It's no secret that the clincher for MGM MIRAGE's $7.65 billion buyout offer for Mandalay Resort Group (still undecided when this column went to press) is the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, a 1.8 million-square-foot wonder that opened in January 2003 and is primarily responsible for the company's impressive earnings growth over the past year.

As a possible sign of things to come, the convention center has recently scored some top-shelf shows with one common goal: the ability to draw coveted consumers to not only Mandalay Bay but its adjacent Luxor and Excalibur.

One is Networld + Interop, an information technology convention that will move from the Las Vegas Convention Center to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center next year. The trade show attracted up to 25,000 people last month.

"It was less about pricing and more about the entire package," Lenny Heymann, the show's general manager, said. "It's a spanking new, modern facility. We needed large conference facilities close to the show floor. And they have large meeting space and a great sound system."

MediaLive International, the San Francisco owner of the show, had not shopped around for locations until this year even though the show has been running continuously at the Las Vegas Convention Center since 1994, he said.

Switch No. 2 is West Coast Exclusive, a premier menswear show that intends to relocate its next show in August from The Rio to Mandalay Bay.

The Rio show was held in hotel suites in the style of New York fashion shows -- a style that is few and far between in the Las Vegas meeting and convention world. But each consecutive show has experienced a growth in attendance of about 30 percent, warranting a move to a bigger, trade show format, said Amy Freeman-Cohen, director of marketing and on-site producer of West Coast Exclusive. The show is owned by partners Larry Hymes, Stevie Goetz and Hyela Sablowski.

"We love The Rio, but we've outgrown it," she said.

About 2,500 buyers attend the event, which features about 150 exhibitors such as Ungaro, Joseph Abboud and Zanella.

A "small contingency" would have liked to continue under the hotel format at The Rio because of the intimacy and exclusivity that hotel suites can offer, she said. But the show hopes to achieve a similar effect at Mandalay Bay with the use of breakout meeting rooms in addition to the trade floor space, she said.

"The convention center is amazing. It smells clean, it's state of the art, it's luxury and it's more in the class we are in," she said.

The third event is the Global Sporting Expo, a recently launched consumer show that has the distinction of drawing a group of people who are among the most coveted by elite casinos.

The expo, which is open primarily to consumers at $300 a pop, will feature adventure travel companies, clothing makers, sporting goods manufacturers and other groups that cater to big game hunters. The event will feature VIP lounges, cigar bars, auctions, an art gallery and other unusual upper class touches.

Among the exhibitors will be custom gun dealers, taxidermists, wildlife artists, furriers and travel companies specializing in everything from hunting lion in Africa to marlin fishing in Panama -- trips that typically cost tens of thousands of dollars. About 2,500 to 3,000 people are expected to attend.

"These are people who really like to spend money," said Sandra Encinas, the Tuscon-based owner of the show and a former convention director for Safari Club International, a members-only hunting group. "These are the affluent. They've got to buy the custom rifle, the custom clothing. They will furnish their homes with art and have designer trophy rooms."

The adventure of hunting also translates to the casino floor, where big game hunters like to gamble, she said.

"Mandalay Bay was the upscale property we're looking for," she said.

Consumer shows aren't as widespread as trade shows in Las Vegas but can be a boon to casinos if they target an attractive niche such as big game hunting, said Chris Meyer, director of convention center sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The idea for the show was "very smart" from the standpoint of attracting casino customers, he said.

Not to be outdone, Wynn Las Vegas -- which is expected to once again set a new standard for luxury on the Strip -- has landed a small, yet ultra-exclusive show.

The Couture Jewelry Collection & Conference will be moving from Phoenix to make a new home at Wynn Las Vegas in spring 2005.

Having the show in Las Vegas will be more convenient for buyers who are already attending JCK Las Vegas, the country's largest retail jewelry show, which runs within the same week as the Couture show, Couture organizers said.

Meyer said the Couture show has the distinction of attracting some of the most elite buyers in the country and also has one of the highest exhibitor costs -- about $25,000 per booth.

"It's very, very high end and it's a great event to have in Las Vegas," he said.

Couture show owner VNU also will be bringing another show to Las Vegas next year. The Kitchen and Bath Industry Show & Conference will take place May 10-12 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where it has already sold out exhibit space. The show, which attracts about 70,000 people, will be moving from Chicago because organizers anticipate drawing a bigger attendance in Las Vegas, Meyer said.

While the Mandalay Bay Convention Center may seem to be succeeding at the expense of other properties, the property is actually helping the entire city by demonstrating its popularity with buyers, he said.

"You're giving your client (more choices). And when you give the customer the ability to have a choice, then they're a more satisfied client. That trickles down to all of us," Meyer said.

"Everyone else is also having just as great a year but you're not seeing the same percentage increases" at other properties because Mandalay's convention space is so new, he said. "If you built a facility like that onto an MGM, you'd have the same type of trend."