Las Vegas Business News

Las Vegas visitor volume down 70% in June

People check out the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas Friday, June 12, 2020.

The first month casinos reopened, Las Vegas visitor volume for June was just over 1 million, down 70% from the same month a year ago, tourism officials said. A total of 1,065,100 people visited Las Vegas in June, compared to 3,607,400 in June 2019, according to ...

7 August 2020

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Official: Tropicana’s September opening could be delayed

An exterior view of the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel-casino Friday, Jan. 3, 2020.

The CEO of Tropicana’s parent company on Thursday hinted that the Las Vegas resort might not open as planned ...

7 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

New MGM stay-and-play packages target bored home workers

An exterior view of the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip Dec. 26, 2017.

Catering to changing work dynamics for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, MGM Resorts International has introduced a promotion ...

6 August 2020

Atlantic City casino workers want mandated temp checks for guests

Joe Lupo, president of the Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City, N.J., walks through a thermal screening area where his body temperature is automatically checked, July 2, 2020, the first day the casino reopened amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Five Atlantic City casinos are not physically checking the temperatures of guests entering the property, workers said as they pushed New Jersey's governor to require the casinos to do so to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In an online press conference ...

6 August 2020

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press

Amid pandemic gloom, Las Vegas housing market 'on fire'

A sign advertises a home for sale in Southern Highlands, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern Nevada home prices continued to inch higher in July, according to a new report. The median price ...

6 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Sahara accused of violating virus social distancing protocols

An exterior view of the Sahara hotel-casino Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.

Nevada gaming officials have accused the Sahara of violating state-mandated coronavirus social distancing guidelines. In a two-count complaint filed Monday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board cited ...

5 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Wynn sees dip in drive-in visitors as virus spikes in region

A view of the Encore and Wynn on the Las Vegas Strip Wednesday, April 22, 2020.

With fewer people flying to Las Vegas because of the coronavirus outbreak, Wynn Resorts, which operates the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore on the Strip, has depended on ...

5 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Builders overcome remarkable challenges to deliver Allegiant Stadium

An exterior view of the Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, under construction in Las Vegas Tuesday, May 5, 2020.

When the Raiders kick off their debut season in Las Vegas next month, they will do it in one of the NFL’s most expensive stadiums. And like any team that has overcome adversity to become champions, the construction team that built Allegiant Stadium battled remarkable challenges to finish the project on ...

5 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Station Casinos reopens 3 poker rooms with 8-handed play

A view of the hotel tower at the Red Rock hotel-casino in Summerlin Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015.

Station Casinos reopened three poker rooms today, playing eight-handed with plexiglass barriers between players. The rooms at ...

3 August 2020

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Boyd Gaming capitalizing on Stardust name with new app

The sleek lines of Wynn Las Vegas contrasts with the retro-styled Stardust sign across the Strip Thursday, March 2, 2006.

David Schwartz, a professor and gaming historian with UNLV, said there’s no question that the Stardust brand continues to be popular today.

3 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Southern Nevada real estate pros reinvent the way they do business during pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause upheaval and uncertainty in Southern Nevada's economy, Vegas Inc takes a look at the local real estate market. Uri Vaknin, a Downtown Las Vegas condominium developer, spoke with us about the challenges the real estate market has faced, and how it has adjusted.

3 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

The Notes: Aug. 3, 2020

In the Notes: Lisa Song Sutton, Marianna Hunnicutt, Greg Chesser, Janet Quintero and more ...

3 August 2020

By VEGAS INC Staff

M Resort in Henderson will lay off 300 employees in August

The layoffs, like others in Southern Nevada this year, were blamed on the chilling effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the casino business.

2 August 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Nevada casinos, small businesses seek protection from coronavirus lawsuits

The Statue of Liberty wears a face mask in front of the New York-NewYork on the Las Vegas Strip Friday, July 17, 2020. The oversized mask measures over nine feet wide, five feet, six inches tall and reads "Vegas Safely." The half-size replica of the Statue of Liberty is 150 feet tall from the ground to the top of the torch, including the pedestal.

The Nevada Resort Association is pressing state lawmakers to pass legislation to protect casinos from unfounded coronavirus-related lawsuits it says could shut them back down. In a letter to Gov. Steve Sisolak this month, the association said it is seeking “targeted and limited safe harbor from ...

31 July 2020

By Bryan Horwath

MGM’s Hornbuckle named permanent president and CEO

Bill Hornbuckle, president and acting CEO at MGM Resorts International, applauds as guests arrive during the reopening of Excalibur Thursday, June 11, 2020.

Bill Hornbuckle has been named permanent CEO and president of MGM Resorts International. Hornbuckle, a longtime MGM employee who has ...

29 July 2020

By Bryan Horwath

Reopened casinos report winnings down 45.5% in June

From left, Evan Savar, Nabu Reyes and dealer Leah Prerost are shown at a Red Rock Resort blackjack table just after the casino opened, Thursday, June 4, 2020.

Gambling and travel have been slow to recover since Nevada casinos began reopening June 4, according to monthly reports showing Las Vegas airport passenger numbers down nearly 77% in June compared with a year ago and a key casinos house winnings index ...

29 July 2020

By Ken Ritter, Associated Press

More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in June

In this Sept. 3, 2019, file photo, a sign rests near a piece of earth-moving equipment on a plot of land, in Westwood, Mass.

The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rose for the second straight month after a devastating spring freeze brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.

29 July 2020

By Matt Ott, Associated Press

Las Vegas airport passenger traffic tops 1 million in June

A Southwest Airlines passenger jet takes off from McCarran International Airport June 5, 2017.

Passenger traffic at the Las Vegas airport climbed to over 1 million in June, but was still 76 percent off the same month last year. In June 2019, before the ...

28 July 2020

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

CES gadget show going digital for 2021 amid pandemic

A person walks past a sign at a Samsung keynote before the CES tech show, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

The CES gadget show, one of the largest annual conventions in Las Vegas, is going all digital for 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced today. “With the growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it is not possible to ...

28 July 2020

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Tavern owners in Las Vegas try to hang on as coronavirus curbs chip away at business

Steiner's pub owner Roger Sachs is shown at the West Cheyenne Avenue location Friday, July 24, 2020. Sachs is among a group of bar owners who have sued the state.

Like many other Nevada bar owners, Roger Sachs is frustrated. After being hit with state-mandated business restrictions to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Sachs, who owns three Steiner’s pub locations in Las Vegas, is burning through savings and ...