It’s race day in Las Vegas! Beastmode – Marshawn Lynch – will be driving the pace car at the South Point 400 today. This is the second NASCAR race in Las Vegas this year and the first race of the NASCAR playoffs. Enjoy!
Let’s start off the Vegas news of the week with a rumor that dropped just as the work week came to an end.
Vegas News – Rumor of the week: Circus Circus Sold
Vital Vegas wrote a blog post saying that Circus Circus has been sold. This is a timely rumor that very well could have legs. On their last earnings call, MGM Resorts said it will announce any real estate moves before the third quarter earnings report is released. Well, we’re two weeks away from the end of the third quarter. An official announcement should be coming any day if this rumor is true.
As Scott writes, Circus Circus has “long considered the red-headed stepchild of the MGM Resorts family.” It’s not even part of Mlife Rewards. Loyal guests are part of the Circus Players Club.
Vegas memorabilia collectors might want to sign up for a Circus Players Club card and/or grab a Circus Circus chip. In addition to being an outlier as far as loyalty, Circus Circus is also physically distant from all other MGM Resorts Las Vegas properties. Circus Circus is the northernmost MGM property on the Vegas Strip about two miles away from The Mirage.
This rumor includes a less sexy real estate deal for the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. Again, the location of this land next to Circus Circus doesn’t make much sense for MGM Resorts – especially with the new stadium being built behind Mandalay Bay.
AEG will promote large scale events at Allegiant Stadium. MGM Resorts can market Mandalay Bay as the closest hotel to the venue. AEG has close ties with MGM Resorts as they’re the co-owner and book talent at T-Mobile Arena.
These potential sales make a lot of sense for MGM Resorts. Oh yeah, they might end up selling some of their properties to themselves. That rumor is still out there. Could Bellagio really be on the market? I say no.
MGM Resorts Real Estate Deals
We should hear news about any MGM Resorts real estate deals in the next couple of weeks. Details about any land and casinos sold will follow when MGM Resorts reports earnings in early-mid October.
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More New Bar Top Games Coming
Last week in Vegas News we told you about the new Aristocrat Winner’s World bar top gaming system. This new gaming cabinet bring the popular Buffalo and Buffalo Grand slots to bar tops.
This week we were reminded that IGT dropped some news about another new bar top gaming system on their most recent earnings call. They will release PeakBarTop. This will be an update the current IGT bartop consoles that you’ve seen for years.
There will be new games along with the Game King and Ultimate X games drinkers have been enjoying at bars. I expect to hear and see more about this at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in a few weeks.
Resorts World Hires Executives
Resorts World Las Vegas just hired a slew of executives that used to work at other Las Vegas casino corporations. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and VP of Human Resources won’t evoke much excitement for the average casino guest.
The VP of Food & Beverage, Bart Mahoney, will certainly have an impact on visits to Resorts World. He used to work at Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts, and it also looks as though he worked with Golden Entertainment when they re-launched the Strat as THE STRAT. He should have a well-rounded opinion on what a variety of casino guests are looking for.
Resorts World appears to be gearing up for an opening in 2020 as they’ve recently planned. This casino was supposed to be open already, so I’ll believe it when I see it. Having said that, companies don’t hire this many executives without having a near term plan to recoup that investment. You can read more about the employees at Resorts World here.
More Changes At Plaza
It seems as though there’s always something happening at the Plaza. The casino will be removing all of its coin-operated video poker or slot machines.
The good news for fans of these games is that the Plaza is giving away the games! There’s one big catch – you have to be a Nevada resident to take home one of the vintage games. Additionally, if you win one of the Joker Poker games, you might have to physically fight @John_Mehaffey if you want to leave with the game.
You can read highlights of the promotion at the newspaper website or get all the details about the games at Vegas Advantage.
Personally, the big Vegas News to me is that the Plaza is renovating the sports book. The opening of the current William Hill sports book was the first opening of anything in Las Vegas that I attended. It holds a special place in my memory. There’s so much space in the sports book that I’m expecting a great new place to watch and wager on the games.
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Lots Of People Used Airbnb This Summer In Nevada
There are alternatives to paying resort fees in Las Vegas. The Travel Game posted some options earlier this week for those of you that want to stay in a hotel. For the past few years, visitors looking for alternatives to hotels have opted to stay at an Airbnb.
It looks as though plenty of people visiting Las Vegas have used their summer vacation to explore staying away from the casinos in Las Vegas. There were more than 235,000 Airbnb guest stays in Clark County from May 25 through Sept. 2, according to Airbnb. There was about 90,000 guest stays in the rest of Nevada according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Airbnb can be a great option for anyone looking to save a few bucks on lodging in Las Vegas. However, the service isn’t a panacea. Condos, houses, and apartments might have a cleaning fee. Some condos attached to casinos might also have a resort fee. There’s also that darn “hidden camera problem” to consider. That said, Airbnb is an alternative to paying nightly parking and resort fees.
Quick Hits – Vegas News
These brief nuggets of Vegas News often end up having a lot of information that falls into a no particular category. Sometimes there’s a lot of restaurant information. This week it seems like there was a lot of entertainment news. Let’s get to it with one event I think many will enjoy.
- MGM Resorts has a bunch of activities planned for the 25th anniversary of the TV show “Friends” on October 18 and 19. The first big event is the debut of a new Bellagio fountain show with the theme song from the show. There are plenty more activities at New York-New York including an escape room, Lego display, and even a monkey. Read more here.
- RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! Is coming to the Donny and Marie Theater at Flamingo in 2020. Read more here.
- David Lee Roth is doing a residency at House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay. Read more here.
- The Barry Manilow residency is back at the Westgate for another year. Read more here.
- Saul Canelo Alvarez is returning to Vegas to fight Sergey Kovalev on November 2 at MGM Grand. Read more here.
- We recently shared details for Majestic Las Vegas. Well, the owner wants to get rename Debbie Reynolds Drive as Majestic Plaza Place. Read more here.
- There’s a wine bar opening in the Art’s District of downtown Las Vegas. Read more here.
- Downtown Grand will have some free concerts during Life Is Beautiful from Sept. 20-22. Read more here.
- It looks like betting Breeder’s Cup futures won’t be happening in Las Vegas. Read more here.
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