Heads Up!
SEMA is in Las Vegas this week. The show will take place from October 30 – November 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Why am I telling you this off the bat? The automotive specialty products trade show is one of the largest in Las Vegas every year.
Expect traffic in the area around the convention center. Don’t be surprised when you see restaurants full of bros padding their expense accounts. If you’re in town you might want to make reservations.
Tropicana Easing Into Paid Parking
The Tropicana has been a go-to casino for people visiting T-Mobile Arena that don’t want to pay for parking at the venue. Well, those days are over. The Tropicana will be charging $15 for self-parking and $20 for valet on nights when there are events at T-Mobile Arena.
Unlike most casinos that charge to park, you will receive more than a parking space when you pay to park at the Tropicana. Everyone that pays to park at Tropicana will receive a $10 voucher for Robert Irvine’s Public House restaurant.
This is a nice gesture that will get you a bowl of soup or part of a burger at Irvine’s restaurant according to prices on their current menu. It would be easy to say that this is better than nothing but this might be worse. The $10 voucher will probably lead to a meal that costs $20-$30 per person. At the end, you’re really not getting a “deal.” You might actually save money parking at Monte Carlo for a hockey game.
Paid parking at the Tropicana is only for events like hockey games and concerts at T-Mobile arena…for now. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the fees remain or expand if it doesn’t hurt business.
New Caesars Rumors
Just over a month ago we told you that Caesars Entertainment was being infiltrated by activist investors. Last week the rumors continued that Tilman Fertitta was going to propose a merger with his companies and Caesars. CNBC seemed to think that Caesars would not accept that deal. It appears that Caesars won’t accept this deal.
Caesars taps Goldman Sachs
This week Caesars Entertainment hired Goldman Sachs to help them deal with activist investors. In the same article, the NY Post says that MGM Resorts International might be interested in buying Caesars-Entertainment “if it can do so in a friendly deal.”
There’s no way that MGM Resorts operating 80% of the casinos on the Vegas Strip can be a good thing but that’s another story. Vital Vegas is now spreading the rumor that Caesars is “making a play” for Red Rock Resorts (AKA Station Casinos).
Not all of these rumors can be true. However, where there’s smoke there’s usually fire when it comes to rumors. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.
Horses Are Coming And Going In Downtown Las Vegas
Horses Coming: The Plaza is opening a permanent outdoor equestrian center in downtown Las Vegas. The new home for horses will feature two outdoor arenas for practice and exercise. The new space will double the number of stalls for horses and cows.
Horses Going: When the sports book at Golden Gate casino opens they will not offer betting on daily horse races. Additionally, The D Las Vegas will stop the taking of action on the ponies in 2019. Lastly, 18 Fremont won’t have daily horse racing when it opens. Don’t worry if you’re the kind of person that likes horse racing events like the Kentucky Derby. They’ll still show the big races. You can read more here.
Big Chicken!
I was lucky enough to be invited to the grand opening of Big Chicken. The chicken restaurant comes to us from the one and only Shaquille O’Neal. It was pretty awesome seeing a human of his size up close.
The quick-serve fried chicken restaurant is across the street from the Hard Rock. You might be familiar with this shopping plaza because of the Italian restaurant Ferraro’s. The sandwiches are good and about $8 each. The Big Aristotle is my favorite. Here’s a pic of the Shaq Daddy slider. The prices are fair for a good and filling sandwich.
Big Chicken is a solid deal if you’re looking for a bite to eat around the Hard Rock. You can learn more here.
Quick Hits
Stop me if you’ve heard this before – there’s a lot happening in Las Vegas. Not everything needs analysis or additional information so feel free pick and choose what you’d like to learn more about.
- There wasn’t much interesting Las Vegas information when Boyd Gaming reported earnings this week. There’s still plenty of information about the company. Read more here.
- Las Vegas Sands (The Venetian/The Palazzo) also reported earnings this week. There’s not much interesting information from Las Vegas from LVS either. Ironic, since Las Vegas is in their name. Read more here.
- MGM Resorts reports earnings on October 30 at 5 pm Eastern. Expect some fireworks as they report a bad quarter and try to look to the future. Tune in here.
- It appears as though Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International are in the lead to get a casino license in Japan. Read more here.
- The NBA G League Winter Showcase will take place at Mandalay Bay from December 19-22. If minor league basketball is your thing, you can read more here.
- I wrote about the new sports book being built at Golden Gate and the sports books at The D and 18 Fremont. You can read more here.
- Construction of Eataly at Park MGM is on schedule and the new venue will open in December. Read more here.
- I had a few people asking about Eataly this week. Check out eataly.com to see what they offer.
- Tao and Palms are no longer partners. Nightclub and restaurant are up in the air. Read more here.
- Lady Antebellum has that one song that was popular seven years ago. That’s all it takes to get a Vegas residency in 2018. Read more here.
- Last year we told you that Hard Rock would be implementing a drink monitoring system. Vital Vegas checked it out so I could hang out with Shaq across the street. Read more here.
- You know I love Sambalatte. They just opened a new location at the Smith Center! Read more here.
- Eater is reporting that Bond at the Cosmopolitan will see a facelift. I look forward to whatever they have planned next. Read more here.
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