MACAU (AP) — MGM Resorts is opening a lavish multibillion-dollar casino resort in Macau, in the latest big bet by foreign gambling companies on the southern Chinese gambling haven.
Las Vegas, Nevada-based MGM's opening Tuesday of its $3.5 billion resort is a high-stakes wager on the casino market's future in the former Portuguese colony, where gambling licenses expire in as little as two years.
CEO James Murren said the company is taking a "leap of faith" that the government will extend its license even though officials have revealed little about the process.
MGM's new resort is its second in the tiny Chinese enclave but the first on the Cotai Strip, an Asian version of the Las Vegas Strip that's the epicenter for extravagant new casino expansion projects.