Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. The saying is a familiar one and as far as the Vegas scene goes, the saying is becoming more and more evident – rising resort fees, introduction of parking fees, and now the tightening of drink comps at the video poker machines continue a trend. That trend would be to make the Vegas experience less and less enjoyable for customers in order to squeeze every last drop of profit in the corporate environment that Vegas, and the strip in particular, has become.
Gouging, bamboozling, whatever you want to call it, it sucks. Especially for those of us that remember a time, not very long ago, when Vegas was looser…and simply more fun. So it comes at no surprise that during Super Bowl in Las Vegas, events that offered value continued to gain strength while those events that were overpriced and/or offered no value for their particular Vegas “Big Game” experience were called out.
Case in point – the Caesars Palace Big Game event in their sports book. $250 for the privilege of watching the Big Game in the legendary space, sitting in their over sized leather chairs with all of the sports book screens showing Super Bowl 52 in all of its glory. Well, that’s the bill of goods that was sold. Instead, no over sized leather chairs, rather, you got to sit sardine style in rows of connected dining hall chairs – no man spreading please. The screens? Yes the Super Bowl was shown – on every other screen. Caesars used the opportunity to pimp out some of its eateries on the large sports book screens – for the entire game.
The Caesars sports book was about half full and the atmosphere was that of a keno draw on a Monday morning at Arizona Charlies. In contrast, two particular off strip and downtown events were both very successful. The free event held at the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center (DLVEC) and the $160 Casa Di Amore event at the Westgate lived up to what was promised.
Thousands packed the outdoor set up at the DLVEC and created quite an atmosphere for the Big Game under the sun and then under the stars as the game concluded. The Casa event at the Westgate was no different with ample ballroom seating, multiple HD screens, easy lines for all you can eat food and drink, and a fantastic festive atmosphere.
Hopefully, other Vegas strip resort/casino operators take notice. No, it doesn’t have to be free, but if there is little to no value to what you are offering, your customers will take their dollars elsewhere – elsewhere being off strip or downtown where value still reigns.
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