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Thank You Las Vegas Hospitality Workers I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the Las Vegas hospitality workers at our casinos, hotels and restaurants. You encounter some really great people that are doing everything they can to wether the storm.
Who’s closing their doors next…
Casinos in Vegas are constantly getting bought, closing down, being demolished, andbeing rebuilt as some new hotel/casino. Historic places like the Sands,the Dunes, the Desert Inn, and the Pioneer no longer exist. For the first three,their names live on in the streets named after them that intersect the strip. Andthe Pioneer’s famous waving “Vic” neon sign is still waving above downtown, thoughthe Pioneer itself is long gone.
Nick Christenson keeps a running tab of what casinos have closed, what they’ve become,and which casinos are on the chopping block next. You can read all about it at hisCasino Death Watch site. You can also see the featured interview with himby the folks at Vegas Tripping.
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Last updated: July 10, 2020
Recent News
Lots of things happening in the casino world, a lot of which is turmoil,but most of that has only temporary known effects, and what the businesswill look like in the longer term is a complete unknown at the present time. In the midst of this, we do have some hard news! Gaming Control approves the Eldorado acquisition of Caesars. Of course, a leveraged buyout of one of the largest casino companies in the worldimmediately before a worldwide pandemic doesn't look like the greatest business move in hindsight, but that ship has sailed.Is the new company with it's brand new debt load based on a pre-COVIDvaluation going to be viable? We'll see, but it seems like some stormyseas may be in its future.
We have yet another sort-of sale. This time the Rio has been sold toDreamscape Companies who will lease their property back to Caesarsto operate. So, this is just like the Bellagio deal where the ownershiptechnically changes hands, but customers won't see a difference. Consequently, while it is techincally true that the Rio has been sold, the real world consequences are so minor as to not really be the sort of thing the Death Watch was created to report. Nonetheless,here we are.
It's official, PhilRuffin will be the new owner of the Circus Circus. This is sadfor the Deathwatch staff, as now there is no MGM sports book where we can park for free. In related news, MGM agreed to sell the landunderneath the Bellagio to Blackstone and lease it back. Both dealswill free up cash for MGM, although there's no word on what they planto do with it. Dun dun dun!
Apparently,Resorts World is on track to open in 2020. When in 2020? Late. That'sall. Of course, by 'on track' they mean 'on track based on the latesttrack, which has been rescheduled many times', but that's kind of understood. For those who might not remember, Resorts World is theproject of Genting that is being constructed on the site of the formerStardust.
TheSuncoast land is up for sale. Note, the Suncoast casinois not for sale, just the land it sits on. The property owners are looking to sell with an asking price of $87 million. No matter whobuys it, we don't expect it to change the operation of the Suncoast,but since the Suncoast has a two-bit management team who prefers to kick out any customer who knows the first thing about how to gamble, we don't really care. Remember, if you're allowed to gambleat the Suncoast, the management there thinks you're a complete sucker.
We're hearing a bunch of rumors that has MGM selling Circus Circus to Phil Ruffin, the owner of Treasure Island. It's entirely possible, as some sources report, that a handshake dealalready exists to make the sale happen, but we have yet to hear anythingofficial. If these talks are, indeed, occurring, they're obviouslyrelated to other talks MGM is having about selling off other assets.Stay tuned.
Well, they finally went ahead and did it. Caesars Entertainment, or is it Eldorado Resorts, has gone ahead and sold the Rio. Sort of. Oh, they sold it alright, to some mostly undefined consortium of real estate investors for $516.3 million. However, Caesars is basically leasing it back, and will operate it for at least two years. So, for at least the next two years, absolutely nothing in the customer experience will change.
According to Bloomberg, theBellagio and the MGM Grand are on the auction block. Apparently,the potential buyer is Blackstone Group. We have no idea how real this is, since all parties alleged to be involved deny it, and no idea if it would come to pass if the negotiations were serious. Blackstonealready owns the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
We here at the Death Watch have long memories and that's more than aeuphemism for being old. Every now and then we enter a reflectivestate, and ask ourselves, 'Hey, wasn't X event supposed to have happened by now?' One of these that has seemed like it has beenpending for at least a decade is Hootersrebranding. Well, that day has finally come. It has been sold and will become OYO Hotel & Casino, with the transformationallegedly occurring by the end of the year.
Alert! Hotel Closing.The Hard Rock had initially planned to remain open during its renovation and renaming to become Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.Nowthey plan to close down for most of 2020. So, if you want to visit the Hard Rock Hotel, you have until just after the upcomingSuper Bowl to do so.
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Owner Alex Meruelo has announced thatthe name of the SLS Las Vegas will be changing ... back ... to Sahara.Okay. We think 'excited' would be to strong a word to describe howwe feel about this, but we're not opposed.
CaesarsEntertainment has agreed to have a majority of its shares acquiredby Eldorado Resorts. While Eldorado has grown mightily sinceit first opened its namesake property in Reno in 1973, this still seems like a seriously levereged buyout, and we recall that the last time a levereged buyout of Caesars occurred it didn't end upgoing so well. But once again, we weren't consulted.
The new owner of the shuttered Lucky Dragon says he plans to have the hotel up and running in about two months, and to have the casinofloor converted into a convention hall by the end of November. Healso plans to change the property's name, but doesn't yet have a new one selected. It kinda sounds like the dim sum restaurant, our favorite part of this property, won't be part of it's future.
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TheLucky Dragon has been sold. The new owner is Don Ahern, head cheeseof Ahern Rentals, a familiar name in Las Vegas. He paid $36 million forthe property, which is a really low winning bid. As far as we know, Ahern himself doesn't have a casino license or any direct experience inthe gambling business, so we don't know what his plans are. The placehad some good things going for it, so we hope that someone can turnit into a successful business. In any case, we wish the new ownergood luck.
TheWall Street Journal reports that the Cosmopolitan is for sale (article behind a paywall). The article speculates that its sale could bringin as much as $4 billion. We think that's a wild number. We do haveto congratulate Blackstone, the current owners, on sticking with thisproperty long enough for it to turn around. There was a time when despite good reviews, this place was considered a financial albatross.
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There's an article at the Las Vegas Independent that does a pretty goodjob of summarizing the changes that have been affecting the casinos of the Las Vegasstrip. While nothing going on seems to rise to the level of casinoclosings, there are reasons to think that the casino industry maybe heading for some changes.
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This one kind of slipped through the cracks on us. TheHard Rock Hotel will close at some point, either late this year orearly next, and after four months it will reopen as the Virgin Hotel. So, this is more rebranding than a real 'permanent' closing, and therewon't be an implosion of any sorts, but it's kind of a hotel closing.
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CarlIcahn has taken an ownership stake in Caesars Entertainment. Heowns about 10% of the company's stock and controls a quarter of itsboard. Icahn usually doesn't take a significant stake in a companyunless he thinks it should make changes. The idea of significantmanagement changes, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and assetsales all seem more likely going forward. What these changes willactually be remains to be seen.
We now know the name of the resort that will occupy the site of the former Las Vegas Club, itwill be called Circa. The current schedule has this place openingin December 2020. It will be nice to have a shiny new attraction downtown,so obviously we wish the Stevens' success in this venture.