MGM may be thinking about getting married to M Resort.

It’s not yet the start of the new year. But there are already rumors going around about Las Vegas in 2023. MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) may be interested in buying the M Resort Spa Casino in Henderson, Nevada, according to these rumors.

Vital Vegas’s Scott Roeben says that a “reliable source” said MGM is in early-stage talks with Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) about a possible sale of the venue, and that the talks were positive.

Due diligence and other things can take a while, so we might not hear anything official about the sale of M Resort for a while. There’s also a chance that the parties won’t be able to agree on anything, and we’ll never hear about it again,” Roeben wrote.

No estimate of how much M Resort would cost was given. But because the casino-hotel isn’t on the Strip, it’s not likely to get the $1 billion-plus prices that Strip integrated resorts often get.

M Resort Sale Possible

For now, the idea that MGM might buy M Resort is just a guess. In the gaming industry, more deals are said to be done than are actually done.

In terms of the M Resort, Penn selling the venue’s operating rights would be interesting for a number of reasons. First, the company announced in October that it will spend $206 million to make the property twice as big. Second, if Penn does sell M Resort, it would end the company’s presence in Las Vegas. This is because the Tropicana’s operating rights were just sold to Bally’s (NYSE:BALY).

If Penn gives up M’s operating rights, Cactus Pete’s Resort Casino in Jackpot would be its only location in Nevada. The real estate assets of M Resort are owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties, so any deal would be for the operating rights (NASDAQ:GLPI).

Also, MGM has always liked a model with few assets. All of the US venues for the biggest operator on the Las Vegas Strip are rented.

M Buy would make MGM’s dominance in Las Vegas even stronger.

Penn may discuss M Resort with others. The Pennsylvania company may receive multiple bids if it opens the bidding procedure to acquire the best pricing.

These include operators like MGM that wish to expand in Las Vegas and those who don’t yet. MGM might strengthen its Las Vegas dominance by adding M Resort. The business bought the Cosmopolitan and sold the Mirage in recent months. Sometimes these deals fail.

“New casino operators have pros and cons. Cosmopolitan, owned by MGM Resorts, has received poor reviews. When a corporation changes hands, executives often leave “”Roeben,”