Is the Strip recovering after an awful 2025 for visitation and tourism? The question is more complicated than you might think. 

I discussed the topic on Monday with City Cast host Jesse Merrick. You can check it out here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Also, I teased some changes in last week's Indy Gaming. Today's newsletter will be the last one that appears on The Nevada Independent home page. You will receive the newsletter every other Wednesday in your email, but the lead story will be replaced by a round-up of gaming, tourism and sports business items with some commentary from yours truly. Thank you for your continued support. 

Please email me at [email protected] with any questions.

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More than a decade ago, Las Vegas-based Golden Entertainment went public through a $341 million merger with a Minnesota-based company that owned one property in northern Maryland. 

Then last month, Golden left the Nasdaq and is again a privately owned business through a $1.16 billion sale and leaseback with real estate investment trust VICI Properties.

It's a trend.

Last year, two Nevada-based gaming equipment providers, IGT and AGS, were bought out by large hedge funds and delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. By going private, financial information is hidden and only available to company insiders and advisers.

Another potential buyout could be looming. Caesars Entertainment is reportedly deep into talks with billionaire investor Tilman Fertitta about acquiring the gaming company in a deal valued between $5 billion and $7 billion, which would take the casino operator with more than a dozen Nevada casinos private. 

As for Golden, it has bought or sold more than $2 billion in assets since 2015, putting the company in a position attractive to VICI. Going private means returning to its roots and putting control of the business back in the hands of the Sartini family. CEO Blake Sartini founded the company in 2001 with 19 Las Vegas-area taverns.

"Ultimately, we're a family-owned, family-operated company," said Golden Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Blake Sartini II, who began his career at the company's former Colorado casinos. 

"We now can focus on running our operations without having that three-month report card [quarterly earnings] that comes with being a public company," he said. "Now we can game-plan with a 12-month strategy."

The goal is simple — improving and growing the various businesses, which include 73 statewide taverns and seven casinos spread between Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump. 

Sartini said Golden will explore other opportunities in markets where the company doesn't have casinos, including Northern Nevada and rural areas. 

"We like the regional Nevada market," Sartini said. "We would be willing to entertain any regional opportunity that would come our way."

The real estate associated with the company's Nevada casinos was sold to VICI, while Golden retained operations covering more than 5,500 slot machines, 80 table games, and 6,000 hotel rooms.

VICI, which paid off Golden's $426 million debt in the deal, will receive $87 million in annual rent from Golden for the casinos. The figure increases yearly by 2 percent starting in the third year of the 30-year contract.

"Having VICI as a partner allows us to go out there and see what we can do with this current platform. We definitely want to see where we can find growth," Sartini said. "This is their first exposure to certain regional and local markets, which gives them a good balance as the Strip may continue to see some headwinds."

VICI can also provide Golden insight to the Strip, given the real estate trust is landlord for nearly a dozen Strip resorts including Caesars Palace, MGM Grand Las Vegas, The Venetian and the under-construction Hard Rock Las Vegas.

The deal added Golden's STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod onto the VICI roster. While the STRAT is physically part of downtown, it is often associated with the Strip because of its proximity to the northern border at Sahara Avenue. 

Golden bought the STRAT — which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary — in 2017, along with two Arizona Charlie's properties in Las Vegas and on the Boulder Highway, two Pahrump casinos (a third is shutting down on May 24) and three Laughlin casinos for $850 million. 

At last month's Nevada Gaming Commission hearing ahead of the VICI deal closing, Blake Sartini Sr. told regulators the company has "significant plans" for the Colorado Belle in Laughlin, one of its three casinos along with the Aquarius and Edgewater resorts. The riverboat-themed property has been closed since 2020. 

Golden controls 22 acres with 1,000 feet of frontage along the Colorado River and the CEO said it "would be logical to assume" that VICI could have a role in financing a project for the location.

Golden's tavern business expanded beyond the well-recognized PT's model as the company acquired two established taverns in the past couple of years. In 2024, Golden closed the sale of its market-leading slot route operations in Nevada and Montana to Illinois-based J&J Gaming for $322.5 million. 

J&J supports the gaming operations of the company's taverns under the five-year lease agreement, but the businesses are still managed by Golden.

Disclosure: I spent 18 months in corporate communications with Golden Entertainment from 2016 to 2018.

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Side Bets: Items of Interest

✈️ New analysis shows just how far Vegas international visitation has dropped

Las Vegas saw international visitation fall almost 5 percent in 2025, with Canada showing a double-digit decrease, the largest dip of any country or region. The data is collected by a third party that takes several months to compile the results.

• The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said the total number of international visitors exceeded 4.7 million. Foreign visitation has slowed since the pandemic; it hit a high of just under 6 million visitors in 2014.
• While visitation from Mexico was up 1 percent to under 1.2 million, Canada visitation fell 17.4 percent to just under 1.5 million. 
• The core European markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France, showed single-digit drops. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region grew Las Vegas travelers, with the largest jump coming from Japan, where incoming travelers were up 10.5 percent.

🍁Meanwhile, downtown Canadian visitation saw a boost thanks to Circa

The three downtown properties operated by Circa Resorts have drawn more than 50,000 Canadian visitors over the past three months through the company's "At Par" program, in which eligible Canadian guests receive $1 U.S. in value for every 1 Canadian dollar spent, regardless of daily exchange rates. In a statement, the company said the promotion has generated more than 5,100 hotel room bookings and produced more than $10 million in slot play. The program will continue through Aug. 31 and applies to select gaming, hotel, beverage and entertainment offerings at Circa Resort & Casino, the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate Hotel and Casino.

🏗️ Conflict could slow the $5.1 billion Wynn project in the UAE

Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings said the ongoing Middle East conflict would lead to a "modest delay" in the planned 2027 opening of the $5.1 billion Wynn Al Marjan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But he said it doesn't change the company's outlook on the market. "The UAE has a world-class tourism infrastructure, unrivaled airport capacity and a strong policy framework. As the region stabilizes, we expect the country will find smart ways to accelerate tourism," Billings said last week on the company's quarterly earnings conference call. Construction has continued while logistical and shipping challenges in the region were manageable, "though we are realistic that the picture could shift as the situation evolves."

🎸 Sparks Nugget's financial performance shines thanks to its events center 

Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon said last week the Sparks Nugget "was the standout" among all of the casinos operated by Colorado-based Century Casinos. During last week's quarterly earnings conference call, company management credited the resort's 8,500-seat Nugget Events Center for driving business to the property. Century acquired the resort in 2023 for $195 million. The arena supported the Nugget's 93 percent increase in overall cash flow from the hotel, restaurants and casino floor. The venue hosted a sold-out Brooks & Dunn concert last month, with headliners Keith Urban, Lady A, Shinedown, Miranda Lambert, Kansas and Deep Purple still on the calendar this year. According to the Gaming Control Board, Sparks gaming revenue in the first three months of 2026 is up more than 9.1 percent to $45.8 million. 

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Table Talk: What I'm Reading

🃏 AGA CEO Miller calls federal prediction market regulator 'a joke' — Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming Reports

At a Las Vegas event, Bill Miller said the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is not a regulator but "a cheerleader for the industry." 

👋 FanDuel CEO Amy Howe is out after five years at the sportsbook — Contessa Brewer, CNBC

FanDuel paid Boyd Gaming $1.76 billion last year to buy back a 5 percent stake owned by the casino operator. The company abandoned its Nevada license to enter prediction markets.

🤠 Adelsons' Sands hiring 'casino management' developers in Dallas amid Texas gambling push — Sasha Richie, Dallas Morning News

The company says it does not have any projects in Dallas and is instead centralizing software development in a talent-rich region.