MGM National Harbor Opens with First Big Concert Thursday Night

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — After a staggering 100,000 people visited the new MGM National Harbor casino resort on its opening weekend, the resort faces its next big test: the first major concert featuring legendary R&B group Boyz II Men on Thursday night.

The four-time Grammy Award-winning group will be performing at 8 p.m., the first to take the stage at MGM National Harbor's entertainment venue. The $1.4 billion property had a grand opening on Dec. 8.

It will be another major test of how well the casino and Prince George's County can handle the huge traffic volume. The heavy traffic over the weekend forced police to shut down exits from the Beltway due to the traffic problems it was causing on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Those problems continued on Friday and Saturday, when the casino reached capacity both days.

The casino, which only has 5,000 parking spaces, is expected to maintain a significant amount of traffic, and some big names will be visiting in the coming months, including Bruno Mars, Lionel Richie and Cher.

Prince George's County Police will be managing traffic around the casino for at least the next month and a half.

Image via MGM National Harbor