Return of MTV’s ‘Real World’ raises hopes show will inject new popularity into Las Vegas

Call it the "Vegas Bump."

That's the ratings boost a television show experiences when it's set in Las Vegas.

And "The Real World Bump"? That's what happens to a hotel-casino, and city, when MTV shoots its popular reality show here. Palms owner George Maloof became familiar with both bumps after "The Real World" filmed its 12th season at the then-new property in 2002.

The show, which featured seven strangers living in what is now the Palms' Real World suite, played a major role in popularizing the resort and in shaping Vegas night life into what it is today, Maloof says.

Eight years and dozens of Las Vegas-based reality shows later, "The Real World" has returned, this time to the Hard Rock Hotel. The show's 25th season is currently filming at the property and around town. It will air sometime in 2011.

But considering today's climate -- the Hard Rock is being sued by its trademark owner for diminishing the brand; the country is experiencing one of the most severe economic downturns, ever; visitor numbers are down; unemployment is up; Las Vegas is now well-represented in the reality television world -- will all involved feel the bump again?

Maloof thinks so.

"You want to have the show at your property, obviously," says Maloof, who called producers when he heard they were coming back. They wanted a new look for the season, he says, but the show will probably do some filming at the Palms. "But at the end of the day, it's going to be good for Las Vegas and it will be good for the Hard Rock."

MTV representatives declined to comment for this story, citing the ongoing production. Calls and e-mails to the Hard Rock were not returned.

Whether the lawsuit filed by Hard Rock Cafe International against the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas will be affected by "The Real World" remains to be seen. The hotel is being sued for diminishing the Hard Rock trademark through "Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel" on truTV. The reality show depicts the goings-on at the property's popular pool party, Rehab. The lawsuit claims that the show hurts the brand by portraying the hotel as "a destination that revels in drunken debauchery, acts of vandalism, sexual harassment, violence, criminality and a host of other behavior that most members of the general consuming public ... would find unseemly and objectionable."

Before "Real World" aired in 2002, Maloof says he was criticized by people in the casino industry who thought a reality show would cast the hotel, and the city, in a negative light. His only rules were that producers ensure the residents were older than 21 and that they keep it a drug-free environment. Otherwise, Maloof told them, "just let the kids be natural."

The season followed what have become universal storylines for the show: dating, sex, betrayal, arguments. Maloof doubts that the Hard Rock version will stray from that formula. One thing he is certain of, the end result "will not hurt the Hard Rock," he says.

He expects the show to film in local restaurants, clubs and other settings because it was so successful the first time.

"Reality television made night life in Las Vegas, no question about it," Maloof says of one of the lasting effects "The Real World" had on Sin City.

When the show began airing in October 2002, interest in the Palms shot up. The resort had recently opened; it was under construction when Maloof made the deal with the producers. He had seven rooms knocked out and a suite built for the cast to stay in. The Real World Suite was so popular among guests, it inspired Maloof to build additional themed suites in the Fantasy Tower, which opened in 2005.

The Hard Rock completed an expansion last year, adding nearly 500 rooms to the total count.

As to how the "Real World" affects the property, we will have to wait and see what happens, says Charlie Geocaris, director of the Nevada Film Office.

But if history is any indication, it should provide a boost to the city. It already is, he adds.

"It's obviously helping the economy now. They're paying wages to crew members, hiring locals, and they're out spending money," Geocaris says.

A reality show may not have the economic impact that a feature film can have on location -- a film can pump about $200,000 a day into the local economy through catering services, hotel accommodations and jobs -- but it will still have an impact, possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars a day, Geocaris says.

It's hard to put a dollar amount on the kind of exposure "Real World" will provide Las Vegas, says Vince Alberta, vice president of public affairs for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

But it's huge.

"When you have a television program that uses Las Vegas as a backdrop, I think the publicity that is generated is tremendous," Alberta says. "It introduces or reintroduces Las Vegas to a broad audience and keeps Las Vegas top of mind for the consumer."

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.