You can bet megafight made gaming history
May 29, 2015 - 11:03 am
Official numbers for what is expected to be the highest-grossing weekend in the gaming history of Las Vegas probably won’t be revealed for another month, but there are hints of what’s to come.
It’s no secret the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight, and all the massive hype behind it, attracted the largest gathering of high rollers in the city’s history.
The wild weekend produced numbers that probably won’t be repeated, possibly for decades.
A lot of crazy numbers are flying around, and no one at MGM Resorts International is willing to go on the record.
The hard numbers will come out in early August in the earnings report.
Some insiders are hearing the MGM properties raked in nearly $50 million in gaming revenue that weekend.
You know it’s a monster weekend when Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Ben Affleck reportedly couldn’t get in The Mirage’s high-roller villas.
The story making the rounds is that Affleck finally got in, but only after Clint Eastwood gave up his.
High rollers with $1 million credit lines who normally get into The Mansion, the ultra-exclusive domain of whales, at the MGM Grand, had to settle for second-tier suites, I’m told.
My low-roller friends swear you couldn’t find a gaming table for less than $500 at the MGM Grand on Friday and Saturday of the fight weekend.
The MGM Grand’s gaming numbers were in double-digit millions, I’m told.
“More people came in for the fight than the Super Bowl in Dallas,” said a longtime Las Vegan who has been directly involved in many of the biggest fights here. “A few had tickets to the fight, others came to see it on closed circuit, and others just came to say they were here for the fight.”
The 2011 Super Bowl attracted 103,219 to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A New Year’s Eve-like crowd in excess of 300,000 jammed Las Vegas for fight week.
“Dallas didn’t have the hotel rooms to do that,” the source said.
The ripple effect resulted in some downtown hotels nearly doubling their normal room revenue.
“It would have been even higher had the MGM not cornered the market on the closed circuit TV. We had cancellations when our guests couldn’t get into the closed circuit venues,” one downtown hotel executive said.
“But our revenue was incredible,” he said.
NEW YEAR’S LINEUP
A trio of acclaimed Broadway stars, including a Tony Award winner, will be joining local favorite Clint Holmes for the New Year’s Eve show at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
The lineup: Tony winner Patina Miller, Tony nominee Norm Lewis and Capathia Jenkins, a showstopper in “Newsies.”
Miller won her Tony in 2013 for her lead role in the “Pippin” revival.
Lewis starred in the latest “Porgy and Bess” and was honored with a PBS special at the Lincoln Center.
Holmes has been a Las Vegas fixture since 2000, a regular at The Carlyle hotel’s Carlyle Café and was named best male celebrity vocalist in the BroadwayWorld.com’s New York Cabaret Awards for 2013.
Earlier this week, it was announced “The Book of Mormon” is returning for another four-week engagement from Sept. 22 to Oct. 18.
“We had to turn people away last year,” said Myron Martin, CEO and president of The Smith Center.
‘ON YOUR FEET’
The much-anticipated Broadway-bound musical “On Your Feet!,” based on the life story of Cuban superstar singer Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio Estefan, opens Tuesday in Chicago.
Preview performances begin Oct. 5 at the Marquis Theatre in New York City. It is being produced by James L. Nederlander, Estefan Enterprises Inc. and Bernie Yuman, longtime manager of Siegfried & Roy, Muhammad Ali and Gloria Estefan.
After an international casting search, the lead roles went to Ana Villafane, who will be making her Broadway debut, and Josh Segarra, who has an extensive television career.
It will be directed by Broadway veteran Jerry Mitchell.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The rally finale of the Gumball 3000 takes place tonight at XS nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas. The 3,000-mile international motor rally began May 23 in Stockholm and ends here with a festival.
SIGHTINGS
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Republican presidential candidate, touring the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, home of the “Pawns Stars” reality show, with owner Rick Harrison on Thursday. … At Minus5 Ice Bar (Monte Carlo) on Wednesday: Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda and soap actor Peter Love.
THE PUNCH LINE
“Scientists working on The Syracuse University Lava Project have discovered how to grill a steak using lava. The hard part is getting the cow up on the volcano.” — Seth Meyers
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter: @Norm_Clarke
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