Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately 3.8 miles stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada. A small portion of the Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester. Most of "the Strip" has been designated an All-American Road.
Many of the largest hotel, casino and resort properties in the world are located on the world famous Las Vegas Strip. Nineteen of the world's twenty-five largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 67,000 rooms. One of the 19, the Las Vegas Hilton, is an "off-Strip" property but is located less than 0.5 miles east of the Strip.
Several decades ago, Las Vegas Boulevard South was called Arrowhead Highway, or Los Angeles Highway. The Strip was reportedly named by Los Angeles police officer Guy McAfee, after his hometown's Sunset Strip.
One of the most visible aspects of Las Vegas' cityscape is its use of dramatic architecture. The modernization of hotels, casinos, restaurants, and residential high-rises on the Strip has established the city as one of the most popular destinations for tourists.
The first casino to be built on Highway 91 was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931, but the first on what is currently the Strip was the El Rancho Vegas, opening on April 3, 1941, with 63 rooms. That casino stood for almost twenty years before being destroyed by a fire in 1960. Its success spawned a second hotel on what would become the Strip, the Hotel Last Frontier, in 1942. Organized crime figures such as New York's Bugsy Siegel took interest in the growing gaming center leading to other resorts such as the Flamingo, which opened in 1946, and the Desert Inn, which opened in 1950. The funding for many projects was provided through the American National Insurance Company, which was based in the then notorious gambling empire of Galveston, Texas.
In 1968, Kirk Kerkorian purchased the Flamingo and hired Sahara Hotels Vice President Alex Shoofey as President. Alex Shoofey brought along 33 of Sahara's top executives. The Flamingo was used to train future employees of the International Hotel, which was under construction. Opening in 1969, the International Hotel, with 1,512 rooms, began the era of mega-resorts. The International is known as the Las Vegas Hilton today.
The first MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, also a Kerkorian property, opened in 1973 with 2,084 rooms. At the time, this was one of the largest hotels in the world by number of rooms. The Rossiya Hotel built in 1967 in Moscow, for instance, had 3200 rooms; however, most of the rooms in the Rossiya Hotel were single rooms of 118 sq. ft (roughly 1/4 size of a standard room at the MGM Grand Resort. On November 21, 1980, the MGM Grand suffered the worst resort fire in the history of Las Vegas, killing 87 people as a result of electrical problems. It reopened eight months later. In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand to Bally Manufacturing, and it was renamed Bally's.
The Wet 'n Wild water park opened in 1985 and was located on the south side of the Sahara hotel. The park closed at the end of the 2004 season and was later demolished.
The opening of The Mirage in 1989 set a new level to the Las Vegas experience, as smaller hotels and casinos made way for the larger mega-resorts. These huge facilities offer entertainment and dining options, as well as gambling and lodging. This change impacted the smaller, well-known and now historic hotels and casinos, like The Dunes, The Sands and the Stardust.
In 1995, following the death of Dean Martin, the lights along the strip were dimmed in a sign of respect to him. They did the same thing in 1998 in honor of the recently deceased Frank Sinatra. In 2005, Clark County renamed a section of Industrial Road (south of Twain Avenue) as Dean Martin Drive, also as a tribute to the famous Rat Pack singer, actor, and frequent Las Vegas entertainer.
In an effort to attract families, resorts offered more attractions geared toward youth, but had limited success. The (current) MGM Grand opened in 1993 with Grand Adventures amusement park, but the park closed in 2000 due to lack of interest. Similarly, in 2003 Treasure Island closed its own video arcade and abandoned the previous pirate theme, adopting the new ti name.
In addition to the large hotels, casinos and resorts, the Strip is home to a few smaller casinos, motels and other attractions, such as M&M World, Adventuredome and the Fashion Show Mall. Starting in the mid-1990s, the Strip became a popular New Year's Eve celebration destination.
In 2004, MGM Mirage announced plans for Project CityCenter, a 66 acres, $7 billion multi-use project on the site of the Boardwalk hotel and adjoining land. It will consist of hotel, casino, condo, retail and other uses on the site. When completed, City Center will be the largest such complex in the world. Construction began in April 2006, with most elements of the project opened in 2009.
In 2006, the Las Vegas Strip lost its longtime status as the world's highest-grossing gambling center, falling to second place behind Macau.
Several Strip hotels have undertaken efforts to make the street more pedestrian-friendly. New casinos design their façades to attract walk-up customers, and many of these entrances have become attractions themselves - the Fountains at Bellagio, the volcano at The Mirage, and the Sirens of TI pirate show at Treasure Island. Spectators gather on the sidewalks in front of the casinos to watch these shows.
To alleviate traffic issues at popular intersections, several footbridges have been installed to help pedestrians safely traverse the roads. The Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard footbridges were the first to be installed, and based on the success of this project additional footbridges have been built on Las Vegas Boulevard at the Flamingo Road intersection; between The Mirage/Treasure Island and The Venetian; at the Las Vegas Boulevard-Spring Mountain and Sands Avenue intersection connecting the Wynn with the Fashion Show Mall and The Palazzo; and the latest one being constructed to connect Planet Hollywood with CityCenter.
In recent years, all but one of the on-Strip golf courses (the Desert Inn Golf Course) have fallen prey to the mega-resorts' need for land and have closed. Developer Steve Wynn, founder of previously owned Mirage Resorts, purchased the Desert Inn and golf course for his new company Wynn Resorts. In 2005, he opened Wynn Las Vegas, complete with remodeled golf course providing tee times to hotel guests only. In 2000, Bali Hai Golf Club opened just south of Mandalay Bay and the Strip.
Most of the attractions and shows on the Strip are located on the hotel casino properties. Some of the more popular free attractions visible from the Strip include the water fountains at Bellagio, the Sirens of TI show at Treasure Island - TI, the volcano at The Mirage, and the Fall of Atlantis and Festival Fountain at Caesars Palace. MGM Grand features a glass-sided lion habitat inside the casino area, in which up to six lions are shown every day.
The LV Strip is one of the designated Nevada Gaming Control Boards reporting areas. It consists of the the Las Vegas Strip casinos and many of the surrounding casinos. The strip earns roughly 50% of the gaming revenue from all sources for the state of Nevada.
For the previous 12 months ending 31 August 2009, the Las Vegas strip earns 83.6% of the pit revenue in Clark County, and 50.6% of the gaming revenue from other sources (slot machines, sports bet, parimutuel, etc).
Penny slot machines is the only categories of gaming devices where revenue is increasing. After decades of being the top earning game in the pit, blackjack has been surpassed by baccarat for the previous 12 months ending 31 August 2009. In August 2009, the game of baccarat was responsible for over 50% of the pit gaming revenue for the strip which surpassed the game's contribution in the month of February during Chinese New Year.
Since the year 1999, non-gaming revenue at the strip casinos exceeds gaming revenue. In more traditional gaming areas like Downtown Las Vegas or Laughlin gaming is still the primary revenue source.
Financial information is provided to show where the source of gaming revenue comes from (slots revenue, vs. pit revenue, etc.). Current data is is contrasted for the year ending Oct 2007 when revenue peaked. The other-pit category is all the other table games like Bingo, Keno, Let it Ride, Mini-Baccarat, Pai-Gow, Pai-Gow Poker,3-Card Poker, Caribean Stud, Sports Book, Racing Book, and so forth.
Demolished or closed Strip casinos & hotels:
- Big Red's Casino: Closed in 1982. Property developed for CBS Sports World Casino (Changed name to Sports World Casino after the CBS threatened to sue): Closed in 2001, now a shopping center.
- Boardwalk Hotel and Casino: Demolished May 9, 2006 to make way for CityCenter.
- Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino: Demolished February 6, 2006, now an empty lot.
- Desert Inn (and golf course): Inn demolished in 2004, now Wynn Las Vegas; golf course retained and improved.
- The Dunes (and golf course): Demolished in 1993, now Bellagio.
- El Rancho (formerly Thunderbird/Silverbird): Closed in 1992 and demolished in 2000, will be the site of the 4000-room casino-hotel Fontainebleau which is currently under construction.
- El Rancho Vegas: Burned down in 1960. The Hilton Grand Vacation Club timeshare now exists on the south edge of the site where the resort once stood; the remainder remains vacant.
- Glass Pool Inn: Demolished in 2006. It was called Mirage Motel until 1988 and changed names due to The Mirage opening down the Strip in 1989.
- Hacienda: Demolished in 1996, now Mandalay Bay. A separate Hacienda now exists outside of Boulder City, formerly the Gold Strike Inn.
- Holy Cow Casino Cafe and Brewery First micro brewery in Las Vegas. Closed in 2002, property currently vacant.
- Jackpot Casino: Closed in 1977, now the Sahara.
- Klondike Hotel & Casino: Closed in 2006, demolished in 2008.
- The Landmark: Demolished in 1995. Now the site of a parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center (Demolition was filmed for the feature Mars Attacks!).
- Lucky Slots Casino: Closed in 1981, now a shopping center.
- Lotus Inn Hotel & Casino: Closed in 1978, now a Rodeway Inn.
- Money Tree Casino: Closed in 1979.
- Marina Hotel and Casino: Westward pointing tower (known as the West Wing) of the MGM Grand.
- The New Frontier: Closed July 16, 2007, demolished November 13, 2007. Was to have been replaced by the new Las Vegas Plaza, but that project was put on hold.
- Nob Hill Casino: Closed in 1990, now Casino Royale.
- Paddlewheel Hotel & Casino: Closed in 1991 and reopened in 1993 as Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Hotel & Casino, which itself closed in 1996 and is now the Greek Isles Hotel & Casino.
- San Souci: Closed in 1962 for the Castaways, which itself was demolished in 1987. Now the site of The Mirage.
- The Sands: Demolished in 1996, now The Venetian.
- Silver City Hotel & Casino: Closed in 1999, now the Silver City Shopping Center.
- Silver Slipper: Demolished in 1988 for a parking lot. Now the site of the Desert Inn Road Arterial.
- Stardust Resort & Casino: Closed November 1, 2006, demolished March 13, 2007. Was to have been replaced by Echelon Place, but that project was put on hold in August 2008.
- Tally Ho Hotel: Closed in 1966. Became the Aladdin, which in 2007 became Planet Hollywood.
- Vacation Village Resort & Casino; Closed in 2002, demolished in 2006. Site of the new Town Square development.
- Vegas World: Demolished in 1995 and rebuilt as the Stratosphere; parts of the old Vegas World still remain.
- Westward Ho Hotel and Casino: Closed in 2005, demolished in 2006. Now the site of a new McDonald's, starting in 2008. It is a 2 story replacement of the McDonald's right next door to the former property.
The North Strip is the unofficial name of the first mile of Las Vegas Blvd. just outside of the Last Vegas City Limits, corresponding to Winchester, Nevada. This section of the Strip currently includes five budget resorts, like the Sahara Hotel, Circus Circus Las Vegas, Slots-A-Fun Casino, the Riviera Hotel and Casino and the Greek Isles Hotel and Casino. Collectively they have less than 200 table games, 4200 slots, 31 poker tables and less than 8000 hotel rooms. Also numerous time shares have been built in this region.
The North Strip was planned to be rebuilt as an upscale gambling district comparable to center stip. Billions of dollars were invested in land speculation. The former Stardust Resort & Casino and New Frontier Hotel and Casino were imploded in anticipation of new development.
Many new resorts Las Vegas Plaza, Crown Las Vegas, Echelon Place, an unnamed joint MGM & Kerzner project, and the Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas planned for development, but all these projects are in various stages of bankruptcy or incomplete status. In addition a major redevelopment and expansion of the Sahara Hotel and Casino and the Stratosphere Las Vegas were put on hold.
The Triple Five Group was in the process of trying to assemble 27.3 acres of North strip land just south of the Riviera Casino. By April 2008, they had acquired 13.7 acres at a cost of $380 million. They applied to the FAA for height clearance for eight 572' towers.
Another project announced was the construction of a Marriott Marquis on land currently occupied by a Residence Inn and a Courtyard Inn belonging to Marriott corporation.
The Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas was the most visible failure as it topped out the tallest building in Las Vegas before going bankrupt. Initial offers for selling the uncompleted tower are far less than the raw land value from two years ago. The Echelon also got as far as erecting steel girders up as high as the eighth floor for several buildings. The owners, Boyd Gaming, are holding onto the property with the intention of completing the project at a future date.
In the movie Ocean's Thirteen the lead character, Danny Ocean, is describing the new ultra luxurious fictional casino opening on the strip. He states that the big casinos on the strip take in $3m a day just from the [casino] floor, and this new resort is aiming for $5m. In reality the two largest corporate operations in Las Vegas, MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment for the first quarter of 2009 brought in $5.9m and $4.1m per day in gaming revenue alone respectively from their combined Las Vegas strip resorts. MGM Mirage currently owns 9 strip resorts, and Harrah's owns 8 strip resorts (although one is a minor property originally intended to be a tear-down). No single casino operation has ever brought in close to $3m a day from the casino floor alone, and the NVGC uses the qualification of greater than $200K per day ($72m /year) as a grouping for reporting purposes.
The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) publishes annual information about total revenue including gaming, hotel rooms, food & beverage, and attractions. If the casinos are numbered with #1 being the highest grossing casino then the following show the total revenue, for the period 1 July 2007 through 30 June 2008. TOTAL REVENUE (GAMING + etc.):
- $941,572,772 is revenue for casino #6
- $543,145,243 is average of casino #10 and #11
- $444,615,614 is revenue for casino #12
- $288,617,275 is revenue for casino #18
- $246,291,317 is average of casinos #20 and #21
Two of the top casinos reported their revenue for this same time period as: $1,369,000,000 Wynn Las Vegas, $1,171,000,000 Venetian and Palazzo
The NGC does not publish data for individual casinos and the MGM-Mirage corporation who owns the largest group of casinos in Las Vegas no longer reports revenue on an individual casino basis.
But based on the size, age, and relative luxury of the casinos an analyst can guess the top six.
- Venetian & Palazzo operated under one license
- Wynn Casino (Encore had not opened yet)
- Ceasars Palace
- Bellagio
- MGM Grand Hotel
- Mandalay Bay & THE Hotel operated under one license
Harrah's Entertainment Corporation also only reports aggregate numbers for regions, but their flagship property, Caesar's Palace, is clearly the biggest moneymaker in their portfolio. Harrah's earns 54% of their revenue from the casinos, unlike MGM-Mirage which earns 38% of their revenue (before promotional allowances) from the casino floor.
The Las Vegas Convention Center website posts a monthly update to the planned construction for Las Vegas metropolitan area for the future. In the four years between 2003 and 2007 there was a cumulative addition of 1,444 rooms to Las Vegas. The major openings were Wynn Las Vegas and THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay, which were offset by the implosion of several resorts like New Frontier, The Stardust, Bourbon Street, and Castaways. During the same four years visitor volume increased by 3.66 million or 10.3% and gaming revenue in Clark county increased by $3 billion or 38.8%. On many weekends there was insufficient room supply to meet demand. However, once the new rooms opened the recession hit.
