Las Vegas demands endless innovation. It's a city filled with tradition and nostalgia that's also always home to the next big thing. The Las Vegas Strip offers a unique mix of timelessness and endless change. You can have some of the same experiences you had 40 years ago, then head to a venue dedicated to e-sports or virtual reality.
The major casino operators, including Caesars Entertainment (CZR), MGM Resorts International (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), and the new Resorts World International, constantly push each other to evolve.
Now, the Las Vegas Strip has entered a period of unprecedented development. New casinos, including Dream Las Vegas and the long-delayed Fontainebleau, are on their way, while Hard Rock International plans a Guitar Hotel on the site of the Mirage's famed volcano after it bought that legendary resort from MGM.
New players are not the only source of change on the Strip. MGM not only sold the Mirage, it has taken over the Cosmopolitan. Caesars has not been quiet as it plans to sell its dated Flamingo resort casino (although it could still end up running it) while it's working to rebrand its Ballys property under its gambler-friendly Horseshoe brand.
This marks a triumphant return to Las Vegas for that iconic name and the first time it will appear on the Strip. While Caesars has said very little about its plans for Horseshoe, the celebrity chef Guy Fieri gave away a key part of the plan at a July 11 event.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Slowly Reveals Horseshoe Plans
Earlier this month Caesars revealed plans to remove the sportsbook at the soon-to-be-rebranded Ballys and replace it with an all-ages arcade. That seemed a curious move for a property that's being redesigned to focus on delivering a top-tier experience for gamblers.
At the time "Arcade" was announced, Caesars did not provide much information on its sportsbook plans for Horseshoe. The company said simply that visitors to the property could place bets through the Caesars app and that a "sports-betting counter" would be installed later.
Caesars, it turns out, has bigger plans for the Horseshoe sportsbook. And they involve Fieri, the self-declared Mayor of Flavortown, who has a longstanding partnership with the casino operator.
Horseshoe Has a New Take on a Sportsbook
Caesars has asked Fieri to bring his own special brand to the sportsbook at Horseshoe, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
“We’ve got a new project that’s coming," Fieri said at an event honoring first responders. "They came and said, ‘Hey, listen, we know that we have the Linq and we crush over there. What do you think about doing, like, a food sportsbook themed event in Bally’s Horseshoe?’”
Fieri owns a number of restaurants, ranging from the quick-serve Chicken Guy to higher-end fine-dining concepts like his restaurant at Caesars Cherokee resort in North Carolina. His restaurant at the Linq, Guy Fieri's Las Vegas Kitchen, sits somewhere in the middle -- it's table-serve but casual.
The celebrity chef said the new venue would have a different menu (though some of his signature items may cross over as they have at Cherokee).
“We’re kind of like a band,” Fieri said. “We’re writing things and creating things, and you’re gonna see stuff you’ve never seen on any of our other menus.”
Fieri also has a deal with Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL), with most of the company's namesake brand's ships having a Guy's Burger Bar on the pool deck while a few ships have a Fieri-led barbecue concept.
