Off-Strip resorts host unique events to reach new customers

David Wight returns a volley as he warms up on the courts during the Sin City Showdown pickleball tournament at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday, April 8, 2017.

Sin City Showdown Pickleball

Curtis Irwin slices a return as he competes with his wife DeeDee in the 60 plus 4.0 bracket during the Sin City Showdown pickleball tournament at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday, April 8, 2017. Launch slideshow »

In early April, nearly 250 people from across the U.S. and Canada converged on the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas for the Sin City Showdown, one of few tournaments in Southern Nevada sanctioned by the USA Pickleball Association.

Say what now?

“Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country,” Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel said of this fast-paced racquet sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis, and has about 2.5 million players, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

“When we remodeled our rooftop pool deck in 2016, we had four tennis courts that got very little play, and one of our vendors suggested we convert the courts to pickleball, which I had never heard of. But I was blown away by the emerging market. And the demographic, which skews a little older, was perfect for downtown Las Vegas.”

Pickleball at the Plaza is one example of events that draw visitors and locals to off-Strip properties positioning themselves as destinations for niche gatherings. Such events increase a venue’s profile, boost room occupancy and generate a steady revenue stream during traditionally slow times for Las Vegas — the summer months, December before the holidays and around Easter.

Indeed, Jossel said the four-day tournament accounted for 156 room nights, while the inaugural Sin City Showdown in October 2016 drew 350 participants with 336 room nights. And as the only local casino property with 16 dedicated pickleball courts, the Plaza anticipates those numbers will continue.

“We have the perfect venue to become the pickleball capital of the country,” said Jossel, adding that the property also was filling rooms Sept. 7-10 with the Big Blues Bender, a music festival now in its third year at the Plaza. “We convert the entire property into a blues destination, and usually run at about 85 percent room capacity with 2,300-2,400 people. It’s been very successful, and we’re looking for ways to grow with other music genres such as bluegrass and Americana.”

The Orleans also hosts a niche musical event, the four-day Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend, which launched 10 years ago at its sister property, the Gold Coast, and now engulfs both venues. The most recent festival in April filled about 8,000 rooms between the properties, attracting some 20,000 people.

“The Orleans is rockabilly central, and Viva Las Vegas drives business at a time of year when the city is historically dead,” said Tony Taeubel, general manager of the Orleans. Taeubel said the classic car show — a component of the festival — also was a huge draw for the property, with a target demographic made up of local hot rod aficionados as well as visitors.

The Orleans Arena will host the World Men’s Curling Championships March 31 through April 8, 2018. It will be the first time in a decade that the championships have been in the U.S., and the first time in the West, with an anticipated total of 10,000-12,000 room nights.

Since 2005, the Orleans Arena has been home to Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend, with about 5,000 room nights. This year’s two-day event is Sept. 15-16. The arena also will host the All In Barrel Race, an eight-day event in mid-December that is expected to book some 5,000-6,000 rooms.

“These groups allow us to leverage our property and fill in the gaps in times we need capacity, because this is a big engine to feed every day,” Taeubel said.

South Point also is hosting events to drive room capacity, having unveiled its $35 million Tournament Bowling Plaza in 2014. The resort signed a 12-year deal with the United States Bowling Congress to host seven USBC championships over the next dozen years, including the three-month USBC Women’s Championships in 2016 and the 2107 USBC Open Championships, a six-month tournament currently underway.

“We will have about 60,000 bowlers with an average stay of three or four days, and we block 400 rooms under the terms of our agreement, which allows other hotels to book that business as well, so it’s a great event not just for our property, but for the whole city,” said Steve Stallworth, general manager of the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center, another participatory-driven venue that opened in 2006.

“We have 44 weeks of equestrian events booked this year, including the World Series of Team Roping in December,” Stallworth said. “It’s the third-largest equestrian event in the world, and we’ll book more than 1,000 rooms per night.”

The annual World Series of Beer Pong, another niche event, is in its 12th year in Las Vegas and its second at Westgate. The tournament drew about 1,000 participants in 2016 — ranging in age from 21 to 90 — with a 25 percent increase in attendance anticipated at this year’s five-day event June 1-5, according to Michelle Massaro, director of marketing and advertising for Westgate. The property will likely book more than 2,500 rooms throughout the tournament, she said.

“With the growing demographic and popularity of beer pong, we felt it was a great fit for Westgate,” Massaro said, adding that the World Series of Beer Pong is the ideal June event. “While the city has historically slowed down in the summer months, Westgate has been thriving. For this year’s tournament, we’ve decided to theme our monthly casino promotions around beer and beer pong.”

While some properties are hosting niche events aimed at attracting out-of-town visitors, Station Casinos is sticking with its bread and butter — locals — with programming designed to attract a younger clientele while complementing its existing entertainment offerings.

“We wanted to offer more experiential programming, and we learned from our spas that yoga is incredibly popular, so we found a partner that was creating a unique way to enjoy yoga where participants wear a headset to listen to the instructor,” said Lori Nelson, vice president of corporate communications for Station Casinos.

Silent Sunset Savasana — a monthly poolside yoga class that is free and open to the public — is now in its third season at Red Rock Resort and its second season at Green Valley Ranch Resort. Silent Sunset Savasana attracts 350-500 participants at each venue each month, and recently had an inaugural run at the Palms with a turnout of some 300 yoga enthusiasts.

“There’s a huge yogi community in town, so the hope is to drive additional visitation to our restaurants, lounges and other amenities,” Nelson said.

About a year ago, Station Casinos also introduced Rock Shot Bingo, a monthly event at Red Rock Resort and Green Valley Ranch.

“Think bingo meets nightclub, with high energy, jello shots, crazy lighting, monthly themes, a DJ and an emcee,” Nelson said. “The perception is that bingo is for an older generation, but we learned that our younger guests also enjoy this gaming offering typically enjoyed by baby boomers.”

She said Santa Fe Station and Sunset Station offered similar iterations of the event, which puts a twist on prizes for winners.

“If you win a game you might win the cash prize, but everybody at your table will be rewarded with a shot on us, or maybe pool passes or pizza,” Nelson said. “We get hundreds of participants at each event, and it absolutely has a cult following. And, of course, we’ve been committed to bingo since we opened our first casino.”

Indeed, bingo has been a Station Casinos mainstay harking back more than 40 years, when its first local property, Palace Station, was called Bingo Palace. Reflecting the bingo craze embedded in the company’s DNA, Palace Station recently opened a 10,000-square-foot bingo room.

From bingo to bowling, pickleball to beer pong, Las Vegas resort operators are continually reinventing themselves beyond just casinos, nightclubs, restaurants and shopping as visitor demographics evolve.

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