Abstract
The MGM Mirage Records on Mandalay Resort Group consists of materials from Mandalay Resort Group’s office of public relations and community affairs records, which was closed after Mandalay’s corporate merger with MGM Mirage in 2005. The files, dating from 1968 to 2005, provide documentation of Mandalay Resort Group’s external affairs and internal operations. They contain subject files, photographs, negatives, slides, correspondence, VHS tapes, corporate publications, press releases, press kits, wholesale room agreements, hotel ephemera, employee newsletters, and press clippings. Of particular interest are files and photographs documenting the planning, development, construction, and opening of the Mandalay Resort Group properties.
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Scope and Contents Note
The MGM Mirage Records on Mandalay Resort Group consists of materials from Mandalay Resort Group’s office of public relations and community affairs records, which was closed after Mandalay’s corporate merger with MGM Mirage in 2005. The files, dating from 1968 to 2005, provide documentation of Mandalay Resort Group’s external affairs and internal operations. The collection contains subject files, photographs, negatives, slides, correspondence, VHS tapes, corporate publications, press releases, press kits, wholesale room agreements, hotel ephemera, employee newsletters, and press clippings. Of particular interest are files and photographs documenting the planning, development, construction, and opening of the Mandalay Resort Group properties. These include: Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, Circus Circus, and Monte Carlo, in Las Vegas, Nevada as well as properties in Reno, Nevada, Laughlin, Nevada, Illinois, and Michigan.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
These records are organized into eight series:
Series I. Alphabetical subject files, 1991-2004;
Series II. Press clippings by subject, 1994-2004;
Series III. Press clippings in chronological order, 1968-2004;
Series IV. Press releases and promotional material, 1983-2005;
Series V. Mandalay Resort Group records, 1992-2004;
Series VI. Photographs, 1987-2004;
Series VII. Audiovisual, 1993-2004;
Series VIII. Publications, 1988-2004.
Biographical / Historical Note
Mandalay Resort Group was, until its acquisition by MGM Mirage in 2005, the largest hotel and casino corporation in Las Vegas, Nevada by square footage of casino space and number of hotel rooms. Known as Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc. until June 1999, Mandalay Resort Group operated ten hotel and casinos in Nevada, including four properties on the Las Vegas Strip: Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, and Circus Circus.
In 1968, Jay Sarno opened Circus Circus, the first casino of what would eventually become Mandalay Resort Group. The casino opened without hotel rooms but later in 1972, a 400-room, fifteen story hotel tower was added. In February 1974, the casino and hotel operation were incorporated as Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc. Three months later the company was purchased by William N. Pennington and William G. Bennett, a former furniture store executive who became chairman and CEO of the company. In the following year, a second hotel tower was opened. Four years later in 1978, the company duplicated the Las Vegas operations in Reno, Nevada, opening a second Circus Circus casino and hotel in a space that had formerly been a department store. In April 1988, the company purchased a large parcel of land once owned by Howard Hughes on the Las Vegas Strip. On this site the castle themed Excalibur opened in June 1990. In November 1991, Circus Circus announced development plans for the other half of its land on the Las Vegas Strip next to Excalibur called "Project X," later named Luxor. It featured an Egyptian theme and opened in 1993.
In 1995, Circus Circus acquired Gold Strike Resorts. About one hundred of the company's managers had once worked at Circus Circus, including Glen Schaeffer and Michael S. Ensign, who was a principal partner in Gold Strike. Ensign became vice-chairman and chief operating officer of Circus Circus, while Schaeffer became president and CFO. The acquisition came with a fifty percent stake in the Monte Carlo property being developed by Mirage Resorts. Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino opened in 1996 on the former site of the Dunes Hotel.
Construction of the company’s largest hotel and casino, called “Project Paradise," began in 1997. Officially named Mandalay Bay, the property opened in 1999 on the former site of the Hacienda Hotel which had been imploded in 1996. Circus Circus moved its headquarters to Mandalay Bay and changed the company name to Mandalay Resort Group in June 1999. In 2004 MGM Mirage, Circus Circus's major competitor on the Strip, announced a bid to acquire Mandalay Resort Group. After a year of negotiations the transaction was finalized in April 2005.
Sources:
"Mandalay Resort Group," Company-Histories. Accessed June 27, 2018. http://www.company-histories.com/Mandalay-Resort-Group-Company-History.html.
- 1968
- Circus Circus casino opened in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- 1974
- Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. was formed.
- 1996
- Circus Circus partnered with Mirage Resorts to open Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.
- 1999
- Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino opened and Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. was renamed Mandalay Resort Group.
- 2005
- Mandalay Resort Group was acquired by MGM Mirage Corporation.
Preferred Citation
MGM Mirage Records on Mandalay Resort Group, 1968-2005. MS-00511. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in December 2005 by MGM Mirage; accession number 2005-034.
Processing Note
Material was processed in 2006 by Peter Michel. In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Chris Bruce and Brooks Whittaker rehoused the materials and revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards. Born-digital materials exist as an inventory only; born-digital materials remain unprocessed.
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Storage Location
Materials are stored in the Lied Automated Storage and Retrieval Unit (LASR). Advanced notice may be required to access these materials.
Separated Materials
Copies of ublications of xlink:href="https://webpac.library.unlv.edu/" xlink:show="new" xlink:title="University Libraries' catalog.">University Libraries' catalog.