'What we're saying is that if you're going to come and visit friends in Michigan or if you're going to do business in Detroit, why not come to the MGM,' says Neubecker. He believes that midwesterners, who are distant from the bright lights of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, want a regional gaming hotspot on their doorstep. The casino's chief financial officer, Mike Neubecker, says: 'Detroit definitely isn't glamorous like Las Vegas, New York or Los Angeles but the state ranks highly in its propensity to game.' MGM's marketing material declares that 'the world has seven wonders - now Detroit has one'. It incorporates a spa, designer restaurants and an upmarket nightclub with room rates of up to $4,000 a night for a VIP suite. MGM's 400-room hotel is the biggest of three huge gaming developments in the city. But looming over the bleak urban landscape are the black and silver windows of a gleaming new MGM Grand casino which threw open its doors this month at a cost of $805m.īattered by the near collapse of America's motoring industry, Detroit is betting on gaming as a way to revive its fortunes. It seems an odd place to build a Las Vegas-style casino resort.
