Sahara Sam: Will he or won’t he?

An MGM Resorts International press release hailing the new SBE/M life partnership holds out a slim reed of hope that predictions Sahara Hotel & Casino owner Sam Nazarian will redevelop the site are more than just additional vaporware. (The Sahara was “two years away” from redevelopment … four years ago. Search the Las Vegas Review-Journal archives if you wish to track the typhoon of hype that accompanied SBE’s early months at the Sahara. Nazarian was such a Chatty Cathy and raised such lofty expectations that disappointment was predestined.)

If you’re enrolled in Nazarian’s “Preferred Partners” or “Founder” or “VIP” loyalty programs, you now “have exclusive access, benefits and privileges that span each company’s portfolio of award-winning resort, hotel, casino, restaurant, spa and nightlife brands [and] enjoy benefits, rewards and privileged insider access to incomparable accommodations, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, shows, gaming and spas within 15 MGM Resorts destinations nationwide.”

It’s a two-way street, as you’ve noticed. The M life member pool can be flowed into the SBE body of hotels and clubs. Thus, in theory, Nazarian could raid MGM’s player base to monetize a re-do of the Sahara site. However … unless MGM CEO Jim Murren either has a secret codicil whereby MGM would be paid to manage “SLSahara” (let’s call it) or has the credit line and appetite for a joint venture at the north end of the Strip, I don’t see it happening. As for the players, once they’ve seen Paris-Las Vegas — from a comfy terrace at Bellagio, that is — how are you going to keep them down on the SLS farm? (Or rather, herd them back to the lonely North Strip?) And Murren is much too smart to let Sahara Sam poach on his home turf. He needs those Founders and VIPs to fill the rooms at Aria and Vdara. Also, if Nazarian continues to forgo getting a gaming license (thereby losing out on that all-important slice of the revenue pie) any talk of redevelopment is moot.

The Sahara was always an odd fit amid the rest of SBE’s portfolio, especially with its archaic-looking room product (1980s, here we come!). As the Tropicana Las Vegas and other value-market properties are showing, that creaky ambience could have been fixed in the last couple of years for relatively little cash upfront. Besides, once you’re in for $350 million or more on an antiquated casino, how much is it worth to you, the owner, to try and make it competitive?

To his credit, Sahara Sam may have entertained a change of course. An undated, unsourced four-page action plan pitches a change of management plus $20 million in refurbishment, including a $600,000 makeover of the buffet and a $5 million solar field. It also blames Navegante Group‘s layoffs and marketing-budget cuts for contributing to the decline in the Sahara’s fortunes. The bottom line (“to realize [SBE’s] original plans”) was to “allow [the Sahara] to remain solvent  until 2011 or beyond if necessary.” [Emphasis added.]

If this a bonafide document, it makes one regret that Nazarian didn’t pull the trigger on the (alleged) proposal. By 2010, $20 million was going a lot farther than it did when SBE bought the place. It’s fascinating to read the memo although it might a clever forgery. For one thing, the letterhead uses an outdated version of the Sahara logo (without that little “sbe” inside the center minaret). But if you’re curious, I can e-mail you the PDF. To coin a phrase, We report, you decide.

Casinos are illegal across the vast majority of the great state of Florida. Bestiality, however, is not. Lawmakers in the Sunshine State, home of Disneyworld, have actually, repeatedly failed in their attempts to outlaw it. Gambling worse than unnatural acts? That’s the Bible Belt for you.