Our sources told us that MGM had hoped to have entertainment up and running again ASAP, starting with David Copperfield next week, a plan that seems to have hopelessly over-optimistic. Even if Cirque du Soleil weren’t scattered to the four winds, bankrupt and hopelessly in debt, how do you fill a Cirque showroom in the era of social distancing, which is likely to be with us for some considerable time? Cirque is experimenting with socially distanced shows in Mexico, playing to crowds of 200. We don’t foresee that cutting the mustard on the Las Vegas Strip. Also, the line about “business demand” seems particularly telling, especially given softness in Strip room rates. Only Las Vegas Sands is posting higher ADRs than at this time last year.
The Cromwell will reopen October 3 (assuming that Tom Reeg hasn’t sold it by that point), although the situation may be complicated by the presence of vile Love Island. (“A show so sleazy even Vegas judges it,” quips Scott Roeben.) Five nights a week of Love Island suggests that America (or CBS-TV anyway) has passed some point of return in terms of moral rot. Like the actors’ clothing, “details surrounding the production are scant.” Everyone will be required to undergo a pre-filming quarantine for Covid-19 (rather than for STDs). TV “crew members will work in pods to limit interaction between them.” Let the partner-swapping commence!
And now a word or two about the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. They’re a confederation of the Arikara, Hidasta and Mandan peoples, 15,000 strong and owners of the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge. The latter is a Class III facility with 120,000 square feet of gambling a 220-room hotel. The eight acres on Mandalay Bay Road that the tribes purchased abut the Roman Catholic Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer on the north and MGM’s overflow parking lot on the west. The latter was a festival ground until the Mandalay Bay Massacre. It’s unclear whether the Affiliated Tribes’ new $12 million worth of land is zoned for gambling (probably not) nor what their endgame is. This isn’t the time to be building a hotel in Las Vegas and rezoning, while welcome, isn’t a given. Obviously it’s 99.9% unlikely the Interior Department would take the land into trust because the Fort Berthold tribes have no ancestral ties to Nevada. However, they could take a page from the Cherokee Nation‘s venture into Arkansas and open a straight commercial casino. If Hard Rock International can flirt with The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, what’s to keep other tribes out of Sin City? Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, after all, will be managing Virgin Hotel Las Vegas. What Las Vegas’ new tribal landowner does is going to bear close watching.
Jottings: As though the MGM news weren’t bad enough, Las Vegas absorbed a body blow in the form of the cancellation of the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show. It’s going to be an all-virtual event, a trend in trade shows that, if it continues much longer, will be irreversible … In an unwittingly disturbing and dystopian print ad, Chumash Casino Resort shows a young woman playing a slot machine in a deserted, post-apocalyptic (?) landscape. The tagline? “Welcome to Freedom.” Freedom from what? Other people? … To prove that they’re serious about health, the Seminole Tribe tautened its “Safe and Sound” program at its five Florida casinos. Sayeth the tribe, “Effective immediately, all guests must be stationary when lowering their masks or face coverings for eating, drinking or smoking. The change prohibits guests from walking in all public spaces without protective face coverings.” Golf-themed restaurant PLA at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood (the one with the big guitar) learned the news the hard way. The tribal landlords closed it for failing to hew to pre-existing safety guidelines. Don’t mess with the Seminoles.
