In a city full of extravagant casino properties, there may be none more legendary than Caesars Palace.
The megaresort, which celebrated its 60th anniversary on August 5, has not only influenced so many other casinos — and spawned a huge entertainment company bearing its name — it’s made a huge imprint on pop culture. Through constant expansions, additions, and risks taken, it remains to this day one of the largest and most popular resorts on the Strip.
"I think a lot of it is because of the allure, and because of the brand that came out of Caesars," said David Schwartz, gaming historian and UNLV ombuds and professor. "You know, it's not just a building; it's a whole idea."
"I think Caesars Palace is the only Vegas property that has become more itself over the years," added Las Vegas Weekly senior editor Geoff Carter. "Properties lose their themes; they add on elements; they change. Caesars has only gotten more Roman, more maximalist, more, frankly, crazy, and I think people love it for that."
That idea was a resort themed top-to-bottom to the Roman Empire, one of the rare Las Vegas properties at the time to stray from western, desert, and exotic motifs. It was the vision of Jay Sarno, a cabana motel entrepreneur who dreamt a little bigger when it came to his next project in the early 1960s.
"He went to Vegas for the first time and had a terrible time," Schwartz said. "He just thought the city was boring. He thought it was so plain. He thought it was just unexceptional and said, 'Wow, they should do better. More importantly, I can do better.'"
It didn't hurt that he had access to more than $10 million from the Teamsters fund. Nonetheless, Caesars Palace opened on August 5, 1966 and found immediate success. The next year, Sarno built upon that success by signing daredevil Evel Knievel to jump the fountains in front of the casino, which resulted in an iconic image of a motorcyclist flying across the visually striking property.
"You know, that is such a great backdrop," Schwartz said. "I think the fact that he didn't make it successfully, the fact that he survived not making it successfully, kind of gives people a little bit of everything. They get to see the crash, but not feel guilty about what happened at the crash. And I think it's just such a non sequitur. You would not expect to see that. I think that's why it is so remarkable so many years later."
Caesars would spend the next decade going through ownership changes, expanding, and enduring a flood in 1975, all while thriving even in the face of growing competition on the Strip. From 1969 through the 1980s, Caesars became synonymous with sporting events, from boxing and tennis to hockey and — for two years — hosting an F1 race, drawing crowds even when the rest of Las Vegas struggled with visitation. The 1990s marked a period of widespread expansion, with the Forum Shops mall exemplifying Las Vegas' forays into non-gaming and family-friendly amenities. The 2000s saw Caesars dive headfirst into concert residencies — notably with Celine Dion, then Elton John — and nightlife that catered to celebrity culture. World-renowned chefs like Guy Savoy and Bobby Flay also established restaurants at the property.
The property's focus on entertainment, nightlife, and the famous would continue from that point on — adding the spicy, vaudeville-like "Absinthe" production show by then-newcomer Spiegelworld in 2011, and collaborating with TV personalities like Gordon Ramsey and Lisa Vanderpump — but Caesars' most recent history is marked by more practical strategies like renovations, replacements, and acquisitions.
Currently, the company owned by entrepreneur Tilman Fertitta is poised to buy Caesars and its parent corporation, Caesars Entertainment. That could begin a new era for the empire-like property, which has never gone too long between pioneering concepts.
"They do a lot of things first, they do a lot of things best. Unfortunately, they also get bored quickly and [phase] things out," Carter said. "I think if Caesars wants to stay in the conversation, they need to look at the experiential economy. You know, people coming to Vegas wanting to do things that they can't do anywhere else, and be seen doing things they can't do anywhere else. Caesars has always been good at that in the past, and I'm sure whatever they're considering next will punch that card."
Guests: David Schwartz, gaming historian and ombuds, UNLV; Geoff Carter, senior editor, Las Vegas Weekly
