One Vegas casino's plan to win back Canadians: a favorable currency exchange rate
Here is an idea. Derek Stevens could conduct his own form of diplomacy, inviting the U.S. president and Canada’s prime minister to meet at Circa Sportsbook and settle their differences as they watch an NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals while enjoying platters of poutine and sipping on bottles of Labatt Blue.
Casino owner Derek Stevens is all but raising the Maple Leaf above downtown Las Vegas.
He introduced a promotion last week aimed at reviving visitation from Canada, long considered Las Vegas’ top international market. A drop in Canadian tourists is one reason visitation is down almost 7.5 percent through November, according to tourism officials.
Stevens’ program will exchange Canadian dollars at the same value as U.S. dollars, which can be used at his three downtown properties through Aug. 31.
The Canadian dollar was worth 73 cents compared with the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. Despite the lower value of the Canadian currency, Stevens said Circa, D Las Vegas and Golden Gate will exchange the funds dollar-for-dollar for as much as $500 in slot machine promotional play, hotel room costs and various beverages.
But did President Donald Trump destroy the effort shortly after Stevens announced the plans?
Last week, Trump rescinded Canada's invitation to his so-called “Board of Peace” covering the Gaza Strip, which reignited his feud with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the World Economic Forum in Davos. On Saturday, Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada if the country proceeded with a trade deal with China.
Canadian visitation to Las Vegas slowed last spring after Trump placed tariffs on Canadian goods and suggested the country become part of the U.S. as the 51st state.
According to the Clark County Department of Aviation, Air Canada and WestJet, the two largest Canadian air carriers with direct flights into Las Vegas, have seen passenger volume to Harry Reid International Airport decline by more than 20 percent.
Stevens said in an interview Monday that he wasn’t deterred by the latest remarks coming out of the White House and they wouldn’t halt the promotion.
“I didn’t want to wait forever. I want to make sure Canadians know they are welcome at one of my three properties. And it’s more than just words,” Stevens said. “There are a lot of different perspectives on what's going on. We want our Canadian customers to know you’ve got some friends in Las Vegas.”
In a statement and video that accompanied the promotion, Stevens said the loss of Canadian business has hurt not just his downtown properties, but all of Las Vegas. He professed his deep connection with Canada, having grown up in the Detroit area, just across the river from Windsor, Ontario.
“Canada has always been a part of my story,” he said. “My father went to the University of Toronto. I loved crossing over for places like Tunnel Bar-B-Q, Don Cherry’s and Tim Hortons.”
Stevens, who created BarCanada, a themed bar at D Las Vegas dedicated to Canadian sports and culture, named the promotion “At Par” to signify the favorable currency exchange for Canadian customers.
It removes “unnecessary barriers” while ensuring “Canadian visitors feel just as welcome downtown as they always have, without worrying about exchange rates, fine print or doing the math at the cage.”
The promotion caught the attention of Jefferies Equity Research analyst David Katz, who noted that Canadian visitation to Las Vegas grew 3 percent from 2019 to 2024.
“We view the deal as a signal that tourism remains weak on the Strip and operators are turning to discounting in order to stabilize foot traffic,” Katz wrote in a research note Sunday. He said it was unlikely Boyd Gaming, which also operates three casinos downtown, would follow with a similar offer.
A Boyd spokesman declined to comment.
Stevens has been an outside-the-box operator since he acquired a percentage of the Golden Gate Casino in the 1990s. He has since assumed full ownership.
After buying Fitzgerald’s, which he rebranded as D Las Vegas, Stevens set out to build Circa Resort Casino at the corner of Main Street and the Fremont Street Experience. The project was the first all-new, built-from-the-ground-up hotel-casino in downtown since 1980. It opened in November 2020 — in the midst of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, a Forbes Magazine cover story proclaimed Stevens as “The Last Casino Mogul.” Author Will Yankowicz explained Stevens was a “dying breed in Las Vegas” as the last independent casino operator.
A year ago, five days after his inauguration, Trump held his first rally as president in Las Vegas, speaking to a crowd of roughly 2,000 people at Circa. After the event, Stevens was photographed with Trump on Circa’s casino floor, conversing with customers at a craps table.
That was before Canada became a presidential target.
“I think if we get a thousand extra people to show up in Vegas because of this promotion, then that’s a good thing,” Stevens said.
Bally’s timeline stretches to 2030 for its Vegas resort project next to the stadium
Bally’s Corp. told Clark County it will spend almost $1.2 billion and take until 2030 to complete its project for a 35-acre site on the Strip, where the Athletics’ $2 billion baseball is taking shape.
While this is the first time Bally’s has suggested a completion date, how the company will pay for the development remains a question mark.
The three-page document was filed in December and included target dates for submitting plans for the development, which includes a hotel-casino. A Bally’s representative declined to comment on the filing.
The A’s are using 9 acres of the site at the southeast corner of the Strip and Tropicana Avenue for the 33,000-capacity, fixed-roof stadium. Construction is well underway, with a target opening date of April 2028.
In September, Bally’s unveiled plans to develop 500,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment offerings, including a 2,500-seat theater for live performances, focusing primarily on non-gaming aspects for development.
A 3,000-room hotel-casino with two towers was included in the September announcement. In the Clark County filing, Bally’s said plans for the hotel-casino wouldn’t be submitted until the end of 2027, with construction beginning in June 2028.
The company isn’t sitting idle until then. Bally’s is building a $1.7 billion resort in Chicago that is expected to open in 2028, and is planning a $4 billion hotel, casino and golf course project in New York City.
Bally’s continues to pay real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties $10.5 million in annual rent for the 35-acre site. The casino company gave the A’s its portion of the site rent-free.
Gaming and Leisure Senior Vice President Carlo Santarelli reiterated the company’s previous $175 million financial commitment to Bally’s for redeveloping the former Tropicana site. The company spent $48.2 million of that on demolition and cleanup for the October 2024 implosion of the shattered hotel-casino.
Santarelli said the remaining $126.5 million could be used for site upgrades.
“Given the location and the pedestrian flow around that intersection, as well as the stadium development, the site is obviously a very attractive piece of real estate,” Santarelli wrote in an email. “But we have not made further commitments beyond the $175 million.”
What I'm reading
🏈 This NFL season’s fiercest rivalry is sports betting vs. prediction markets — Katherine Sayre and Jared Diamond, The Wall Street Journal
Polymarket and Kalshi are challenging FanDuel and DraftKings for a lucrative business.
🤷 Coin flips that already landed: Prediction markets and the insider trading problem — Jeff Edelstein, InGame
Sharp bettors discuss whether players should participate in prediction markets where someone, somewhere, already knows the answer.
💸 New York City cracks down on hotel junk fees with new rules — Christina Jelski, Travel Weekly
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the rules on Jan. 21, in which hotels must prominently display total pricing, inclusive of mandatory fees. Las Vegas doesn’t hide fees.
News, notes and quotes
🏨 Shannon Keel promoted to president of Grand Sierra Resort
The Grand Sierra Resort in Reno promoted general manager Shannon Keel to president, given her expanded role in overseeing the Northern Nevada resort’s $1 billion redevelopment, which includes a 10,000-seat multiuse arena that will be home to the Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball team. Grand Sierra owner Alex Meruelo said in a statement that Keel has helped strengthen the 2,000-room hotel-casino’s position in the market and has built strong relationships across the community. Keel has been Grand Sierra’s general manager since 2017. “This promotion reflects the confidence we have in her leadership,” Meruelo said.
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