A lot of you still say Vegas was better when the mob ran it.
That’s not coming back.
The U.S. ambassador to Italy is going to give it his best shot though.
Shareholders approved the deal Tuesday in Reno. $31 a share. About $17.6 billion with roughly $11.9 billion in Caesars debt riding along. He does not own it today. The FTC already asked for more paperwork. Gaming boards in every Caesars state still have to bless it. Close talk is still the first half of 2027.
None of that is the interesting part.
The interesting part is what the hell he should do with it.
I already wrote the prediction piece in June. Service. Flamingo. Food. Fees. That was before the vote.
So Tillman I’ve always admired your way of doing business, and several of your quotes. If you’re listening, here’s my unsolicited 2 cents….
Now let’s play a different game.
Keep / Fix, Or Kill ?
The Only Rule That Matters
Fertitta’s golden line is…
“There are no spare customers.” -Tilman Fertitta
Caesars has been running the opposite playbook for years. Worst check-in energy on the Strip. Room mix-ups after a delayed flight. Deposits that vanish into a policy. Staff who look at a screen and say no because the screen said no. Broken Kiosks, a horrible app……
If people start getting let go and the ones who stay can actually solve a problem, that’s the tell that something is changing. If the same faces are still reciting the same script in 2028, nothing changed. He just bought a bigger spreadsheet.
“It’s free to be nice.” -Tilman Fertitta..
Caesars forgot that part.
He doesn’t need these buildings to look like Fertitta buildings. He needs them to work.
KEEP / FIX
Caesars Palace
Keep the name. Fix almost everything behind it.
This is the crown jewel. You don’t kill it. You also don’t get to leave it as a famous logo attached to a shrug. It should be what this whole division stands for, close enough to challenge Bellagio and Wynn on attitude, not just on a billboard. Change the service. Change the walk-in feeling. If Palace still feels like a mall with a Colosseum after he owns it, he bought the wrong company.
Flamingo
Keep the name. Rip out the stupidity.
I said renaissance in June. I’m louder now. Delete the Vanderpump layer. Delete the Ramsay layer. Lean into Bugsy, the pits, the pink, the old-school heat. Think Golden Steer energy with food that doesn’t need a TV contract to justify the check. This place survives on geography and nostalgia. Give it a personality again before the nostalgia dies.
Harrah’s
Keep the brand. Nationwide.
Selling Harrah’s to “simplify” is how you blow up market share and gut Rewards. The problem isn’t the name. The problem is nobody can tell you who it’s for.
It should be the budget-minded gambler’s safe house. Not flashy. Great comps. Its own staple restaurants instead of another celebrity-chef gift shop. Bring the Mardi Gras idea back and mean it. In many of them the rooms are still behind. Fix those. Don’t turn it into a fake luxury play so it can charge like Palace.
Horseshoe
Keep. Stop ignoring the street.
The inside has already been spruced up and it looks better than people want to admit. Bally’s is gone. Good. The Grand Bazaar Shops are supposed to go. I don’t think thats the right play. Just do something with that sidewalk that isn’t timeshare clipboards and ticket barkers.
Make the outside semi-permanent food trucks and bar stands. Downtown Container Park energy, except this block actually has traffic. Don’t you dare touch Chilangos. Run the cheap hustle off the curb. Bring in some Landry’s specifics and charge the others rent. The hotel can stay a hotel. The street should feel like a reason to stop.
LINQ
Keep the bones. Change the menu.
The promenade and the High Roller still give this place a job no other Caesars property has. Rooms work for the people who book them. Guy’s can Go!!. Drop a Saltgrass in with a breakfast and lunch special and dinners that don’t require a second mortgage. Leave the block loud. Make the food make sense.
Paris
Keep the French. Fix the product.
Hands off the tower. Hands off the theme. Sprinkle in new Landry’s concepts that actually belong under a French roof and a couple of specials that don’t feel like a food court with an accent. Paris was supposed to feel like the nicer stay. Horseshoe next door was supposed to be the bargain. Put that pairing back.
KILL / SELL
Planet Hollywood + the empty dirt next door
Sell the package.
That’s spending money. Location is the asset. The brand is tired. If the FTC wants a Strip body, this is a cleaner sacrifice than lighting Harrah’s on fire.
Vanderpump
Goodbye.
The brand is dumb, it doesn’t fit, and the royalties are a tax on a hotel that was already confused. Girls’ weekend can exist somewhere that isn’t paying a reality-TV vig to feel pink.
Tahoe, if the law forces his hand
Keep Golden Nugget. Keep Harrah’s if he’s actually going to make that brand matter. Caesars Republic is the one I’d give up. South Lake is slow most of the year outside ski season. Owning three of the four major houses on that shoreline is the overlap regulators will complain about.
Laughlin, same logic
Dump Tropicana Laughlin if he has to pick one. Don’t die on that hill.
Isle / leftover Trop brands
If they help chip at the debt and don’t protect the Harrah’s gambler, they’re chips. Not heirlooms.
Do not sell Harrah’s as a name. That’s the recognition. That’s the rewards spine.
“Know your numbers”- Tilman Fertitta
does not mean set fire to the only brand regulars still understand.
Food and the One Fee
Kill the celebrity-restaurant addiction… everywhere
A guy who already owns Morton’s, Del Frisco’s, Mastro’s, Saltgrass, Vic & Anthony’s, The Palm, Chart House, Strip House, Cadillac Bar, plus Post Oak, King Ranch Texas Kitchen, Brenner’s, La Griglia, and Bloom & Bee does not need to keep writing checks to TV chefs so a hamburger can cost $26. A royalty dressed up as a restaurant can go.
Also replace the food Halls, and take a page from Red Rock and Durango. Bring in names people know for cheaper lunches along with some local staples in the region. Talk to “Stay Tuned” I’d love to see that..
“Take the word no out of your damn vocabulary.” - Tilman Fertitta
If he only gets one fee win: free parking for rewards members. Locals would feel that before they ever notice a new steakhouse.
The Guitar Next Door
Hard Rock is coming. The giant guitar doesn’t care about his book tour.
“Be the bull” -Tilman Fertitta
does not mean copy the neon. It means Palace and Flamingo have to feel taken care of while that thing tries to steal the block. Keeping up with the Joneses is how Caesars got hollow. Out-service them. I think this is going to be the hard part in Las Vegas.
The Verdict
He bought some dirt, debt, a rewards program, and a bunch of buildings people tolerate instead of love.
“Change, change, change” - Tilman Fertitta….
only works if he changes the experience and leaves the themes that still work.
Keep Palace, Paris, LINQ, Horseshoe, and the Harrah’s name.
Fix Flamingo until it feels dangerous again in the good way.
Sell PH and Vanderpump for parts.
Give up Republic Tahoe or Trop Laughlin if a regulator puts a gun on the table.
Vegas is about to change whether you like the buyer or not.
So I’ll ask you the same thing I’m asking him.
What would you Keep, Fix, or Kill?
-Jason
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As always, my thoughts are my own; they are NOT sponsored. I pay for my experiences, and I reserve the right to praise and talk shit about whoever and wherever I feel warranted… Hope you enjoy