Steve Wynn was among those in attendance at the conference
The 16th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking took a trip down memory lane earlier this month when four of the panelists shared their story of the The Mirage’s opening day.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a small and mostly local crowd showed up at the conference to hear about the Mirage Hotel and Casino opening day rush more than 25 years ago in Las Vegas. Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn was among those in attendance at the conference.
The opening day was a success, even though panelists admitted that prior to the inauguration, the man behind The Mirage, Steve Wynn, had demonstrated a lack of confidence in the resort’s popularity. They had even considered running an advertisement in the Review-Journal inviting the public to the event.
However, it was not needed. On the opening day, an estimated 35,000 people attended the event, with a further 35,000 waiting in cars along the approach to the property.
“It was a zoo, it was absolute chaos,” said Alan Feldman, who was a part of the opening day team and now an executive vice president with MGM Resorts International, as cited by the Review-Journal.
Feldman accredits the opening day rush to the anticipation built up as a result of Wynn’s decision to withhold the details of the resort’s features from the public until the launch. Crowds swarmed the place when the doors opened because everyone wanted to see what The Mirage looked like, he explained.
Wynn maintained the policy of keeping all details confidential before opening day for every subsequent resort he opened in Vegas.
The success of one of Las Vegas’ earliest integrated resorts – or “megaresorts,” which housed more than 3,000 rooms and a variety of supporting attractions – forever changed the casino landscape, setting a worldwide precedent.
The notion of integrated resorts has also gained a significant following in Macau. Known as “Las Vegasization,” the growth of such resorts has been propelled by operators’ move toward non-gaming, alternative entertainment in the face of a crippling anti-corruption campaign on the mainland.
In the words of the Review-Journal, “Macau is buying into the theory that it will take more than gambling to attract the emerging Chinese mass market.” DB
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