Casino-resorts are what stir the drink for just about everything in Las Vegas. On the Vegas Strip and around town, these properties not only offer hotel rooms to sleep in but casinos for gambling, malls for shopping, bars for drinking, restaurants for eating and so forth. Everything else you can find in Las Vegas is just a bonus.

Earnings Reports

I generally follow Las Vegas news in three ways. I look for what’s has happened in casino-resorts, what will happen and 3. what’s happening now. These reasons are why I pay such close attention to earnings reports by the larger casino operators. These reports must review the previous quarter of business and often include forward-looking statements on what we can expect in the future.

Las Vegas Sands Earnings

If the name doesn’t sound familiar, Las Vegas Sands is the owner and operator of The Venetian and The Palazzo. The majority of business the company does is overseas but these two luxury resorts are among the most popular in Las Vegas. Last quarter, on average, the 90% of the hotels were booked each day.

Knowing how busy a hotel will be can help to explain why their rates are high or low. In the case of The Venetian and The Palazzo, the average daily room rate was $254 per night per suite. That rate was an increase of more than 6% from 2015. Expect the trend of higher room rates to continue to rise at hotels with renovated rooms and luxury casino-resorts in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal (owned by the same person that owns Las Vegas Sands) has a detailed overview of Las Vegas Sands 4th quarter earnings from all over the world.

Looking Ahead At Wynn Resorts

The name association with Wynn Resorts is more simple than Las Vegas Sands. This is the operating company for Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas. Instead of looking back at 4th quarter earnings, I want to look at the future development of the already large casino complex on the north end of the Vegas Strip.

I was looking forward to this earnings report because I wanted to know the status of two future expansion projects for Wynn in Las Vegas. Well, I kind of found what I was looking for. The mall construction that you’ll see at Wynn today is expected to be finished before the year is over. We should hear more specific opening information next quarter.

The news I was really looking forward to was if Wynn Paradise Park would be a reality or not. That question wasn’t entirely answered. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal Steve Wynn says that the plans for the new lagoon, hotel, casino, convention space, etc. are “nailed down.” Moreover, he said, “I hope to take the business plan to our board of directors in the second quarter and be in a position to begin work in the fourth quarter.”

I’m still not sold that this is a done deal yet. It almost seems as if Wynn said, “come back to me in 9 months for an answer that we’re not moving forward with this idea.” I hope that I’m wrong because the initial ideas are amazing and slightly bananas. You can see the press release with more information on earnings from Wynn Resorts here.

Hooters News?!

Hooters Casino was in the news this week. This doesn’t happen very often for the property located just off the Vegas Strip next to the Tropicana and across the street from MGM Grand. Rumors have been swirling for years that the property would be sold, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The current owners are investing $20 million dollars renovating the old San Remo casino.

All 657 rooms will be renovated and the casino floor is being made over with the sports book doubling in size. The pool has already been renovated and will open in late April. There are new shows and restaurants being planned and even the Hooters uniforms will be made over.

The changes sound good and could make Hooters an excellent value casino located very close to the Vegas Strip. I look forward to possibly making a visit to one of the few casinos in Las Vegas that I’ve never been to.

Las Vegas Raider Are Still In The News

While there’s nothing happening there’s a lot of “news.” I’ll get serious about the news on the Raiders when they’re officially allowed to move to Las Vegas. Here are some links if you’re curious about the progress of the Raiders moving to Las Vegas.

• Las Vegas finally has a site chosen, but it might have infrastructure problems. Read and watch here.
• The Raiders have proposed that they would only pay $1 to lease the stadium. They also want all of the money generated from everything ever. Read what’s up here and here. Note, the Las Vegas Review-Journal is owned by a person who might contribute money towards building the stadium.
• CBS Sports has more thoughts and a national point of view. Read and watch here.

Super Bowl Prop Bets Are Available

The Super Bowl (or Big Game) is the most wagered on an event of the year in Las Vegas sports books. Unlike other games, there are hundreds of ways you can wager on the game. Every sports book offers prop bets but nobody has as many as William Hill, who offer more than 800 wagers on the game. I posted a link to their 10 page pack of prop bets here.

Las Vegas sports books only take wagers on what happens during the game. There are no national anthem or halftime wagers for Lady Gaga available. You should note that every sports book operator has their own huge prop bet package available. Odds and wagers may be different at different casinos.

Get Ready For More Sports News From Las Vegas

Las Vegas has five local sports talk radio stations. Each radio station is a local affiliate of a larger network (ESPN, Fox, NBC, etc.). However, a new national sports talk radio venture will launch nationally on SiriusXM radio from the South Point before even having a local affiliate. Brent Musburger will be retiring from his broadcasting job with ABC/ESPN to start the Vegas Sports Information Network.

While the network will be focused mostly on sports and sports betting, there will be a local Las Vegas legend joining the network. All of Norm Clarke’s writing will be migrating to the Vegas Sports Information Network website when it launches (supposedly tomorrow). I love sports, sports betting and Vegas news and I’m looking forward to seeing what the Vegas Sports Information Network turns into.

Edge Vegas, Anyone?

I forgot to include news about The Edge Las Vegas last week because I doubt it will ever be built. However, my blog is named EDGe Vegas and the makes me chuckle. Fun fact, I’m getting fewer incoming searches for Edge Vegas than ever. Thanks! Read about it here.

Big Restaurant Happenings Off The Vegas Strip

Two Chick-Fil-A restaurants opened in Henderson last week. The same people who waited hours for White Castle, Cracker Barrel, and Ikea are waiting in line for fried chicken. I live on the other side of Las Vegas and DGAF. I’ll give you a heads up when the location near Palace Station opens. That’s location is both near the Vegas Strip and close enough to where I live.

Last week, I noticed that the Starbucks at Red Rock Casino started accepting payment from the Starbucks app. This was the first time I noticed someone paying with the app. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend. Licensed Starbucks in casinos have not been accepting payment via app previously.

Entertainment News and Rumor

Crapshoot Comedy Fest Coming Together Nicely!

This massive comedy festival will be taking over downtown Las Vegas from May 18-20. There will be standup comedy shows and podcast recordings all over the area including El Cortez, Beauty Bar, Fremont Country Club, Commonwealth, and Inspire Theater.

The initial lineup includes Dave Attell and a slew of comedians who you’ll know if you watch Comedy Central. You can read more information over at The Laugh Button.

Rumor Of The Week: Adele Residency In Las Vegas

This rumor has been off and on for a couple of years. The latest version of this rumor has Adele doing a residency of some kind with MGM Resorts at T-Mobile Arena. I can see this finally happening although I think she’d be a better fit for Park Theater than T-Mobile Arena.

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