Circa proprietor Derek Stevens – A sports-specific model with a downtown Vegas vibe — CDC Gaming

Years in the past, Derek Stevens, a Detroit auto elements manufacturing firm proprietor, was enthralled by the joy he skilled visiting Las Vegas throughout main sports activities occasions.

He was having the time of his life, by no means realizing he would sooner or later use that exhilaration to create game-changing casinos with their hearts in sports activities and a definite downtown Vegas vibe.

He took that feeling of pleasure and created Circa Resort & Casino, a daring model method in downtown Las Vegas with the world’s largest sports activities ebook, the “Stadium Swim” aqua theater, a spectacular rooftop lounge, and the largest soccer contest payouts on the planet.

Derek Stevens has grown into one among Las Vegas’s most influential unbiased on line casino homeowners. As the drive behind Golden Gate, the D, and Circa Resort & Casino, Stevens blends daring execution with dynamic hands-on management and a method for bringing again “grown-up” Vegas. He embraces Vegas’s mythic previous and produces profitable properties with one-of-a-kind wow options.

A wow sports activities vacation spot
“Back in my youthful days, popping out to Vegas, I’d come out for an enormous boxing match. I keep in mind the electrical energy that Vegas had throughout these  occasions. I keep in mind popping out to observe boxing matches, Super Bowls or to observe wild card weekends.

“I believed Las Vegas was simply such an important surroundings when you’re a sports activities fan. I keep in mind going over to the Las Vegas Hilton and strolling into Caesar’s Palace. I keep in mind saying to myself, having my very own wow second that I’ll always remember, like ‘Man, I just walked into the greatest place on earth. I love this.’

“And later, I thought that sports fans were a little bit underserved and I wanted to create something that reminded me of what it was like to come to Vegas for those events. I thought there was a market for sports destination. And that’s why we designed Circa the way we did,” Stevens mentioned.

With that inspiration, Stevens created Circa Resort & Casino, a game-changing, sports-centric resort that was the primary floor up constructed on line casino in downtown Las Vegas in over 40 years.

As their web page declares, “Circa is the conduit between the Las Vegas of yesterday and the Las Vegas of tomorrow.”

Pivotal position
Derek Stevens is the proprietor and CEO of Circa Resort & Casino, the D Las Vegas, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Circa | Sports,  and Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. Stevens performed a pivotal position within the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas by investing within the redevelopment of a number of properties all through the world and reworking them into thriving Fremont Street leisure experiences.

“I grew up in Detroit. I’ve a enterprise in Detroit that I’m partnering with my brother. We needed to diversify in 2006, 20 years in the past, and successfully moved our funding portfolio to Nevada. That needed to do with not having an revenue tax within the state of Nevada.

“I run the investment portfolio, and Rio hotel was on the American Stock Exchange at one point; and then we purchased the debt on Riviera, and that worked out pretty well. Then, in 2006, we purchased 50% of the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino in Vegas,” Stevens mentioned.

Sports workforce proprietor and perception
Stevens owned a AAA baseball workforce in Las Vegas for six years, and that gave him perception into Vegas as a rising main league sports activities mecca – an perception that helped create his sports-centric technique.

“In 2006, after I purchased the Golden Gate, the triple A baseball workforce was up on the market. I did buy the triple A baseball workforce right here in Las Vegas at nearly the identical time.

“I at all times thought Vegas was a city that was actually underserved in main league sports activities, as a result of there was this thought course of that sports activities playing was a destructive.

“During my six years of proudly owning the triple A baseball workforce, that simply reaffirmed my place. I at all times thought Vegas was a metropolis that was prepared for main league sports activities greater than most since you even have a market that doesn’t get calculated.

“In my opinion, that’s the tourist market. Remember that Las Vegas has 160,000 hotel rooms. So, you’re basically getting 320,000 additional residents every weekend. And the residents who come to Vegas, they’re all going out on the town. So, you know, I’ve always thought that Vegas had the ability to support major league sports and very clearly, based upon the Golden Knights and now the Raiders, that’s the case,” Stevens said.

Shorts, flip flops, and a gaming schooling
Golden Gate – Las Vegas’ unique hotel-casino relationship again to 1906 – was Stevens’ and his brother’s first funding in downtown Las Vegas in 2008. Attracted to its storied historical past, Stevens led Golden Gate by means of a number of main renovations – together with the addition of a five-story luxurious tower with 16 suites, an expanded on line casino flooring with a high-limit gaming space, two premium penthouses and prolonged out of doors bars.

With classic neon and traditional cocktail service, they restored the old-school attraction to resume Golden Gate’s legacy whereas modernizing operations.

Stevens instructed me that luck entered into the image a number of occasions whereas he was experiencing on line casino improvement in Las Vegas.

“There was a time period the place I used to be trying to diversify our enterprise.  I visited quite a few totally different areas and walked into Golden Gate. And the  day that I used to be there, I used to be capable of run into that proprietor, and that proprietor was in search of a companion. It was one thing the place all the celebs aligned.

“I’m still a good  friend with the owner. We’ve subsequently purchased 100% of Golden Gate. I still see him regularly. I still consider him a mentor of mine. Everything came to light. It was fortunate. I walked into the Golden Gate with my buddies wearing a t shirt, flip flops, and lo and behold, that particular day the owner’s executive assistant was on vacation, and I somehow got lucky enough to talk to him, and we hit it off. And you know, I guess the rest is history,” Stevens mentioned.

Golden Gate was Stevens’ first on line casino operations expertise.

“I knew coming into a new industry, you better walk in with open eyes and some humility. It gave me an opportunity to learn a little bit about the beverage business, the hotel business, the table games business, the slot machine business, and then we were able to make some investments to upgrade Golden Gate to 2006 standards. We were able to bring a lot of new slot machines, and a new slot system. That was a good start,” Stevens associated.

The D Las Vegas
Stevens then acquired Fitzgeralds Hotel and Casino in 2011. In October 2012, after an entire renovation and rebranding, he debuted the D Las Vegas, which grew to become a downtown hotspot. Amongst different choices, visitors benefit from the D’s distinctive two-level on line casino, which contains a distinct theme on every flooring: a high-energy occasion environment on the primary degree and a throwback classic on line casino on the second.

He additionally imported two eating places from his hometown: Detroit’s iconic American Coney Island and Joe Vicari’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse, a traditional steakhouse delivering a brand new caliber of positive eating to the world. The 38-story property boasts 629 rooms and suites and is residence to LONGBAR – the final word sports-viewing vacation spot.

The LONGBAR is born
Looking for a wow function for the D Las Vegas, Stevens discovered that his lengthy wall bar was not only a sports activities viewing spectacle, however a report breaker.

“When we purchased it, we knew we were going to renovate Fitzgerald’s. We knew we were going to rebrand it, and we wanted to bring in a signature feature, and we had a wall that was very long, and created the longest video poker bar. Trying to come up with the name, we decided we’re going to call it LONGBAR, which was rather self-explanatory, and it was a massive hit, and still is to this day. We figured out that we were the longest bar west of the Mississippi,” Stevens recounted.

Better use
In 2014, Stevens acquired the previous Clark County Courthouse constructing and used the land to create Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, a flexible out of doors sports activities and leisure venue downtown internet hosting main live shows, sporting occasions, viewing events, festivals and extra. The venue can accommodate as much as 11,000 visitors and options state-of-the-art stage, sound and lighting.

“That was a building that had been abandoned, and it was owned jointly by the city and by the county. It took up a whole city block, and it went to auction, and we were able to purchase it and demolish it and put it to better use, which we’ve used for our festival grounds and events,” Stevens mentioned.

One factor led to a different
Stevens’ lucky improvement streak performed out in an enormous method when he began buying the decades-old Las Vegas Club.

“Our preliminary acquisition was of a on line casino by the title of the Las Vegas Club, and it was a on line casino that had been in Vegas for in all probability 40 years or so. It took up about half of town block that Circa is at the moment positioned on. There had been eight different buildings and companies on town block, which is a full Las Vegas metropolis block. Once we purchased Las Vegas Club, we thought, ‘Let’s discuss to the subsequent enterprise proprietor and see what’s taking place. And lo and behold, one factor led to the subsequent, and we had been capable of buy a pair extra of the small companies, after which there’s a parking storage, after which one other small enterprise. There was a small on line casino, which I believed we’d by no means be capable to buy, slightly slot parlor, however that proprietor was prepared to maneuver out of state, although it had been in his household for 60 years. He mentioned we might buy it.

“One little thing after the next happened, and we were able to purchase all of the businesses and buildings on that city block. And once that happened, that’s when it really opened up the door to the opportunity thing. We thought this could be a much bigger project than we originally planned. This isn’t just a renovation of Las Vegas Club. This is a whole new deal,” Stevens mentioned.

Garage Mahal
“Boyd had property throughout the road on their Main Street Station property. I mentioned, I’m going to let you know what I’m fascinated about doing right here, however for me to do that, I would like slightly extra land to construct a parking storage slash transportation hub. We signed some NDAs, they usually took a have a look at it. They thought, if we constructed this, it will be nice for his or her three on line casino resorts positioned in downtown Vegas.

“They were right about that, and we built this parking garage, and it helps bring a lot of people to downtown,” Stevens recalled. Operating at present as Garage Mahal, Circa’s web page calls it: “The most high-tech transportation hub in Las Vegas, Garage Mahal easily accommodates ride sharing, valet, self-parking and long-term parking for loyal Circa guests.”

Iconic signal story
Stevens associated one other lucky story about how he lucked into proudly owning one among Vegas’s most iconic neon indicators.

“There was a defunct strip club, and I had nothing to do with the strip club. What was cool about the strip club is that outside the strip club it had this very famous and iconic sign called Vegas Vickie. When we purchased the defunct strip club, we took great care to make sure we brought the original sign down off of the building, and that’s what we subsequently refurbished, and now Vegas Vickie is a signature feature inside of Circa,” Stevens beamed.

Creating wow experiences
I requested Stevens about his considering whereas planning the primary floor up on line casino resort in-built Las Vegas in over 40 years.

“The one factor I realized about from being on the board of the Fremont Street Experience since 2006 is that downtown solely has 6,000 lodge rooms out of 160,000 lodge rooms in Las Vegas. So, it’s important to do one thing that could be a signature function that makes individuals wish to go to you. Fremont Street Experience this 12 months can be visited by about 24 million guests. That’s the second most visited vacationer vacation spot in America, after Times Square.

“How does Fremont Street Experience do it? Well, they do it by having three totally different phases, three totally different live shows which can be free seven nights every week. And they do it with this unbelievable overhead HD cover, with exhibits and music and an outside strolling space that’s pedestrian pleasant. It’s clear, protected and, once more, it’s the second most visited vacationer vacation spot in America.

“So, I knew that after I designed Circa, I needed to be sure that we created parts that had been the wow experiences. For instance, as a sports activities fan, I needed to be sure that whether or not somebody stayed at my place or at Circus Circus or at Caesar’s Palace or on the Wynn or at MGM, when you’re a sports activities fan, what wouldn’t it take so that you can come and go to our place?

“And I at all times thought the world’s largest sports activities ebook would try this, and that’s the primary signature key level. I needed to construct the world’s largest sports activities ebook. In the final 30 years, sports activities books had been handled as an amenity inside a big lodge. I needed sports activities followers that got here to Vegas to verify they visited our place. So, the world’s largest sports activities ebook was test primary.

“Number two, I needed to have a pool expertise that was particular. You know, Las Vegas has 335 days of sunshine. I grew up in Detroit, and there wasn’t quite a lot of solar between Thanksgiving and opening day. So, for our pool space I needed to do one thing that was spectacular. I used to be not attempting to construct the very best pool downtown. I used to be not attempting to construct the very best pool in Las Vegas. I used to be attempting to construct the very best pool or aqua theater within the historical past of the world.

“I needed anyone that got here to Vegas to have the ability to try Stadium Swim, which has six separate pool areas and a 143-foot theater display screen. We’re open year-round, seven days every week. It’s not only a summertime or springtime sort of factor. You know, in December and January it’s like the biggest sizzling tub occasion within the nation. I needed to do one thing the place we might make the most of the sunshine of Las Vegas, like I mentioned, the 335 days of sunshine.

“Stadium Swim has a capability of a pair thousand individuals, after which over the course of a day we’d do three, 4 or 5 thousand individuals a day at Stadium Swim. And I believed that will be an important vacation spot.

“You know, 90% of our enterprise at Stadium Swim comes from individuals staying at different motels. It’s the wow.

”And then, we needed to create a rooftop lounge that I believed was fairly spectacular. I’d been lucky. I had the chance to go to quite a few nice rooftop cities. Miami Beach is a superb rooftop metropolis. New York City is a superb rooftop metropolis. New Jersey has some nice rooftop bars and LA. I actually thought, with our location being central to the Las Vegas Valley, that the rooftop at Circa might be the best rooftop in Las Vegas.

“That was the trail we went down on design. We needed to have the best rooftop in Vegas. And I believe that’s what’s been achieved with the Legacy Club. You have an unencumbered view of the entire metropolis. You get an unencumbered view of the Red Rock mountains. The sunsets in Vegas are fairly spectacular as effectively. So, you’ve gotten the best sundown location, and then you definitely get to see the entire metropolis gentle up proper earlier than your eyes after the solar units.

“I just think that the days of developing and designing an all-encompassing resort is a strategy of the past. People nowadays want to see a lot of Las Vegas. We wanted to fit into that mode and design so we could be one of the stops, one of the things that someone visiting Vegas has to see, whether it’s for the rooftop Legacy Club, or for Stadium Swim, or for the World’s Largest Sports Book,” Stevens said.

Opening Circa
In 2020, Stevens debuted Circa Resort & Casino, an adults-only on line casino resort. Circa was the primary main resort to open downtown in 40 years. The property boasts 618 rooms and a group of facilities, together with the World’s Largest Sportsbook that includes multi-level, stadium-style seating and a capability of 1,000; Stadium Swim, a vacation spot pool amphitheater open 12 months a 12 months; a spread of eclectic eating places; the longest out of doors bar on Fremont Street Experience; an elegant rooftop lounge, Legacy Club; and a two-level on line casino with state-of-the-art slot and desk gaming choices.

Adults-only
Stevens and his workforce opened Circa as an adult-only property. I requested him concerning the considering behind that distinctive determination.

“The cause we did that was as a result of we felt that we might make a commerce. And that commerce was that we’d hand over enterprise that features below 21. So, successfully, we’d hand over dad and mom coming with their below 21-year-old kids and can hand over some lodge room income, will hand over some restaurant income, and quit some Stadium Swim income; but it surely’s solely slightly bit. But what we’re going to do, in flip, is we’re going to create far and away the very best customer support scenario you’re going to search out in Las Vegas.

“We have a better reputation and really focus on the customer service component. By giving up a little bit of revenue that included the under-21s, we felt that that was a good trade off. We also felt that this was something that our competitors were never going to be able to do. We felt it was a good differentiator,” Stevens mentioned.

Largest authorized soccer contest on the earth
To add to his sports activities technique, Stevens operates two of the largest soccer contests on the planet and this 12 months added a 3rd, Circa Grandissimo.

There are three main sports activities contests: Circa Sports Million VII Pro Football Contest, with $6 million in assured prizes; Circa Sports Survivor Pro Football Contest, “One Survivor $15 Million Guaranteed”; and the newly-created Circa Grandissimo Pro Football Contest, “$100,000 Entry Survivor Contest.”

“In 2019 I knew I needed to get into soccer contests. I believed that soccer contests might create some nice buzz, some nice advertising and get individuals enthusiastic about your model. I at all times went in with a thought course of to create the largest soccer contest ever. We put a pair little tweaks in a few of these contests. Mainly we added quarterly prizes. And quantity two, we didn’t take any fee. We took no rake. I believe the mix of these two issues actually helped speed up the expansion of the Circa Million contest.

“A 12 months later, we produced a brand-new contest, one thing that by no means occurred in Las Vegas earlier than. We known as it Circa Survivor, and boy, it simply took off. I imply, it has outdated Circa Million after three years. And , the final couple of years it has been the biggest authorized soccer contest on the earth.

“Last 12 months we assured a $10 million payout, but it surely got here in at $14.2 million. So, all that cash went again into the prize pool. This 12 months we bumped it once more. This 12 months we’re guaranteeing $15 million and if it goes over $15 million, it simply means the prize pool goes to get larger. Never in my life did I dream that we’d have a $15 million prize pool over a soccer contest, but it surely works out fairly effectively.

“And under the regulations of the state of Nevada, you have to sign up in person. So, for us, the football contests are something that creates a lot of buzz and it  gives us a reason to get people on property, and hopefully I get a certain percentage of them to want to come back and become customers,” Stevens mentioned.

“A lot of customers said they wanted to get into a higher stake Circa Survivor. I was reluctant to do that, because I didn’t want to do something that could cannibalize Circa Survivor. So, we’re going way over the top. A $100,000 entry fee is a completely different animal than a $1,000 entry fee. So currently we have 11 entrances into Grandissimo. I have a number of people that have set up their appointments for the month of August, so we’re hopeful that we will get to 15 entrances, which will go over a million five, and if it goes over, that’s great. That’s just more in the pot for the first-year participants,” Stevens declared.

A blended bag
With gigantic payouts at stake, I requested Stevens if his soccer contests had been often gained by benefit gamers.

“It’s a blended bag. We had a bunch of two brothers, a brother-in-law and a buddy, who had been as distant from execs as you could possibly presumably get. And they gained Circa Million. They had the very best share handicapping of the 12 months, not execs in any respect.

“Last year in Circa Survivor we had four winners that went undefeated the whole season, one of which was a group of buddies. They all work for Hormel. They were all meat salesmen. They named themselves the Meatball Brothers. They weren’t even from the same hometown. They all got to know each other through sales conventions. I can guarantee these fellas are not professional gamblers. I would say it’s trended more towards leisure football fans. The pros don’t necessarily have a leg up on the rest of the crew,” Stevens mentioned.

Pluses and minuses
Having interviewed Gary Ellis of Ellis Island Casino and Kenny Epstein of El Cortez for Faces of Gaming, I requested Stevens what it was like being one of many handful of unbiased on line casino resort operators remaining in Las Vegas.

“I’ve talked to Kenny about that, I’ve talked to Gary Ellis, and I’ve talked to our workforce about it. There are pluses and minuses to being a company enterprise versus being a privately held enterprise. Because we’re privately held, I wish to concentrate on among the benefits. I believe we will make choices extra shortly, which I typically suppose is an effective factor. You can react to markets and issues extra shortly. I believe that’s a bonus as a privately held enterprise. But on the opposite finish, the large guys have the cash to herald large manufacturers and do issues that we will’t do and have extra entry to capital.

“I’d say the unbiased guys like Ellis Island, or the El Cortez, or Circa, and the D really add some distinctive worth to Vegas that Caesars and Wynn and MGM really recognize as effectively, “Stevens mentioned.

Steve Wynn and getting in
Stevens mentioned that he first bought 50% of his first property, Golden Gate Hotel and Casino for $7.5 Million. He recalled what Steve Wynn instructed him years in the past about the price of stepping into gaming in Las Vegas.

“He mentioned one of many considerations he had was that gaming was getting so costly that it was going to start out limiting among the newer, youthful guys to get into this trade. Maybe I snuck in simply earlier than a few of these costs went by means of the roof. Because now, costs are far increased.

“It would be a lot harder to work your way up today than I think it was 20 years ago. So, I echo some of Steve Wynn’s comments,” Stevens mentioned.

Circa Sports
I requested about Circa Sports, the sports activities betting firm that Stevens is increasing.

”We’re at the moment in 5 states – Nevada, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado and Kentucky – with Circa Sports and we’re going to use our mannequin to get into extra states. That’s a very good factor. I’m enthusiastic about it. Just this morning, we opened up a big new sports activities ebook in a Kentucky on line casino. I’m enthusiastic about that. We wish to proceed to develop our Circa Sports enterprise across the nation and we wish to proceed our visitation in Las Vegas with our properties right here,” Stevens said.

Early and late
I requested Derek Stevens what he thought contributed to his success.

“I will tell you, number one is just show up. Yeah, show up early and stay late. That is definitely my mantra to everybody. If you’re not willing to put hours in, you’re probably not going to give yourself a fair shot. So, my deal is, show up, show up early, stay late. That would be my number one. And then after that, pray for some luck.”

Entries within the Faces of Gaming sequence:

• Circa proprietor Derek Stevens – A sports-specific model with a downtown Vegas vibe (now studying)
• Phil Satre – Chairman of the Boards
• Michael Kaplan – Writing the ebook on benefit gamers, for playing and for all times
• Andrew Cardno — Data Scientist, Dyslexic, Taekwondo Master, Author, Futurist, A Modern Renaissance Man Who Really Should be Dead
• Dr. Katherine Spilde – There’s no place like residence
• Mattress Mack – Furniture mogul, advertising genius, sports activities betting champ
• Jeff Connor, proprietor of Lockdogs – A greater mousetrap
• Antonio Perez – An optimistic realist
• Kara Napolitano – Human rights advocate and trafficking knowledgeable
• Next Gaming CEO and skill-based slots evangelist Mike Darley
• Dennis Conrad – Executive, founder, creator, speaker, writer, columnist, and innovator
• Adam Wiesberg – A journey from signal salesman to seller to El Cortez GM
• Gary Ellis – Las Vegas entrepreneur
• Alan Feldman – From Mirage and MGM to accountable gaming knowledgeable
• John Acres – the Thomas Edison of gaming
• Alex Alvarado — Vice President, Casino Operations at MGM National Harbor and Casino Aficionado
• Lauren Bates — A profitable VP at Konami and Chair of Global Gaming Women, all earlier than her fortieth birthday
• TJ Tejeda and EZ Baccarat – Reimagining a centuries-old sport
• Chris Andrews — Don’t cry for the bookmaker
• Wes Ehrecke — From gasohol and pork chops to president of the Iowa Gaming Association
• Steve Browne – Casino thinker, grasp gaming teacher and father of a rocket scientist
• Noah Acres – Shaking up the trade one participant report at a time
• Kate Chambers – ICE queen, on line casino exhibition maven and keeper of fairy mud
• Joe Asher — From the newsstand and racetrack to sports-betting icon
• Paul Speirs-Hernandez — Randomness, probability, reward, and luck
• Ainsworth’s Deron Hunsberger — From finance and gross sales to president
• Roger Gros — Chronicler of the gaming trade for 4 a long time and counting
• Debi Nutton — Everi board member, gaming trailblazer
• Cache Creek’s Kari Stout-Smith — Dancing backwards in excessive heels
• Andrew Economon — Making downtown Las Vegas cool once more
• Richard Marcus — From the flawed aspect of the on line casino tables to the appropriate
• Willy Allison — From New Zealand bloke to world game-protection chief
• Tom Jingoli — From gaming enforcement agent to COO of Konami Gaming
• Tino Magnatta — Interviewing the interviewer, 3,000 and counting since COVID
• Deana and Brady Scott — Still speaking store with the homeowners of Raving Consulting
• Kevin Parker — “Putting everything into everything I do”
• Laura Penney — Putting within the Work as CEO of Coeur d’Alene Casino
• Andre Carrier — Paying it ahead
• Jean Scott — The unique on line casino influencer, nonetheless frugal playing in any case these years
• Anika Howard — From Harrah’s First Interactive Employee to CEO of Wondr Nation
• Anthony Curtis — Gambling Guru, Las Vegas Expert, Customer Advocate with Street Cred
• Mark Wayman — An govt recruiter with a model and one thing to say
• Melonie Johnson — From rural Louisiana to resort-casino management   
• Brian Christopher — From actor, Uber driver, and cater waiter to fit movie star
• Allan Solomon — From accountant and tax lawyer to pioneering on line casino proprietor
• Kenny Epstein — A Niche from Nostalgia

Tom Osiecki is a on line casino advisor who writes an occasional column for CDC Gaming known as Faces of Gaming, about attention-grabbing and fascinating individuals within the gaming trade.

Tom Osiecki is a advertising and administration advisor for Raving Consulting and will be reached for consulting engagements at 775-329-7864.

If of a captivating persona within the gaming trade you wish to see profiled, please ship Tom Osiecki an e-mail at [email protected]