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A consortium of Las Vegas casinos has hired the Aegis Group to

handle its European launch, with a view to cleaning up against domestic

competition such as William Hill and Ladbrokes.

MGM Mirage, which owns the MGM Grand and Treasure Island Resorts on the

Las Vegas strip, awarded the strategy brief for the launch to the Aegis

Group companies, Carat International and Pegram Walters. The pair, which

will work with the Las Vegas-based branding agency Schadler Kramer, are

understood to have pitched against a full-service consortium drawn from

WPP agencies. Carat will develop communications strategy for the launch

and advise on budgets for advertising and PR.

"We are delighted to be working with MGM Mirage on such an exciting

project," Carat International's chief operating officer, Jerry Buhlmann,

said.

"This success highlights our strong communications planning ability and

also the strength of a combined market research and planning offer

through Aegis Group."

MGM Mirage's launch will focus on the UK, where it is the first real

threat to domestic bookmakers since the internet raised the possibility

of global gambling companies.

MGM Mirage plans to launch its site in the summer, taking advantage of

an upswing in gambling associated with the World Cup in Korea and

Japan.

The site will expand across the Continent if the UK launch is

successful.