New Privately-Financed Indoor Venue Will Be Largest Sports and
Entertainment Arena in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harrah's Entertainment,
Inc. (NYSE: HET) and AEG today unveiled plans for of an approximately
20,000-seat, privately financed, state-of-the-art arena. This arena is
envisioned to be Las Vegas' new home for the most popular and important
sports and entertainment events. The site of the venue will be one block
east of the world famous Las Vegas Strip on approximately 10 acres of land
that is part of the current Harrah's land holdings.
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As managing partner, AEG will be responsible for developing, operating
and programming a full range of live sports and entertainment events
including concerts, boxing matches, special events and awards
presentations, as well as sporting events, tournaments and exhibitions. The
arena will be constructed and configured in a manner that will make it
capable of housing an NBA or NHL franchise.
"AEG and Harrah's Entertainment have put together a compelling,
privately funded arena plan that will be a fantastic new attraction for Las
Vegas Valley visitors and serve as a much needed sports and entertainment
venue for Clark County," said Rory Reid, Clark County commission chairman.
"With such exemplary reputations in delivering wonderful guest experiences,
AEG and Harrah's are well-suited to bring the largest arena to the region.
I'm looking forward to working closely with both organizations in bringing
this arena to fruition for the entire region to enjoy."
Projected to open in 2010, the venue will also feature private
"hospitality centers," luxury suites, club seats and an array of amenities,
gourmet food offerings and entertainment options to make every guest's
experience memorable and world-class.
"This arena is part of our on-going growth strategy and very much a
part of our master plan for Las Vegas," said Gary Loveman, chairman, CEO
and president of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. "We are committed to offering
a variety of entertainment options to our customers, and this arena will
allow us to bring to Las Vegas high-quality sporting events along with
top-name entertainment that our partners, AEG, have an unparalleled track
record of delivering."
The proposed arena location, directly behind the Bally's and Paris
resorts, will provide visitors convenient access between the arena and all
the world-renowned amenities the Strip offers, including thousands of hotel
rooms, monorail service, restaurants and nightclubs. "This site, behind our
Bally's and Paris resorts, is an ideal location for this arena as it is
within walking distance of the Strip and conveniently located for the
nearly 40 million visitors to Las Vegas each year," said Mr. Loveman.
"There has never been a better time to create a world-class arena for
Las Vegas," said Timothy J. Leiweke, president and CEO, AEG. "A city known
for showcasing the most important and popular artists, events and
extravaganzas needs a state-of-the-art arena to ensure that every important
touring act considers Las Vegas a 'must-play' city while solidifying the
city's reputation globally."
"This arena is being developed with the capability of hosting an NHL or
NBA franchise from day one," continued Leiweke. "We continue to have
productive conversations with potential owners and are optimistic that
either basketball or hockey, or both, will be played in Las Vegas when the
venue opens."
"We would not be here today without the tremendous cooperation and
vision of Commissioner Reid and the members of the Clark County Board of
Commissioners. This privately-funded project will pay enormous dividends to
the entire region," Leiweke added. "We also would like to extend our thanks
to Mayor Goodman for his interest and devotion to realize the need to have
an arena in the Las Vegas community. To our friends, our partners and the
citizens of Clark County, we are dedicated to creating an arena Las Vegas
can be proud of ... I pledge today, we won't let you down."
Pursuant to a signed letter of intent between the two organizations,
and subject to the completion of definitive documents, the project calls
for construction to commence in summer 2008.
AEG is a leading developer and operator of venues such as STAPLES
Center, The Home Depot Center, Target Center, London's O2 Arena and NOKIA
Theatre Times Square and has a significant presence in Las Vegas through
its live entertainment subsidiary AEG LIVE, which oversees programming for
the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. AEG LIVE recently entered into and
agreement to operate and program new 4,000 and 1,500-seat indoor venues now
under construction on the Las Vegas Strip.
About Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the world's largest provider of branded
casino entertainment through operating subsidiaries. Since its beginning in
Reno, Nevada nearly 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of
new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages
casinos on four continents. The company's properties operate primarily
under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Harrah's also owns
the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah's Entertainment is
focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique
combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution,
operational excellence and technology leadership.
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the
world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or
controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES
Center, Toyota Sports Center, Toyota Park, NOKIA Theatre Times Square,
NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie, Hollywood's El Rey Theatre, Seattle's WaMu
Theatre, Minneapolis' Target Center and the just opened The O2, a 28-acre
development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River
which includes a 20,000 seat arena and over 650,000sf of leisure and
entertainment use; sports franchises throughout the world including the Los
Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Riptide (MLL) and three MLS franchises in
addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles
Lakers (NBA). AEG developed and operates The Home Depot Center, a $150
million national training facility on the Campus of California State
University Dominguez Hills in Carson, California designated as an "Official
U.S. Olympic Training Site" by the United States Olympic Committee that
includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling,
lacrosse, rugby, action sports, beach volleyball, basketball and other
sports.
The company's live entertainment division, AEG LIVE is one of the
world's leading concert promotion and touring organizations that has
recently promoted national tours on behalf of artists such as Prince, Bon
Jovi, Kenney Chesney and Cheetah Girls as well as producing "A New Day ...
" starring Celine Dion appearing exclusively at the Colosseum at Caesars
Palace and the international museum tour of King Tut's artifacts.
AEG is overseeing the development of L.A. LIVE, a 4 million square foot
/ $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment
district featuring NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art
live theatre, a 54-story, 1001-room convention center "headquarters" hotel,
Club NOKIA at L.A. LIVE, a 2,200 capacity live music venue, a 14-screen
Regal Cineplex, "broadcast" facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment,
restaurant, residential and office space and additional arenas, O2 World,
on a 45-acre site in the heart of Berlin, Citizen's Business Bank Arena in
Ontario, California, and Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri as well as
a Red Bull Park, a soccer stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
For more information about Harrah's, please visit:
http://www.harrahs.com.
For more information about AEG, please visit:
http://www.aegworldwide.com.
This release includes "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify
for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the
fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These
statements contain words such as "may," "will," "project," "might,"
"expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate,"
"continue" or "pursue," or the negative or other variations thereof or
comparable terminology. In particular, they include statements relating to,
among other things, future actions, new projects, strategies, future
performance, the outcomes of contingencies and future financial results of
Harrah's. These forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and projections about future events.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and
uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, the
actual performance of Harrah's may differ materially from those expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, the following factors, as well as other
factors described from time to time in our reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (including the sections entitled "Risk
Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations" contained therein): the occurrence of any event,
change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of
the merger agreement with TPG and Apollo; the outcome of any legal
proceedings that have been, or will be, instituted against the Company
related to the merger agreement; the inability to complete the merger due
the failure to satisfy conditions to completion of the merger, including
the receipt of all regulatory approvals related to the merger; the failure
to obtain the necessary financing arrangements set forth in the debt and
equity commitment letters delivered pursuant to the merger agreement; risks
that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations and the
potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the merger; the
impact of the substantial indebtedness to be incurred to finance the
consummation of the merger; the effects of local and national economic,
credit and capital market conditions on the economy in general, and on the
gaming and hotel industries in particular; construction factors, including
delays, increased costs for labor and materials, availability of labor and
materials, zoning issues, environmental restrictions, soil and water
conditions, weather and other hazards, site access matters and building
permit issues; the effects of environmental and structural building
conditions relating to our properties; access to available and reasonable
financing on a timely basis; the ability to timely and cost-effectively
integrate acquisition into our operations, including London Clubs; changes
in laws, including increased tax rates, regulations or accounting
standards, third-party relations and approvals, and decisions of courts,
regulators and governmental bodies; litigation outcomes and judicial
actions, including gaming legislative action, referenda and taxation; the
ability of our customer-tracking, customer loyalty and yield-management
programs to continue to increase customer loyalty and same store sales or
hotel sales; our ability to recoup costs of capital investments through
higher revenues; acts of war or terrorist incidents or natural disasters;
abnormal gaming holds; and the effects of competition, including locations
of competitors and operating and market competition.
Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the
date made. Harrah's disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking
statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date stated, or if no
date is stated, as of the date of this news release.
SOURCE Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.harrahs.com
http://www.aegworldwide.com
Photo Notes:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070718/HARRAHSLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Jacqueline Peterson of Harrah's
Entertainment, Inc., +1-702-494-4829, japeterson@harrahs.com, or
Michael Roth of AEG, +1-213-742-7155, mroth@aeg-la.com
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