{"id":27779,"date":"2020-08-18T07:54:05","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27779"},"modified":"2020-08-19T06:56:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T14:56:51","slug":"covid-tourism-at-ballys-college-football-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/covid-tourism-at-ballys-college-football-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid tourism at Bally’s; College football conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When Bally’s Las Vegas<\/strong> announced that the Real Bodies<\/em> exhibit would be adding “Covid-19 Content” we admittedly feared the worst: corpses of Coronavirus<\/strong> victims on display. While cashing in on Covid-19<\/strong> is in questionable taste, Real Bodies<\/em> seems to be attempting a conscientious job of educating the public: “The attraction, featuring 20 real, perfectly preserved human bodies and more than 200 anatomical specimens now includes the latest science-based information about the novel coronavirus, including\u00a03-D printed virus models<\/strong>, and a\u00a0COVID-19 short film<\/strong>\u00a0explaining in everyday language how the virus reacts to your body and how it can be spread.\u00a0Interesting facts<\/strong> about the virus, including how it affects each of the different body systems,” reads the press release. (emphasis in the original) Now the question is whether Sin City tourists, trying to escape pandemic coverage, will welcome a refresher course. Then again, who thought a display of cadavers would be one of the Las Vegas Strip’s longest-lasting tourist attractions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Explains Imagine Exhibitions<\/strong> CEO Tom Zaller<\/strong>. \u201cOur goal is to share with people the current findings about how this new virus affects the different systems of the body in an easy to digest form. The hope is that we all come out of the exhibition knowing a little more than when we went in.\u201d Amen to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Big Ten<\/strong> and Pac 10<\/strong> conferences canceled outright and two others\u2014the Mid-American<\/strong> and Mountain West<\/strong>\u2014delayed into next spring, sports books are understandably reeling. William Hill<\/strong> CEO Joe Asher<\/strong> tried to spin the events as a good thing, saying, “Obviously, this is a negative for our industry in the short term, but we take a long-term view on things like this, and there\u2019s no doubt that all college football ultimately will return and our customers will bet on other sports until it does.\u201d William J. Pascrell III<\/strong> of the Princeton Public Affairs Group<\/strong> minced fewer words<\/a>: \u201cThe entire pandemic has had a deleterious effect on the industry. College basketball and football are huge movers. Now there\u2019s less opportunity for betting.\u201d That’s certainly true for FanDuel<\/strong>, where college football is the #4 draw\u2014and 40% of Nevada<\/strong> sportsbook handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bettors aren’t totally out of luck, given that the SEC<\/strong>, ACC<\/strong> and Big 12<\/strong> still plan to play, and other conferences are on the fence. \u201cThe real question is, are they postponing it or canceling it,” Westgate Las Vegas<\/strong> sportsbook supremo John Murray<\/strong> asked Global Gaming Business<\/em>. “Because if they postpone it until the spring, I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be that bad for us. But if they outright cancel it like March Madness, that will be very, very bad. That was really a blow to us, to just lose the NCAA Tournament and never get it back.\u201d Murray’s upside scenario is that the pros move in to fill the collegiate void. \u201cI doubt the NFL<\/strong> is going to sit idly by and let there be no football games on Saturday and play 10 games Sunday. They\u2019ll move games to Saturday and have double-headers or triple-headers. The ratings will be huge, and the betting handle will be huge.\u201d That’s one way of looking at it … if it happens. We’re with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren<\/strong>, who said, “Every life is critical. We wanted to make sure we continually, not only in our words but in our actions, put the health and safety and wellness of our student-athletes first.\u201d Which is as it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we observe the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States<\/strong>, an occasion that Richard Schuetz<\/strong> takes to upbraid the “male and pale” composition of Big Gaming. Should regulators get involved<\/a>? Schuetz thinks so, citing both precedent and possible methodology. That being said, he’s not optimistic: “My guess is that many regulatory Board members will be afraid to do it, for they may soon need to collect contributions from the industry when they decide to run for office, need their next political appointment, or seek employment from the industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: PredictIt<\/strong> has flip-flopped its odds on the Massachusetts<\/strong> senate primary, putting Sen. Ed Markey<\/strong> (D) up over Rep. Joe Kennedy<\/strong> (D), 69 cents to 31 … Las Vegas<\/strong> attorney William Schuller<\/strong> is suing China<\/strong> (no kidding) on behalf of two Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong> fans because they can’t attend Raider games this fall thanks to the Beijing<\/strong>‘s malefic dishonesty about Coronavirus. Schuller wants his clients to be reimbursed for their tickets “and the fun they would have had at Allegiant Stadium<\/strong>.” Good luck with that. When the stadium eventually opens, Schuller’s clients will be able to avail themselves of a sports-betting lounge<\/a> sponsored by MGM Resorts International<\/strong>, one of the Raiders’ sports-betting partners. The NFL<\/strong> is keeping its skirts clean by forbidding walk-up betting in the stadium\u2014but there’s nothing to stop you from making an online wager … The MSG Sphere<\/strong> has been postponed to a 2023 opening, a two-year pause. It will still open in time for Donald Trump<\/strong> to run for a third term … Chalk up a win for Gov. Steve Sisolak<\/strong> (D). A Nevada<\/strong> judge upheld his closure of bars that don’t sell food, a setback for slot-route operators … Clark County<\/strong> could lose 250,000 residents due to evictions<\/a>, starting next month … The cratering of air travel to McCarran International Airport<\/strong> is taking its toll. Airport restaurants will cut 940 jobs<\/a>, effective October 15. Said franchisor HMS Host<\/strong>, “Never in the history of aviation and the hospitality industry, have we experienced such catastrophic customer traffic declines.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Bally’s Las Vegas announced that the Real Bodies exhibit would be adding “Covid-19 Content” we admittedly feared the worst: corpses of Coronavirus victims on display. While cashing in on Covid-19 is in questionable taste, Real Bodies seems to be … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[244,275,18,268,14,26,278,283,255,112,245,207,25,92,74,243,9,100,184,252],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27780,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27779\/revisions\/27780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}