造价17亿美元麦迪逊球形广场为拉斯维加斯再添非博彩地标
位于拉斯维加斯大道的麦迪逊球形广场项目计划2021年竣工开业，该项目是近期拉斯维加斯城中最新启动的非博彩业重点项目。
完工后，该项目将成为全世界最大的球形建筑，总面积8万平方米。
麦迪逊球形广场由纽约麦迪逊花园广场集团和拉斯维加斯金沙集团联合打造，将可容纳1.75万人次，内外都将由整块LED屏幕包裹。该项目由拉斯维加斯T-mobile体育场设计者Populous操刀，预计总造价17亿美元。
截止2019年末，该项目的工程进展迅速。如球形架构、主舞台、观众席和中庭等主要工程已基本完成，目前项目已达20米约4层楼高度。
游客类型变化巨大
如今的拉斯维加斯早已不同以往，博彩业也已不再是该城旅游业的主要支撑。随着美国50州中的41个均有着博彩业发展，前往北内华达州的游客再也不将赌博作为其主要访问目的。
根据拉斯维加斯会展观光局（LVCVA）统计显示，2018全年以赌博为主要目的访客仅占总比7%。旅游/度假以45%位居第一，其次是占17%的探亲访友，赌博以第四名位居第三名“途经”之后。
在总计约4200万的总游客量中，58%即2440万曾在拉斯维加斯观赏过一场演出。这也是麦迪逊愿意斥如此重资在拉斯维加斯打造该地标级会展场地的原因之一·。
“有着年均4000万以上游客的拉斯维加斯是名副其实的世界顶级旅游胜地，其中很大一部分正在寻求一些全新的旅游体验，而这正是我们希望所能提供的，”麦迪逊总裁Andrew Lustgarten 在12月曾公开表示。“而麦迪逊球形广场将作为一个前所未见的全新平台展现给全世界。”
随着年青一代逐渐成为游客的主要组成，拉斯维加斯也在逐渐改变其旅游度假业的整体规划。
近年，诸多投资和经营活动昭示着现在的拉斯维加斯正在逐步走向转型。如美高美集团面向年青一代的电子竞技场所Level Up，凯撒集团旗下Linq计划的虚拟空间Kind Heaven，以及麦迪逊球形广场等。
2018年末，美高美集团CEO Jim Murren曾宣布计划重建其旗舰品牌美高美大酒店正门区域，以吸引更多的拉斯维加斯大道流量。这也是酒店博彩业不再一家独大的鲜明佐证。
“在过去20年，这家酒店正面一直都是内部朝向，” Murren先生表示，“为了吸引更多的流量和游客，我们也是时候改变策略了。”
包含转变中的旅游业在内，加上现在高速发展的IT、科技、零售、物流等其他行业，曾经的欲望之都距离未来的国际大都市正越来越近。
$1.7 Billion MSG Sphere Adding Non-Gaming Las Vegas Profile
The MSG Sphere, slated to open in 2021, is the latest attraction being developed in Las Vegas that has little to nothing to do with casino gambling.
Once complete, MSG Sphere will be the largest spherical building in the world at 875,000 square feet.
MSG Sphere is being built in partnership between The Madison Square Garden Company and Las Vegas Sands Corporation. The sphere-shaped venue will have a capacity of 17,500 and will feature LED screens inside and outside of the venue. The sphere was designed by Populous, the designer of T-Mobile Arena, and is estimated a total cost of $1.7 billion.
As the year winds down, construction on the MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas is making progress, some of the venue’s key characteristics are taking shape, including its spherical shape, the stage, and event seating and atrium. the sphere reached 65 feet in height with the completion of a fourth level.
Changing Visitor Profile
The days of Las Vegas being a casino-first town are long gone. With commercial or tribal casinos now in 41 of the 50 states, the majority of travelers don’t come to Southern Nevada to gamble.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reveals just seven percent of 2018 visitors said their primary purpose for being in Las Vegas was to gamble. Vacation/pleasure topped the list at 45 percent, and seeing friends and relatives next at 17 percent. Gaming was fourth after No. 3, “passing through.”
Fifty-eight percent of the more than 42.1 million visitors – or 24.4 million people – saw a show while in Las Vegas. That’s precisely why MSG is making such a massive investment in an entertainment venue.
“Las Vegas is one of the world’s top entertainment destinations, with over 40 million visitors annually, many of whom are looking for new experiences, and we’re going to give it to them,” MSG President Andrew Lustgarten affirmed on December. “MSG Sphere will be an entirely new platform, unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”
The MSG executives added that the Sphere will be an ideal setting for corporate events such as product launches and keynotes. “When you add that we’re directly connected to the Sands Expo Center, we see this as a very compelling opportunity,” Lustgarten concluded.
Casino Strip Changing
As a result of new customer attitudes and younger demographics with less of an appetite to gamble, Las Vegas casinos are re-imagining the entire resort concept.
From millennial-focused, skill-based gaming areas like MGM’s Level Up, immersive spaces such as the planned Kind Heaven concept at Caesars’ Linq, to The Venetian’s Sphere, Las Vegas is amid change – but that’s a constant in Sin City.
MGM CEO Jim Murren said last year the company is opening its facades to create more appealing entry spaces for Strip pedestrians – the new Park MGM being a prime example.
“The casino design of 20 years was all inward-facing,” Murren explained. “You wanted to suck people in and keep them in, and that is the opposite of what we’re doing now.”
With the re-forming resort industry plus fast development of IT, technology, retail, logistics, etc., the former Sin city is moving closer to an international metropolitan.
