Bob Scucci, race and sports book manager for Boyd Gaming's (nyse: BYD - news - people ) Stardust Hotel-Casino, said Nevada gaming regulations restrict his firm to sports betting.
The Panthers quietly took a major step towards diversification in late July when they signed a partnership agreement with Vegas casino operator BoydGaming to try to bring a large casino-resort to Sunrise.
The Genting Group announced Monday that it will break ground in 2014 on the 87-acre site where the partially built Echelon project has sat for nearly five years, put on indefinite hold by BoydGaming Corp.
Construction workers toiled for a year and built 12 stories on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Desert Inn Road before the credit markets choked and BoydGaming Corp abruptly put the enterprise on hold.
The MGM deal, which is contingent on a regulatory regime being established for online poker on either the federal or state level, helps define the competitive landscape as casino companies get ready to enter the online gambling business in the U.S. BoydGaming also announced on Monday that it has entered into an online poker alliance with Bwin.party.