Vegas News March 8, 2020
It’s 2020 and the only clock I have to spring forward is in my car, Big Red. I’ll do that eventually. Let this serve as your reminder to change any clocks you might have. Now, onto the Vegas News.
Expect traffic on the north end of the Vegas Strip area if you’re in Las Vegas this week. ConExpo/Con-Agg is one of the biggest conventions in Las Vegas this year. Expect higher traffic volume anywhere from The Venetian to Sahara and east to the Las Vegas Convention Center and Westgate.
This was a strange week of news around the world so this will be a little shorter than usual.
Coronavirus and Las Vegas
You may have heard that there’s a thing called Coronavirus (COVID 19) floating around. It’s impacting many people around the world and it seems as if information about the virus is changing hourly. My Vegas notes alone are out of control and I can’t keep up. It’s probably not right to speculate about this so I’ll keep that to a minimum.
As much as Las Vegas is a great place to visit, it’s also a convention town. You may have heard that SXSW was canceled this week because of Coronavirus. The music and tech expo bring about 400,000 people to Austin, TX. Las Vegas has events with hundreds of thousands of people every couple of months and similar cancelations could be a disaster for businesses.
Just about every event on the schedule in Las Vegas is a candidate to possibly be canceled. Rumors and actual cancelations are popping up daily so keep an eye on twitter. Google canceled its I/O conference this week. Adobe canceled its developer conference and there are probably more cancelations that I’m missing. Pro Football Talk has a fairly balanced eye on the possibility of the NFL Draft not taking place in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas business people are already being impacted. Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the Golden Nugget, tells CNBC that his restaurants are already losing $1 million per week. The NY Times says companies are cutting back on travel. Leisure travel is dropping too. That can’t be good for Las Vegas but I’ll wait for actual information from the businesses before diving too deep.
Casinos are cleaning more often to cut down on the potential spread of the disease. It’s probably best I don’t comment on this so. You can read about MGM Resorts’ temporary enhanced cleaning here.
Last But Not Least
Last but not least, Clark County is constantly updating twitter with official news about the virus spreading in Las Vegas if you’re looking for local updates. This is a worldwide problem so you might want to visit the World Health Organization if you need any information about Coronavirus.
There are new details about Coronavirus way too often to avoid or keep up to date on. For what it’s worth, this update is being written on Saturday morning so there will be at least 24 hours between the writing of this and when you read it. A lot can happen in that time.
Las Vegas Gateway
Construction on the Las Vegas Gateway to downtown will begin this month. This rendering is adorable but doesn’t show the stoplight that will be located below the words Las Vegas. You can find a more realistic rendering and more info here. The traffic light gets in the way of an otherwise pretty picture. Well, as pretty as you can get in the area.
BetMGM Launches In Nevada
MGM Resorts officially launched its national sports betting brand in Nevada this week. There’s a new sports betting app, about 100 new kiosks in MGM Las Vegas casinos, and the company might be upgrading some of the sportsbooks inside Las Vegas casinos. You can read more about it here.
The launch event took place at Park MGM where the Moneyline sports book became the first BetMGM sports book. Besides a couple of kiosks, there’s nothing new since the renovations last year.
There’s one thing that should be noted to sports bettors in NJ, IN, and WV (I’m not sure about MS). Odds and limits in Nevada originate from Las Vegas. There may be different lines and betting limits might not be as low as they are elsewhere.
Quick Hits – Vegas News
The first concert taking announced for Allegiant Stadium will be…Garth Brooks. Read more here. I think we might see something local for a grand opening but that’s just speculation.
- Dayclubs and pool parties are starting this weekend. Read more here.
- There’s a Whitney Houston hologram show coming to Flamingo Las Vegas. Read more here.
- Want to get married in Las Vegas for free? Read more here.
- Tony Bennet is doing a limited engagement at Wynn Las Vegas in September. Read more here.
- Binion’s and Four Queens may have been hacked. Read more here.
- New restaurants like Chickie’s & Pete’s coming to SAHARA Las Vegas have been in the works for a while. I guess they’re calling this a reboot for the property. Read more here.
- Vegas Advantage put together a list of the lowest price 3:2 blackjack games all over Las Vegas. This includes a $1 3:2 game! Read more here.
- The Hard Rock might be gone when Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opens but the Adult Video convention and awards will stay in the building. Read more here.
- The Circa Sports contests are now open. Visit CircaSports.com for more information.
- UFC International Fight Week will take place in July. There’s a free event at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. Read more here.
