MGM Mirage, British soccer club will combine on entertainment complex

MGM Mirage on Wednesday announced a joint-venture deal to build a casino and entertainment complex next to the stadium of a leading British soccer club.

The complex would include retail, commercial and residential elements as well as a hotel-casino, and is expected to become a major landmark in Newcastle, England, the company announced.

MGM Mirage's new agreement is the company's third United Kingdom casino development deal announced this year.

Newcastle United PLC would provide the land and MGM Mirage would provide capital and expertise. The proposed casino space would be leased from the joint-venture; the casino itself would be owned and operated by MGM Mirage.

CapRock Helps Harrah's Casino
Beat the Odds
CapRock Provides Satellite Communications to Replace Landlines Destroyed By San Diego Wildfires

HOUSTON--The San Diego area isn't normally considered one of the harshest places on earth, but for those who were there during the wildfires that scorched hundreds of acres in the region this fall, "harsh" is an accurate description of the region. CapRock Communications, known for delivering communications services to some of the world's harshest and most extreme locations, was there when Harrah's Rincon Casino & Resort needed to get disaster recovery communications up and running.

Harrah's had lost all of its communications capabilities when the Southern California wildfires melted the voice and data lines that served the casino. To supply its disaster recovery services, the casino chose CapRock. When CapRock got the call on Thursday, Oct. 30, the company flew into action, putting together a custom system to provide 72 phone lines for the casino. The equipment shipped on Friday and arrived on Saturday, along with the CapRock technicians, who had the system installed and fully operational within three hours -- even with the added twist of a last minute request for a data line. With CapRock handling disaster recovery, Harrah's communications system was ready for operation by Sunday.

"Having our communications down was a very difficult experience," said Joan Hinrichs, voice engineer for Harrah's Rincon Casino & Resort. "But CapRock fixed our problem more rapidly than we could

have imagined, giving us back our connection to the outside world, and helping us better serve our customers."

"We have conducted disaster recovery operations for the oil and gas industry in marine settings for years," said CapRock President Errol Olivier. "Handling disaster recovery services for Harrah's was a natural extension of our capabilities."

"Having a disaster recovery plan is essential in any industry, and CapRock has the expertise to make communications restoration a painless process," Olivier continued. "For customers that have just been through extremely trying times, reliability and a high level of customer care are very important."