vegas in real trouble?

Las Vegas has always been defined by its ability to reinvent itself. From neon lights and $1 buffets to luxury megaresorts and superstar residencies, the city continually reshaped its identity to stay ahead of cultural and economic shifts. But today, cracks are showing. The divide is sharp: downtown properties like Circa continue to buzz, and high-end Strip giants like Wynn and Bellagio thrive. Yet places like the Rio and Excalibur are shells of their former selves, teetering on irrelevance.

City leaders and casino operators seem to recognize the problem. A new campaign is underway to “bring value back” — cheaper dining options, discounted packages, and efforts to remind visitors of a more affordable Vegas. The question is whether this effort is arriving too late. Travelers now face a city more expensive than ever, and the mystique of affordable fun may have been lost for good.

Compounding the issue is a lack of bold innovation. The Sphere and the embrace of professional sports have been the only notable additions in the past decade. Beyond that, Vegas hasn’t unveiled the kind of sweeping reinvention that once set it apart. Add in geopolitical concerns that are slowing foreign tourism, and a city once powered by international dollars finds itself leaning more heavily on domestic visitors.

Meanwhile, the economy itself is shifting. Reports warn that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be replaced by robots in the near future. Could Vegas lean into that and become the first “Robot Town”? It’s provocative, maybe even inevitable, but hardly a recipe for sustaining employment or preserving the soul of the city.

For Las Vegas, “value” is a start. But without daring ideas and a willingness to gamble on itself again, the Entertainment Capital of the World may find its luck finally running out.