spent the past few years expanding their global reach. Las Vegas Sands has been the leader in the global expansion, building casinos in Macau and Singapore, while also speaking with Spanish lawmakers about bringing the LVS brand to Spain.