Vegas News October 25, 2020

Feature Story: Entertainment Returning To Las Vegas

Before we touch on our feature story: entertainment returning to Las Vegas; COVID-19 shows no signs of slowing down, and neither does the return of Las Vegas. This week Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak gave the state an update on the surge in Covid cases in the state. However, there are no new restrictions so businesses can continue operating as they’ve been for the past few weeks. 

Caesars Shows – Las Vegas

Last week Caesars Entertainment announced three shows would be returning before October ends. This week, the company announced that Tape Face will be returning to Harrah’s in November.

MGM Resorts Las Vegas – Entertainment Las Vegas

MGM Resorts joined the party by announcing that shows would resume at three casinos in November:

• Luxor: Carrot Top and Fantasy
• Excalibur: Thunder From Down Under and Australian BeeGees
• MGM Grand: David Copperfield, Jabawokeez, and Brad Garret’s Comedy Club

The shows will be different when they return. MGM Resorts will have social distancing and other safety measures in place. No show will have more than 250 people. This may not be strange for the comedy club but Copperfield will likely feel very different.

The Strat also announced that MJ Live will return alongside the LA Comedy Club. UNLV will actually have the biggest show in Las Vegas starting next week. Allegiant Stadium has been approved to allow 2,000 people to watch the Runnin’ Rebels play football.

This is all part of the slow road back to Las Vegas returning to the entertainment hub so many have come to enjoy. The entire experience isn’t for everyone but the entertainment venues will have to learn to crawl before learning to walk.

This is sort of the same thing for the Las Vegas experience. Not everything will return at once but that’s like in 2020. One step at a time…

Circa Opens This Week

Wow. Video of @CircaSports sportsbook @CircaLasVegas by @bailey_schulz pic.twitter.com/lic6YPknnA

— Marc (@MeltzVegas) October 22, 2020

Next week Circa will open amidst this strange time to be in Las Vegas. Michael and I will be on hand for the grand opening party and the first day of business for the property.

Circa Casino Opening

The casino at Circa will open with limited capacity and no hotel (that opens in December). The limited capacity and mask mandate are really the only things that will keep this from being a traditional opening. A few journalists and that blogger who won a lawsuit (congrats) this week were invited a bit before early to check out the joint. 

If you are curious about the “adorable” blogger and legal case
read more here:
Judge Dumps “Ill-Considered” Sahara Lawsuit
Against Adorable Las Vegas Blogger

Circa – Blowing My Mind

Circa is already blowing my mind. Shiny new objects always excite me and this is no different. The biggest compliment I can give is that the key features look as good if not better than the renderings. The sportsbook (above) appears to be as amazing as expected. That’s a lofty expectation. Stadium Swim is equally as impressive.

You can see pre-opening pics here. We’ll have pictures and video next week along with a new TravelZork Live detailing the grand opening experience.

Las Vegas Quick Hits

Quick Hits

I love going through Vegas news as it comes in throughout the week. Trying to share everything is stressful at times but that’s my issue to deal with. Headspace has helped me deal with my stress a lot over the past couple of years.

Anyway, we’ll start Quick Hits with a big of news that is cool but landed at a time I was trying to do other things. 

• Virgin Las Vegas released details about its pool complex this week. It’s pretty and there will be multiple outdoor dining and partying opportunities. I was so all over the place when this landed I forgot to ask about access to the pool for guests. I’ll do that after I’m done here.
• Semi-related, Mohegan Sun was approved to operate the casino at Virgin Las Vegas. 
• The Cromwell Las Vegas is reopening this week. HOLLA! The casino will be 21+ so there will be 0.00000000001% fewer kids. Read more here.
• Paris had another power outage. Maybe #NewCaesars will hire an exterminator to get rid of the rats.
• MGM Resorts will release earnings on Oct. 29. The earnings call should be interesting if you feel like listening. You can find specifics here.
• Las Vegas Sands (The Venetian) released earnings this week. I don’t pay much attention to this company since most of its business if not in Las Vegas. That said, I do look at ADR and occupancy to get a gauge on the hotel side of the business. Occupancy was 43.7% and ADR was $174 as opposed to $237 last year. 
• Boyd Gaming will resume its Hawaiian travel program to Las Vegas before the year is over. This should help business at The Cal and Fremont. Expect to hear more when the company reports earnings on Oct. 26.
• The Lakers partied in Las Vegas after winning the NBA Championship. Read about it here.
• The PLANET HOLLYWOOD Las Vegas Resort Poker Room is open once again. 
• Top Of The World at The Strat was the top-grossing independent restaurant in Las Vegas last year according to Restaurant Business. Eater breaks down the other Las Vegas restaurants on the list here.
• Din Tai Fung is the number one restaurant not at Circa on my list of places to eat in Las Vegas. So many people have said great things and I need to experience that. The restaurant just opened at Aria. Read more here.
• Crafthaus brewery downtown just extended its patio. The Arts District is a must-visit for anyone who loves drinking beer. You can read about my first visit to Able Baker Brewing almost exactly a year ago. Crafthaus created a beer for Psycho.
• I don’t eat shrimps but I know many loved the 99 cent Shrimp Cocktail at Golden Gate. It will return to downtown Las Vegas at Circa. Read more here.

• Last but certainly not least, Mesa Grill is closing. Bobby Flay will have a new Italian Restaurant in the same space. You can read the press release here.

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