Virgin Teams with Mohegans For Re-Branded Casino Property
When the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas transitions itself to becoming the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas late next year, it will have a very unconventional operator of its gambling casino. And it will be history-making to an extent. Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, which owns the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, will take charge of managing 60,000 square feet of gaming space, a transaction of course that is subject to approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Las Vegas Welcomes Mohegan Gaming And Entertainment
But it would be the first time a Native American tribe will have operated a Las Vegas casino. On a temporary basis, Virgin, since the acquisition in 2018, has had Warner Gaming overseeing the casino.
As part of the overall transaction, the Hard Rock in Las Vegas is being re-branded into Virgin, and it will be open until April before an lengthy renovation period takes place. The scheduled re-opening is for November 2020. Those dates are not coincidental; the hotel would like to be open at least until after the Super Bowl, and does not want to get in the way of the major elections. “I didn’t want to compete with the distraction of the campaign, with the state of Nevada and Las Vegas playing a pivotal role in the election,” says Virgin Hotels President and CEO Richard Bosworth.
There are some areas in the property that are going to remain intact; for example, “The Joint,” a club that is a showplace for bands, will stay standing and will be upgraded, but might be renamed.
Taken Down Hard Rock Resort Casino in Florida’s Guitar
They have already taken down the 80-foot guitar that they had standing out front. That was severely outdone anyway by the Hard Rock Resort Casino in Florida (not affiliated).
Making Richard Branson And Virgin More “Chic”
The plan for Virgin would seem to involve competing with some of the more “chic” destinations in Las Vegas, such as the Cosmopolitan and the Delano. The existing hotel has about 1500 rooms, all of which will be renovated.
“Virgin Hotels is ready to shake up the Las Vegas scene with a lifestyle hotel that will be exciting, innovative, uniquely designed and exceptionally functional,” as is stated on the company’s website.
The choice to shut down entirely for what will amount to an eight-month period was something Virgin management went back and forth on, but ultimately it was decided that even though they were not going to be able to have revenues coming in during that time, and wouldn’t be able to keep their workers employed, it was the most efficient to do the transition.
They have in initiated a program that will offer a retention bonus for employees who stay with the property through its closing. And they would not have to go through the interview process again to get their old jobs back.
And when they re-open, they plan something awesome. As company founder Richard Branson says, “Virgin Hotels will paint the town red.”
This would not be the first casino the Mohegans have operated outside of Connecticut. The tribe has several other interests, including Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania and Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City .
But this deal is very welcome at this time, because the business has slowed down with the Connecticut property. In fact, for this last recorded quarter, revenues were down 20% from this time last year. And part of the reason for some of this is that there has been considerable competition in the feeder area, which includes Springfield, MA and the Boston area. In fact, it has gotten to the point where many analysts believe it has become saturated. Hence the desire for diversification.
Virgin itself runs a number of hotels, which include places in Chicago and San Francisco. They have also announced plans to open in Miami in 2023.
