On March 22, the Clark County Commission voted to approve a plan to install a 660-foot-tall guitar on the Las Vegas Strip.
The guitar will replace the existing volcano that has been a landmark since the Mirage opened in 1989. Replacing the volcano with a guitar is a very clear statement that when the remodeled Mirage reopens as the Las Vegas Hard Rock, it will not be a Steven Wynn remake, but something entirely new. The switch from volcano to guitar is another sign of the changing of the guard on the Strip. Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Bill Bennett, Clifford Pearlman, and many others have gone the way of Bugsy Siegel. Even the tracks of those extinct species are becoming harder to find on gambling’s most famous boulevard.
The Mirage opened in Las Vegas in 1989 and at a cost of $630 million, it was at the time the most expensive casino ever built. The price stunned everyone except Steve Wynn. Analysts and Wynn’s competitors doubted that it could generate enough revenue to service its debt; people were placing bets on how many months it would take for the Mirage to fail. No one collected on those bets. The Mirage did more than service its debt. It was profitable, very profitable, right from the start, so much so that it ushered in a new era in casino-resort design and management. The Mirage became the model for the next generation of hotel-casinos. Other operators copied every detail, from the floor plan and suites to the fabulously successful entertainment and retail.
The Mirage changed the operations and thinking on the Strip. Its casino floor was just an element of the resort, not the driving factor; the rooms, restaurants, entertainment, and retail all contributed to the property’s cash flow and success. In the old model, food, beverage, rooms, and entertainment were marketing tools for the casino. For Wynn, there were profit centers.
But that was 34 years ago and even the magic of erupting volcanos, white tigers, magicians, live dolphins, and $25 million suites become outdated in time.
Like all major casino companies in the world, Hard Rock International wanted to be on the Strip. The Mirage was available and it seemed like the perfect location. Hard Rock will be the third owner of the property. Steve Wynn sold his corporation to MGM in 2000 for $4.4 billion; the sale included the Mirage, Treasure Island, and Bellagio in Las Vegas and Beau Rivage in Mississippi. In December 2022, the Seminole Indian Tribe-owned Hard Rock International bought the Mirage from MGM for $1.1 billion.
If the location was perfect, the resort was an outdated remnant of the 20th century. Hard Rock executives told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that they intend to operate the property as is through 2023. After that, the plan is to close and completely remodel the property, adding 600 hotel rooms in the process. Hard Rock means to update the property for the 21st century and make it worthy of its brand. Entertainment is part of the Hard Rock DNA; it does not need to remake old ideas. Hard Rock will bring its own brand of entertainment, style, and culture to the Strip.
Hard Rock Las Vegas President Joe Lupo said something intriguing at the Board hearing. “So much of Vegas is about non-gaming revenue, but we believe we can get that [gaming revenue] back at The Mirage.”
Steve Wynn was many things, including a genius of design, a visionary who foresaw trends before others, an innovator in entertainment, retail, and restaurants. But he was not “a casino guy.” His casinos did better than his competitors, but only because he had more traffic than they did. He did not have the best casino floor in Las Vegas; that title always goes to the local operators like Boyd, Station, Binion’s Horseshoe, and Jackie and Michael Gaughan casinos. Locals casinos need to attract and keep players who come often; the slots have to be more liberal. Strip casinos cater to people who come once or twice a year and traditionally, the Strip slots have been less liberal.
Hard Rock also has some gaming DNA. It operates in many jurisdictions where it cannot afford to neglect gaming or ignore the repeat players. With that experience, Hard Rock just might make gaming king again on the Strip. What it lacks in high-rolling baccarat players, it will make up in a national database of loyal Hard Rock players.
Old-school operators have always thought the Strip resorts left a lot of potential gaming revenue on the table, as it were. If Hard Rock can rejuvenate the gaming revenue stream on the Strip, that property could once again become the model for successful casino-resorts. It has the opportunity and the potential as it pushes aside the mirage and volcano and ushers in the rock and the guitar.
