Adelson’s new toy; MGM: ‘Zarkana’ out, architectural innovation in

Las Vegas‘ worst-kept secret is out: Sheldon Adelson is the new owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He’s claiming that the clumsy subterfuge was needed so as not to “distract from the important role Nevada continues to play in the 2016 presidential election” by hosting a GOP debate at the Venetian, an explanation that doesn’t pass the laugh test. That’s precisely the sort of conflict of interest the R-J ought to be disclosing. He says the Adelson family “wants a journalism product that is second-to-none [sic] and will continue to invest in the paper to achieve this goal.” At least the promise to reinvest in the product is encouraging, as Stephens Media was slowly bleeding the R-J to death, a couple of ownerships ago. (The wretched copy-editing that mars R-J stories is one scar left by Stephens’ malign neglect.)

As John L. Smith, who has been a victim of Adelson’s wrath, could tell his colleagues, they’d better watch their backs. Will Howard Stutz have to second-guess himself every time he pens a story on Las Vegas Sands, each of which will now have to carry a disclaimer? We certainly won’t be able to look forward anymore to R-J photos of Adelson’s ridiculous toupee, such as the ones that accompanied coverage of his testimony in the Steven Jacobs lawsuit.

* Another Cirque du Soleil show has bitten the dust. Way down at the bottom of an MGM Resorts International press release yesterday was the perfunctory announcement that Zarkana would go dark permanently on April 30. This also spells the end for the Aria showroom (a mediocre venue with a low-fi sound system) because — and here’s where we get to the glass-half-full part — MGM will be tearing out the showroom to accommodate a $154 million, four-story, 65% augmentation of Aria’s convention center. This speaks at least as highly of Aria’s convention business as it reflects poorly on Zarkana. The plan calls for “indoor open-air spaces” and a glassed-in patio overlooking The Park, with which Aria has not hitherto been integrated.

Aria COO Bobby Baldwin said the resort couldn’t meet demand for its convention center, although relief won’t arrive until February 2018, when the new space is finished. In a truly innovative touch, some of the meeting-breakout rooms will be convertible to outdoor spaces, an interesting idea even if the windows of moderate temperatures in Las Vegas tend to be narrow. (We just went from summer to winter with maybe a week of autumn in between.) As for Zarkana‘s fate, it officially marks the point where the Strip had Too Much Cirque.

* Sen. Harry Reid‘s attempt to bail out Caesars Entertainment by weakening the Trust Indenture Act is dead in the House of Representatives. The sweetheart provision was left out of a $1.15 trillion spending bill … although don’t count ex-boxer “Pinky” Reid down just yet. Changes to a tax bill that would make it easier to form REITs did survive a House vote on a $650 billion tax-cut bill. Reid’s office said companies like Caesars “are exempt if by Dec. 7 they had requested that the Internal Revenue Service interpret and apply tax laws to their transactions,” so CEO Mark Frissora better have filed that paperwork by Pearl Harbor Day.