Friendly collaboration among gaming operators in Downtown Las Vegas is helping to drive success at all properties along Fremont Street, a panel of gaming executives said Thursday.
Five Downtown Las Vegas gaming executives participated in a “Downtown Gaming Panel Discussion” hosted by the Downtown Vegas Alliance at the Molasky Corporate Center.
Fremont Street President and CEO Patrick Hughes moderated the about hour-long discussion, which concluded with a brief visit from Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
Hughes said gaming revenues grew by 4.2 percent in the Downtown Las Vegas market in 2016, compared to only 1 percent growth in all of Clark County.
Over the past decade, the Downtown Las Vegas gaming market has posted consistent gains.
The five panel members generally agreed the friendly relationships among gaming operators in Downtown Las Vegas helps to spur collaboration that benefits all properties downtown.
They contrasted that to the Las Vegas Strip, where fierce competition generally defines the relationships among gaming operators there.
Drock Gaming founder Derek Stevens said there is a “very unique” relationship among gaming operators along Fremont Street, who know that when people come to visit one casino on Fremont Street, they most likely will visit other gaming properties.
“There’s a core theme,” Stevens said.” “We have a goal of bringing people downtown.”
Fifth Street Gaming CEO and Downtown Grand Chairman Seth Schorr agreed that collaboration among downtown gaming operators is helping to boost gaming revenues.
“It’s undeniable that there has been consistent growth,” Schorr said, adding that the Downtown Grand has posted year-over-year since opening three years ago.
Plaza Hotel & Casino CEO Jonathan Jossel also attributed success downtown to the efforts of former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and his wife and successor, current Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
Jossel said the two mayors have focused on efforts to recreate Downtown Las Vegas over the past decade, and properties have responded by improving the overall guest experience.
“Downtown is relevant in people’s mindset,” Jossel said.
He cited recent improvements at the Plaza, including opening a new steakhouse, renovating its about 1,000 rooms and opening a new deck pool, as ways the casino has improved the guest experience.
The panel agreed non-gaming revenue is a critical factor to success in the Downtown Las Vegas gaming market, which generates about a 50-50 split between non-gaming revenues and gaming revenues, El Cortez Hotel and Casino CFO Joe Woody said.
By contrast, Woody said properties along the Las Vegas Strip have an about 67-33 split between non-gaming revenues and gaming revenues, largely due to the massive hotel, entertainment venues and numerous bars and restaurants located on the Las Vegas Strip.
In Downtown Las Vegas, Woody said it is very difficult for the older, smaller properties and hotels to generate more non-gaming revenue on their own.
The El Cortez is among the oldest gaming properties in Las Vegas, has one restaurant and a limited number of hotel rooms, Woody said.
Many other downtown properties, likewise, suffer the same limiting factors.
“We’d all like to see more non-gaming revenue,” he said, but the El Cortez would have to charge $400 per room to generate a 67-33 split between non-gaming and gaming revenue, and that isn’t feasible.
Fremont Hotel and Casino General Manager Jim Sullivan agreed non-gaming revenues are a large driving force behind recent improvements in Downtown Las Vegas revenue and gaming numbers.
Sullivan said Boyd Gaming, which owns the Fremont, California and Main Street Station casinos in Downtown Las Vegas, spent millions of dollars improving its non-gaming amenities downtown, including improving rooms, restaurants and bars at the Fremont and California properties.
He said the idea is to keep the current base of visitors, while attracting new ones via non-gaming amenities and events.
Drock Gaming in recent years spent about $500 million improving its non-gaming as well as gaming amenities, and that includes converting a valet parking lot into the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.
Stevens said another $500 million in improvements are in the works for Drock properties downtown. That includes expanding the Golden Gate and investing in non-gaming amenities at the former Las Vegas Club.
Meanwhile, he said the Events Center has booked the first heavy metal music festival to be held in Las Vegas, and that will bring 15,000 heavy metal music fans to Fremont Street for two days in April.
Schorr said more such events are needed in Downtown Las Vegas and attract a diverse array of new visitors.
“We’re getting 15,000 head-bangers in April!” Schorr said, adding that Fremont Street has many great restaurants and other non-gaming attractions that provide a lot of choices for entertainment for visitors.
The apparent success of the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center helps more than just Drock Gaming,
“The Downtown Las Vegas Events Center has been a massive benefit to all properties,” Sullivan said.
When large events are held there or elsewhere downtown, the panel said visitations and revenues rise at virtually all properties in the area.
The panel also generally agreed that, unlike on the Las Vegas Strip, an event like the Big Blues Bender at the Plaza can take control of several properties along Fremont Street, and that means more revenues at properties across the board.
But for more people to come to Downtown Las Vegas, the panel said two things are needed: greater access via streets and improved safety.
Stevens said safety could be improved via greater control over street performers, some of whom can be aggressive with visitors, and homeless panhandlers.
Hughes added that the Nevada Department of Transportation’s Project Neon road improvement project for the I-15 corridor is underway and designed to improve access to Downtown Las Vegas and other areas.
Toward the end of the panel discussion, Mayor Carolyn Goodman made an unscheduled visit and agreed that greater access downtown is needed.
The mayor praised the collaborative efforts among downtown gaming properties and said it’s much easier to get business done with them than operations on the Las Vegas Strip.
She said that’s because she doesn’t have to deal with large corporations, which have to answer to people in other states. Instead, the mayor said, the people at the top are the same ones on the panel, and they can get things done much faster.
Among things the mayor said she wants downtown businesses to do is sponsor a free transportation “circular,” which would ferry visitors between hotels and non-gaming properties downtown, like the Smith Center for Performing Arts, Container Park, the Neon Museum and other locations, including restaurants and other local businesses.
The mayor also suggested that the proposed 65,000-seat stadium at the current site of Cashman Field in Downtown Las Vegas is still in the works, despite reports that it likely would be built on land located further southwest.
Goodman said, eventually, Las Vegas will be home to an NBA franchise, as well as the NHL Golden Knights and possibly the NFL Raiders.
“We are going to have it all,” Goodman said.
Meanwhile, she wants more marketing done to promote Downtown Las Vegas, which she said currently is done poorly.
The panel concluded its discussion with anticipation of more growth and success in Downtown Las Vegas through continued collaboration, more non-gaming events and amenities, greater access and better marketing.
