Station Casinos has vaulted to the forefront of the parties vying to host an NFL-size stadium on their property. While Station’s vast real estate bank has long been viewed as 
the ace up its sleeve, the company has had difficulty cashing in on its value — until now. Forget Viva, forget the mixed-use development Station recently previewed for Wall Street. No, the Wild Wild West site, which comes with 100 acres of overdue-for-redevelopment real estate is suddenly a prime contender for a stadium — as is a parking lot northwest of the Thomas & Mack Center (which still might be too close to McCarran International Airport for the FAA‘s comfort). The presumptive favorite site, Trop 42, next door to McCarran, crashed and burned last week when Southwest Airlines raised objections and threatened to reduce flights into Vegas. (And if you’re Las Vegas, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of Southwest Airlines.) Already, passenger loads into McCarran were likely to be reduced due to Trop 42’s proximity to the north-south runways.
The Riviera site remains in contention, but seems to be fading back into the pack. MGM Resorts International, meanwhile, is stepping up the pressure to choose its Rock In Rio festival grounds for a stadium instead. Unlike stadium proponent Las Vegas Sands, MGM wasn’t shy about commenting on this turn of events. President Bill Hornbuckle issued a statement saying the company was engaged in “productive discussions” and would accept equity in the stadium in lieu of a land sale.” It would be a considerable coup for MGM to own both a share of the stadium and half of T-Mobile Arena. But does Sheldon Adelson want a competing casino company to play in his sandbox?
Hard-hat tours are a meaningless but de rigeur ritual of casino coverage. One might as easily be previewing a nuclear power plant. I mean, it doesn’t exactly come as news that Lucky Dragon Casino is targeting Chinese (and West Coast) players, so you’d better brush up on your Mandarin and Cantonese if you want a job there. Chinese will be the primary language on the on-property signage (and you thought casino signage was confusing already). Lucky Dragon, as befits its small footprint, will have the bare minimum number of hotel rooms and a smallish gaming floor — 37 tables and 300 slots, with Macao-style VIP gaming areas. As he did in Macao for Sands, CEO William Weidner is employing a feng shui master to consult on the layout. Over at SLS Las Vegas, they’re actually welcoming the competition, hoping that a rising Lucky Dragon tide will lift their foundering ship.
