We were recently at the MGM Grand on a Saturday night and were amazed by all the people waiting to get into Hakkasan, the nightclub there. Just how big is the nightclub business in Las Vegas?
Big!
According to Nightclub and Bar magazine, in 2015 (the most recent figures available), seven out of 10 of the highest-grossing nightclubs in the U.S. are in Las Vegas: XS at Encore at number one (with $103-$105 million in annual revenues); 2 Hakkasan (MGM, $100-$103 million), 3 Marquee (Cosmopolitan, $80-$85 million), 4 Tao (Venetian, $50-$55 million), 6 Surrender (Wynn, $40-$45 million), 9 Hyde (Bellagio, $25-$30 million), and 10 LAVO (Palazzo, $20-$25 million).
In addition, many of these are megaclubs, the largest in the world. Hakkasan at MGM, for example, cost $200 million to open a five-story 80,000-square-foot venue consisting of two restaurants, four clubs, and Asian rooftop garden, not to mention a staff of 500.
Marquee at the Cosmopolitan is 60,000 square feet, with seven bars spread out over three rooms. The Main Room has the 40-foot DJ booth and a sound stage with thousands of subwoofers that surround the elevated massive dance floor.
Light at Mandalay Bay is nearly 40,000 square feet, infused with Cirque du Soleil energy and a massive LED screen that makes you feel like you’re partying in the year 2025.
In the good old (pre-2005) days, the clubs were an afterthought. Now, the club scene is so huge and generates so much revenue that it's more like nightclubs with a casino attached than casinos with a nightclub attached.
What's more, the casino can lose money anytime, while the nightclubs almost can't lose, as long as Millennials are dying to get in and make the scene. The club-goers are paying $15 for a drink that's $4 anywhere else. They're shelling out $500 for a bottle of booze that costs $25 at Albertson's. The tokes alone can be far more than what most people spend on a year's worth of big nights out in their hometowns.
The little guys wait in line for a couple hours just to sit in the bleachers watching the girls dance around the big guys at the $25,000 VIP tables down on the dance floor. It's a new spectator sport.
Casino hosts, who for decades had the most enviable job in gambling, are tossing in their gaming licenses to become club hosts. It's the new new new Las Vegas.
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VegasROX
Jul-16-2017
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