Vegas News July 11, 2021

The Great Vegas Comeback (™) Continues

Even though COVID Isn’t Over, The Great Vegas Comeback (™) continued this weekend with action up and down the Vegas Strip. On Friday night, Justin Bieber played an intimate (for a person that can play arenas) show at Wynn Las Vegas. The high-priced tickets sold out quickly. Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan played to a packed house at MGM Grand on Friday too. The next time, UFC and Garth Brooks sold-out T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium, respectively. 

There hasn’t been this much entertainment in Las Vegas at the same time in more than a year. This was supposed to be another busy weekend of Las Vegas reopening to the world. Unfortunately, Las Vegas takes two steps forward and one step back.

COVID Isn’t Over

COVID Isn’t Over — COVID-19 rates, hospitalizations, etc. have spiked to the same level as February. Once again, COVID-19 is responsible for putting entertainment on hold. Boxer Tyson Fury has COVID-19 and his fight with Deontay Wilder at T-Mobile Arena scheduled for late July has been postponed. The fight is rumored to be moved back to October. The new date probably won’t be announced until Fury is completely healthy. 

While there’s room to consider a pause, shows are still returning. Brooklyn Bowl is open and booking shows. The restaurant – featuring Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken – is once again open daily. Local performers are taking to the stage now with touring bands appearing later this year. You can see the calendar here.

This Week At Cosmo

I spent a couple of days at the Cosmopolitan this week and it was crazy busy. Once again, busier than my previous visit. This month’s local promotion included two complimentary buffets. The line for the Wicked Spoon buffet was an hour-long the day I checked into the hotel.

Even though the casino was busier it seemed like there was a similar proportion of guests wearing masks as the last time I stayed there in May. Once again, masked and unmasked all seemed comfortable and respectful with each other. 

Las Vegas still feels like it’s very much on the way back to normal. I’m not sure how the COVID-19 resurgence will affect the progress. I’m not going to guess but will certainly be monitoring the situation.

If you’re concerned about COVID-19, keep your eyes on mainstream news outlets for updates. The Nevada Independent has been my source for COVID-19 data since last year. There’s usually context provided if you need that too.

Las Vegas Quick Hits

Las Vegas Quick Hits

This wasn’t an especially newsy week in Las Vegas. I’m expecting more corporate announcements, like the first quick hit, as we get closer to quarterly earnings reports. The second hit is about an announcement I’m expecting later this month.

• This week Caesars announced a large renovation at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The original main entrance, main casino, and porte-cochère will be updated to “create an extravagant entryway.” The company will also redesign the gaming areas and add a new lobby bar.
• The original main entrance of Caesars Palace isn’t the current main entrance that brings guests to the hotel lobby to check-in. This is the entrance next to the valet entrance.
• The renovation will be complete in time for New Year’s Eve. In the meantime, The main valet on the Vegas Strip will only be accessible to Diamond and Seven Star Caesars Rewards members.
• All guests will be able to enter from The Colosseum valet near the self-parking garage off Frank Sinatra Drive. Rideshare pickup is moving the exit doors next to Vanderpump Cocktail Garden.
• The Caesars Palace Las Vegas renovation isn’t much of a surprise as this was mentioned during a recent earnings call. 
• Speaking of earnings calls, Red Rock Resorts just announced its earnings call for July 28. During its last earnings call the company said we should have details about the next casino it plans on building. You can read some info about Durango Station here.
• I mentioned that Las Vegas is going to be hot a few weeks ago. Well, it’s hot. Like record-breaking heat, kind of hot. It was so hot this past week that some flights in and out of Las Vegas were canceled. Read more here.
• Rumor of the week: Vital Vegas is reporting that there’s another report that Gordon Ramsay’s next restaurant will be at Harrah’s. 
• Replacing a low-margin buffet with an upper mid-tier restaurant makes sense for New Caesars which is looking to increase profit anywhere it can. I expect this will be announced soon enough. This will also give Caesars another excuse to tout the Harrah’s renovation that was finished again earlier this year.
• Pour out a 40 for the Harrah’s buffet.
• The Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival will be back in October. Foodie events with celebrity chefs will take place throughout Las Vegas once again. Read more here.
• It looks like there are going to be plenty of live poker tournaments in Las Vegas during the fall. Read more about the other poker events happening around the same time WSOP will be at Rio All-Suite Hotel here.
• Construction and traffic are coming to the south end of the Vegas Strip near Mandalay Bay this week. This is the second phase of the awful roads and traffic happening around Resorts World. Read more here.
• Sharing this because it’s a weird one. People from *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men are going to sing hits from each other’s groups at The Venetian. Read more here. 
• Tuscany dumped the table games nobody played. Read more here. More importantly, Pub 365 will still have the largest beer menu near the Vegas Strip. This is also home to the closest Circa Sports location to the Vegas Strip.

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