Question of the Day - 27 October 2020

[Editor’s Note: The following appears in the October issue of the Las Vegas Advisor, which we’re reprinting here for faithful QoD readers who aren’t subscribers.]

For decades, we’ve published a detailed report on football parties in October, spearheaded by visits to 30-40 Monday Night Football gatherings during the first few weeks of the NFL season.

We made the rounds again this year, but it was mostly an exercise in futility. As with almost everything else, especially things that are entertainment related, the pandemic has changed the landscape drastically. This was obvious from the first stop at Suncoast, where the showroom and the casino’s sports bar, The Game, were closed and other than MNF being shown on the big screen in the sports book, you wouldn’t know it was Monday night.

It was the same pretty much everywhere we checked. No hot dog specials (some casinos don’t even allow food in the sports book due to COVID precautions). No raffles. No $1 lap dances at halftime in the gentlemen’s clubs (most are still closed). It really hit home when we walked into South Point and the showroom that’s hosted the best MNF party for years was locked up tight. The one element that survived is the drink special, but even those are reduced. Domestic beers are $2 at Station properties and $3 at Boyd.

There are some exceptions.

Green Valley Ranch and Ellis Island both had something of a party feel. GVR hosts a radio remote in Pizza Rock along with some food specials. EI had a crowd in the Front Yard and nearby karaoke bar and was offering a brat & beer special for $5, 20 wings for $15 (75¢ per), and food-and-drink packages in the Front Yard for $50-$85 per person. The best MNF party we found was at O’Aces Tropicana, where a big local crowd was gathered for 50¢ wings, $1 hot dogs and pizza slices, and raffled bar tabs.

This will probably be an evolving situation, but to what degree? During the first two weeks of the season, the bars were still restricted, which put a serious crimp in the ability to throw a party. The bars are open now, but we wouldn’t be surprised if things don’t change much. For years, we’ve chronicled how the scene has wound down from the glory days of the ’90s and can’t help but wonder if the crisis might be giving the casinos an opportunity to walk away from the MNF parties for good.