{"id":28172,"date":"2020-10-15T07:58:12","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T15:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=28172"},"modified":"2020-10-16T09:23:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T17:23:33","slug":"trop-in-trouble-sands-has-a-plan-super-bowl-to-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/trop-in-trouble-sands-has-a-plan-super-bowl-to-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Trop in trouble; Sands has a plan; Super Bowl to Vegas?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We know that the Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong> is being positioned for a sale (potentially to Twin River Holdings<\/strong>) but does that alone explain the pink-slipping of 828 employees, a drastic move? Placed in the context of other cutbacks, like the Encore<\/strong> partial shutdown, it suggests that things on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> are much worse than casino CEOs would have us believe. The Trop’s wasn’t the only bad news. 96 Mon Ami Gabi<\/strong> staffers are out of jobs, as are 53 at Paris-Las Vegas<\/strong>‘ Eiffel Tower Restaurant<\/strong>. The Trop sackings take effect today, implying a panic move, while the Paris restaurant employees have until Dec. 15 to find a new footing. Both eateries have announced they will stay in business (hard to conceive otherwise, given their popularity and high profile). As for the Trop, it is is claiming that “The [Covid-19<\/strong>] impact on our business was not reasonably foreseeable until now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re not sure we’re buying that. Penn National Gaming<\/strong> had months in which to survey the landscape, especially as it delayed Trop reopening until a full quarter after Gov. Steve Sisolak’s June 4 resumption edict. “These significant drags on our business will likely continue for the foreseeable future,” concludes General Manager Mike Thoma<\/strong>. This news comes on the heels of a spate of layoffs at Tao Restaurant<\/strong>, Tao Nightclub<\/strong>, Beauty & Essex<\/strong>, Marquee Nightclub<\/strong> and Lavo<\/strong>. We knew that Las Vegas<\/strong> was hurting midweek but the latter group of dismissals implies that now-crucial weekend business is not up to par.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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It’s not exactly news that without convention business the Strip is screwed. What does comes as a revelation is that Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> set up a 296,000-square-foot mock convention space to convince Sisolak that larger-scale meetings (the current ceiling is 250 attendees per hall) can be held safely. Held quietly last month, the pseudo-convention “took the governor and meeting industry representatives through the entire trade show process, from arrival and registration to exhibit halls and vendor booths. The expo center also staged food courts and general sessions with updated protocols,” reports Global Gaming Business<\/em>, which has the in-depth technical details. In a formal statement, Sands Expo Center<\/strong> sales supremo Chandra Allison<\/strong> put it plainly: \u201cMeetings are at the heart of the Venetian Resort<\/strong>, and we recognize the importance of bringing meetings back in a safe and responsible way,\u201d including on-site testing. MGM Resorts International<\/strong> and Wynn Resorts<\/strong> have been quick to fall in line with initiatives of their own. Only Caesars is lagging (again).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sands test-flew its new protocols and technology by hosting Shark Tank<\/em> tapings over the summer that proved Covid-proof. Ironically, the news breaks just as one of Sands’ marquee clients, Global Gaming Expo<\/strong>, kicked off its virtual 2020 trade show. Sisolak seems to have been impressed by what he saw at Venelazzo<\/strong>, proclaiming, \u201cI know you may be considering locations in other states [for meetings]. But before you make a decision, understand that Nevada<\/strong> is not only open for business, we plan to be open for the long term.\u201d According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research<\/strong>, the convention business is in deep trouble. \u201cAbout 88 percent of events originally scheduled in the second quarter were canceled; the remaining 12 percent were postponed and some of those events may eventually be canceled as well,\u201d it reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most show producers, such as Cirque de Soleil<\/strong>, were positive but extravagantly noncommittal about the effect of increasing the attendance ceiling. Impresario David Saxe<\/strong>, who manages a gaggle of Miracle Mile<\/strong> showrooms, chafed at the difficulty of making ends meet for small-venue shows like The Mentalist<\/em>. Sir Harry Cowell<\/strong>, exiled to his native Britain<\/strong>, was even less enthusiastic, saying, \u201cI can\u2019t come home. These are very odd times. Getting a phone call in the middle of the night and hearing what the governor said was exciting and wonderful news, but reopening is not what I\u2019m seeing here. We\u2019re locked down and we\u2019re not opening.\u201d Only Hanoch Rossen<\/strong>‘s Extravaganza<\/em> at Bally’s<\/strong> seems headed for resumption, with Rossen maintaining that 250-person audiences can pencil out. In many cases, the mandated 25-foot separation between audience and stage will make reopening darn near impossible. As Saxe fumed, \u201cThere are a lot of things put on us and I\u2019m trying to make sure we can deliver all of that the right way. We\u2019re trying to get clarification on exactly what we have to do and how we have to do it, and then [the] phase is, is this even commercially viable?\u201d And that is the multi-billion question hanging over Las Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"For relief, the industry is looking again to our nation’s capitol, where Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto<\/strong> (D) and Kevin Cramer<\/strong> (R) have introduced the Hospitality & Commerce Job Recovery Act<\/strong>. It would direct aid to the casino industry, in part, “While gaming\u2019s responsible reopening is well underway, the sustained economic damage has jeopardized our ability to sustain jobs and drive much-needed tax revenue that will be essential to our nation\u2019s economic recovery,” said American Gaming Association<\/strong> President Bill Miller<\/strong>, endorsing the proposal, which “will enable the gaming industry to retain employees and jumpstart nongaming elements of our business, like meetings and conventions, which account for the majority of our revenue in markets like the Las Vegas strip.” Time is running short in the Senate but we could really use the help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now for some good<\/em> news for Sin City, it is in the running<\/a> to host the 2024 Super Bowl<\/strong>. Thanks to the NFL<\/strong>‘s greed-fueled decision to go to a 17-game season, that pushes “the Big Game” into conflict with Mardi Gras<\/strong> in New Orleans<\/strong>, where the ’24 Super Bowl was originally to be held. Throw in the 2022 Pro Bowl<\/strong> and that same year’s NFL draft<\/a>, according to CBS<\/strong> (which has a vested interest, due to its Caesars alliance) and Las Vegas becomes a front-rank football city in nothing flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Caesars (and greed), paid parking is coming back. The Roman Empire’s excuse is that it’s giving the money to charity, although we’ll make our charitable donations to whom we damn well please, thank you very much. Oct. 30 is the date certain for resumption of this odious practice. Also, Caesars will only donate the “profits” to charity, presumably leaving plenty of moolah for itself. All casinos are effected except Planet Hollywood<\/strong>, which reverts to paid parking next year. Nevada<\/strong> residents, Platinum and higher loyalty members and hotel guests are exempted. Vital Vega<\/em>s’ Scott Roeben<\/strong> thinks it has nothing to do with 501(c)3s and everything to do with security<\/a>, an impost to ward off the riff-raff currently afflicting the Strip. Roeben thinks this will set off a domino effect at nearby resorts and we’re hard put to disagree with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We know that the Tropicana Las Vegas is being positioned for a sale (potentially to Twin River Holdings) but does that alone explain the pink-slipping of 828 employees, a drastic move? Placed in the context of other cutbacks, like the … 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":[249,244,24,80,274,18,14,4,104,283,241,84,245,69,6,33,234,231,74,17,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28172"}],"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=28172"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28429,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28172\/revisions\/28429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}