Las Vegas resort updates
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The Sphere is looking really good with lots of work ongoing the past few months, it's really ramped up.



The inside of The Sphere and it's predicted layout for the venue.



It's hard to get a sense of scale on just how big this building is until you see the people working on it!

A California tribe is poised to make gaming history later this month after the Nevada Gaming Control Board voted unanimously last week to recommend approval for its purchase of a Las Vegas resort.

If the state’s gaming commission green lights the sale of the Palms Casino Resort on Dec. 16, the San Manuel Band of Indians would become the first tribe to own and operate a resort in the heart of the U.S. gaming industry.

Source: https://www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2021/12/08/business/tribe-inches-closer-to-historic-purchase-of-las-vegas-resort/102647.html

Another MGM on the south end of the strip?

Another resort on the Las Vegas Strip could be in the works for MGM Resorts. The south end of the Strip could get another resort-casino courtesy of MGM Resorts International, which is also working on a strategy to attract more of its regional customers to Las Vegas. MGM’s chief financial officer Jonathan Halkyard said the south end of the Strip, near Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena, is the new focus for tourists, CDC Gaming Reports writes. The gaming giant acquired the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in September, as well, giving it domination of the southern end of the gaming corridor. Halyard’s comments and speculation came during Morgan Stanley’s Virtual Global Consumer & Retail Conference.

Source: https://vegas.eater.com/2021/12/6/22815301/mgm-resorts-another-casino-south-las-vegas-strip

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is nearing a $120 million deal to sell 10 acres of Strip-front property where the Riviera stood. The LVCVA’s board of directors on Tuesday is scheduled to consider selling the land at the southeast corner of Las Vegas and Elvis Presley boulevards, across from the long-stalled former Fontainebleau tower, to CB Investment SpA.

Terms of the LVCVA deal call for the north Strip property to be developed as a resort or hotel and prohibit any other use. The convention authority also would have the right of first refusal if CB Investment wants to resell the land. Terms of the sale require the company to begin construction by Jan. 1, 2031, with completion by Jan. 1, 2034.

The land sale is expected to close by June 30, but that could be pushed to Oct. 31, 2022, if the buyer pays $3 million to extend it. The LVCVA also retained the right to use the land, for a fee, until April 30, 2023, for parking, outdoor exhibitions or access to a planned connection at Resorts World for the Boring Co.’s underground-transit system.

Source: https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/lvcva-board-nearing-deal-to-sell-10-acres-at-former-riviera-site-2457480/

Las Vegas seems to be going crazy with the new resort announcements recently.

American luxury hotels operator Dream Hotel Group has reportedly been granted official permission to bring its latest property to an around five-acre parcel of land located at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.

According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, the New York-headquartered firm received the green light from the Clark County Commission on Wednesday afternoon to begin building a Dream-branded development that is to sit adjacent to the Nevada city’s McCarran International Airport. The source detailed that this work could now start from as soon as April before the finished 527-room resort hotel opens approximately two years later also offering a pool deck and a covered parking garage.

The newspaper reported that Dream Hotel Group collected the Clark County Commission’s consent for the $600 million property via a six-to-one vote only after it had agreed to make several changes to the layout of the envisioned 20-story venue. These alterations may purportedly end up costing the developer an extra $10 million but were instigated following criticism that the location of the enterprise next to the nation’s seventh busiest airport could lead to several ‘safety and security concerns.’

Source: https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/clark-county-officials-okay-dream-las-vegas-plan-for-the-las-vegas-strip-97318

Station Casinos received approval from county officials Wednesday to move forward with its much-anticipated plan to build a resort in the southwest valley.

The Clark County Commission greenlighted the company’s proposal to build a 211-room hotel with an 83,178-square-foot casino on South Durango Drive just south of the 215 Beltway. Station plans to break ground on its new project — Durango, a Station Casinos Resort — early next year, according to the company.

They say the resort will focus on gaming, have little competition within 5 square miles and cater to the southwest valley’s growing population. “Once again Stations, as a true locals casino, is coming to the rescue in the southwest, I’d say, by providing them a place where they can dine, where they can go hang out,” Bob Finch, chief operating officer for Station parent company Red Rock Resorts, told the Review-Journal.

The company intends to release a cost estimate for Durango at its third-quarter earnings call with investors this fall. Finch estimated Durango would open late 2023.

Plans submitted to the county note two phases of construction. The first phase would have a single 216-foot-tall hotel tower; water features; a parking structure; four restaurants and beverage stops; a “state-of-the-art” race and sportsbook; 20,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; a pool space with private cabanas and an event lawn; and electric vehicle charging stations.

Source: https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/station-casinos-durango-project-approved-for-southwest-las-vegas-2454124/

An interesting insight into cashless casinos and cashless resorts, such as the new Resorts World set up.

The gaming industry has adopted the term “omnichannel approach” to cashless technology. In addition to transferring funds, the digital systems are designed to allow customers to easily wager across all platforms — in-person slot machines and table games, sports betting and internet casino gaming in the four states where it is legal.

“We’re in the very early innings of the cashless rollout,” said Scientific Games Executive Vice President Matt Wilson. “In three to four years, more than half of the (casino) operators in the country will have some sort of omnichannel presence. We believe the future is building that digital wallet and allowing the customer to take that wallet and make transactions across all those platforms.”

The AGA released research in June 2020 showing 57 percent of casino visitors said digital or contactless payments on the casino floor are important to them because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another 59 percent of casino customers said they were less likely to use cash in their everyday lives out of coronavirus concerns.

Source: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/cashless-gaming-and-digital-payments-are-moving-into-the-casino-world

A veteran gaming executive with a long career at MGM Resorts will now lead the Palms in Las Vegas as it transitions to its new tribal owner.

The San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority announced Wednesday that Cynthia Kiser Murphey will serve as general manager for the off-Strip casino resort. Kiser Murphy has been the CEO of a benefits fund since 2020. Prior to that, she was president and chief operating officer for New York-New York from 2008 to 2020 and held other executive roles with MGM since 1992.

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians reached an agreement to buy the Palms from Station Casinos for $650 million back in May. Executives have said the deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Latisha Casis, the chairperson for the tribe's Gaming and Hospitality Authority, said it was important to find a leader for the Palms who shared the board's values, put people first and is committed to diversity.

Source: https://news3lv.com/news/local/san-manuel-tribe-veteran-mgm-executive-new-palms-general-manager-las-vegas

Current progress on the new entertainment venue in Las Vegas called MSG Sphere located across the street from the Venetian.

Source: https://twitter.com/SoCal360/status/1430244196233875456

Could a new resort be coming to South-West Las Vegas 20 years after being announced?