For people like myself, whose formative experiences of Las Vegas took place 10-plus years ago, it’s important to go with the flow. For instance, the ever-burgeoning and remunerative nightclub business. When SLS Las Vegas opens Life, bottle service will be delivered by acrobat. Seriously.
You don’t have to patronize these establishments, with their pile-driving “music” and single-name disc jockeys. You certainly don’t have to like the douchebag clientele they lure. But you have to understand and accept them as part of Las Vegas’ evolution. As Sam Nazarian puts it, clubgoers no longer want to watch the show, they want to be the show. (Much the same, if not more, could be said of the pool-party culture.)
Besides, all the revenue is guaranteed upfront. When Steve Wynn says, “It’s all cash and credit cards—no markers,” you can just hear the satisfaction in his voice. Wynn, who once vowed never to have a nightclub in his casinos, now outdoes everyone in the Bells & Whistles Dept. Those rooftop fireworks for heavy spenders coming to The Cromwell‘s pool parties are the sound of the competition trying to keep pace. “We get girls. Guys chase them and spend money,” says Wynn’s nightclub supremo, Jesse Waits.
It’s all of a piece with Vegas’ younger average visitor, his hefty bankroll and his preference for things like mobile games over slot machines. And Las Vegas doesn’t want to get caught on the wrong side of a generation gap. The market gambled they’d pay more for dinner and a show (or a club) and found it a very winning bet. If gambling is 30%-37% of revenue, can we surprised? There are so many avenues of temptation for the tourist dollar. It’s hard to play blackjack when you’re getting a spa treatment — though I’m sure someone will figure out how to combine the two.
Details are beginning to emerge in the ouster of Bally Technologies CEO Ramesh Srinivasan, who had his head handed to him on a platter by the man who’d both preceded and replaced him, Richard Haddrill (left). Srinivasan was 
offered a different, lower-echelon position in the company but understandably refused that teeth-gritting demotion. His downfall is being attributed to “a strategic review,” prompted by drops in profitability and stock price, the latter having plummeted since the start of 2014.
“I wouldn’t say it was anything Ramesh did, but it was more of a move that addresses the current competitive nature in the slot machine industry,” opined Janney Capital Markets analyst Brian McGill. Tacitly disrespected in the turnover was also former Bally exec Gavin Isaacs, passed over for CEO yet again, as had happened when the company absorbed SHFL Entertainment. Haddrill’s previous, eight-year tenure is associated with a period of great profitability for investors, so they’ve good cause to be happy with the turnover.
“Insulting.” That’s a good word for the would-be buyers of Newport Grand who want to add table games. Voters in Newport rejected such games in 2012 and circumventing their will in this manner puts their nose deservedly out of joint.
