The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported on Friday that August marked the eighth straight month of year-over-year visitation declines, with a 6.7% drop compared to last year. Despite this, gaming revenue continued its upward trend for the third consecutive month.
The continued bad news as rendered by AI. (Image: Microsoft CoPilot)
Though August’s visitation drop was only 6.7% year over year — less than the double digits seen earlier this year – every month in 2025 has seen a year-over-year visitor decrease of at least 1%, with most ranging 5-10%. Year
-to-date totals show a 7.8% decrease, with the number of visitors shrinking from 28 million to 25.8 million — a loss of 2.2 million.
August’s convention attendance, the singular bright spot for the region in 2025, fell 8% to 587,000 – largely due to the World Market Center summer show, which attracts 40,000 attendees, shifting from August to July.
Hotel metrics mirrored the downtown. August occupancy rate averaged 77.5%, down 3.7 percentage points from last year, with average daily rates dropping 7.4% to $162, resulting in revenue per available room (RevPAR) falling 11.7% to $126.
Strip properties saw occupancy decline from 84.5% to 81%, with average daily rates decreasing from $186.06 to $172.83 and RevPAR dropping 11%.
This news came the same day LVCVA ended the first areawide Las Vegas “sale” in the region’s history — featuring over 100 discounts of up to 50% at casinos restaurants and entertainment venues — as a desperate attempt to turn visitation around.
Lone Bright Spot: Gaming Revenue
The Nevada Gaming Control Board also announced its monthly numbers on Friday, and they were much better. Clark County’s (Las Vegas) gaming revenue rose 5.3% to $1.03 billion last month. And the Strip’s gaming win grew 5.5% to $679.3 million, up 5% year-to-date.
Baccarat was the key driver, with the Strip winning $114.4 million on the table game in August, a 51% increase from last year, and up 29% over the past three months – though still down 3% over the past 12 months.
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” publishes every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on June 17, 2024.
It’s not too difficult to figure out who started the myth that celebrity chefs work in their own restaurants. According to an old menu at Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars Palace: “If you think the guy sitting at the end of the bar looks a lot like Gordon, well, it just might be.”
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay poses for a photo in a restaurant in which he has never cooked, Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen at Caesars Palace. (Image: vistlasvegas.com)Ramsay poses for his contractually required photos at the grand opening of his first Hell’s Kitchen in January 2018. (Image: Brenton Ho/KabikPhotoGroup.com)
Booking the Cooks
Caesars Entertainment wants you to think you can meet or see Ramsay by dining at one of the six Las Vegas restaurants they operate for him — so much so that the casino company requires him to visit each one at least once a year, for at least 24 consecutive hours.
During each visit, Ramsay is contractually obligated to allow himself to be photographed as though his being there is a perfectly normal occurrence and not just a requirement for him to earn his $340K annual name-licensing fee per restaurant, along with 5%-6% of Caesars’ gross profits from it.
This suggests what we all kind of know intuitively — that once someone earns millions from TV shows and passive licensing deals, they don’t want to have to cook your Crispy Skin Salmon over a hot stove after you arrive famished from seeing Mat Franco’s 7 p.m. show at the LINQ.
Celebrity chefs may sometimes help design the menus at their Las Vegas restaurants — that’s both may and sometimes. But they never cook in them. Doing so may actually be illegal if they don’t possess a Nevada health card.
Instead, they rely on their hotel partners’ food and beverage departments to manage the restaurants.
Ramsay cooks in a scene for his long-running “Hell’s Kitchen” Fox-TV reality series, which is always shot on soundstages, never in his restaurants. Seasons 23 and 24, now filming at the Foxwoods in Connecticut, is set on a soundstage at the casino resort, not in the Hell’s Kitchen there. (Image: Fox-TV)
How We Know For Sure
We only know about Caesars’ deal with Ramsay because it was among the financial relationships exposed by the Wall Street Journal during the company’s 2016 bankruptcy proceedings.
We assume that Caesars, and other casino companies, have similar deals with Guy Fieri, José Andrés, Guy Savoy, Giada De Laurentis, Michael Mina, and David Chang, though those deals have never been made public.
The only time celebrity chefs can be counted on to be at their restaurants is for their grand openings.
Unfortunately, that’s one of the only times you can’t be because those are invite-only affairs open exclusively to celebrities and other casino VIPs.
Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. Visit VegasMythsBusted.com to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email corey@casino.org.
Zumper, a national digital marketplace for renters, has published its latest National Rent Report, and rents in Atlanta remain among the top 25 most expensive in the country. One-bedroom and two-bedroom units in the city proper, not to be confused with metro Atlanta, are above the national average despite rents falling over the past 90 days.
Atlanta is 25th on a list that includes the usual suspects, New York City (1st), San Francisco (2nd), Boston (3rd), and Miami (6th).
“National rent prices have now been flat or falling for three straight months, which signals a real shift in the market,” said Zumper’s Crystal Chen, one of the two authors of the report along with Quentin Proctor. “A mix of cooling renter demand, last year’s record wave of new supply, and softer conditions in the job market has taken some heat out of rents.”
Zumper’s National Rent Index revealed that national rent prices were either flat or declining for the third consecutive month. In September, one-bedroom rent units held steady at $1,517 per month, while rents for two-bedroom units dipped 0.2% to $1,894. The good news: Year-over-year, both unit types are down 1%.
An apartment building (left, rear) looms large near Atlanta’s Historic Sweet Auburn District. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
But not in Atlanta—at least not yet. According to Zumper data, one-bedroom units in Atlanta average $1650 per month, while two-bedroom units average $2,010, more than $100 above the national average.
“We’ll likely see prices temper a bit further through the winter if typical seasonality patterns hold true, but with fewer new units being built this year, rent prices will likely increase again as we move into the spring months of 2026,” Chen said.
Those numbers are still better than those in San Francisco, for example, where a one-bedroom unit averages $3,500 and a two-bedroom unit is breaking the $5,000 mark.
Rents in the mountain region are down. For example, one-bedroom units in Salt Lake City are down 11% year-over-year. Desert cities such as Las Vegas (-3.3%) and Phoenix (-3.8%) have also seen rent prices fall.
The Terry Fator Las Vegas residency is over. Bam! Just like that. The ventriloquist and singer who rose to national fame after winning the second season of “America’s Got Talent,” has announced the end of his long-running residency in Las Vegas. The performer wrapped up his current show, “Terry Fator: One Man, a Hundred Voices, a Thousand Laughs!” at The STRAT Hotel this week, marking the close of a 16-year run on the Strip.
The original Terry Fator Las Vegas residency began in 2009 at The Mirage, where his mix of comedy, singing impressions, and puppetry quickly turned him into one of the city’s most bankable acts. Over the years, he performed at multiple venues, including The Mirage, New York-New York, and most recently The STRAT, where his latest production debuted in May 2024.
The decision to end the show appeared to come suddenly, surprising many fans and industry watchers. Fator said that while his time as a Las Vegas headliner has been deeply meaningful, he is now ready to move into a new phase of his career. He plans to focus on touring, television appearances, and collaborations with symphony orchestras, suggesting that audiences around the country may soon see more of him outside of Nevada.
Industry analysts have pointed to challenges in the current Las Vegas entertainment market as one reason behind the decision. Declining ticket sales and shifting audience trends have made it more difficult for some long-running productions to sustain nightly shows. Fator’s exit is part of a broader trend of veteran performers reassessing their Strip residencies as the city continues to evolve.
Even as he departs the stage where he built his reputation, Terry Fator Las Vegas legacy is firmly established. His combination of comedy, music, and ventriloquism helped redefine what a residency show could be, and his influence on the city’s entertainment scene is likely to endure long after his final curtain call.
Hackers threw Las Vegas casinos into chaos in 2023, taking down some of the Strip’s biggest names. Two years later, a teenager is accused of orchestrating the attack. CBS News reporter Andres Gutierrez has the details.
F1 Las Vegas is coming November 22, 2025! Think you can’t afford to attend the Las Vegas Grand Prix? Well, think again! We’ve got a breakdown on the best priced F1 tickets and hotels that can fit almost any budget! Plus, a shot list of parties and entertainment to enjoy all during the Las Vegas F1 race!
F1 Las Vegas is scheduled for Saturday, November 22nd, but shows and special events are going on all week long. And despite what you may have heard, the race is not too expensive for the average person. So before we talk about parties, concerts, and hotels, let’s talk about tickets. Don’t get me wrong, there are some expensive ticket packages out there over $30,000. But in this video, we’re more focused on the average Vegas visitor.
With that said, what you pay for a ticket will depend on where you sit… or stand. And that brings us to the T-Mobile general admission tickets near Sphere Las Vegas, which you can get for as little as $140 if you don’t mind standing. But why stand when you can sit for just a bit more at the Heineken Grandstands with all-inclusive beer? If you want something a bit more interactive, the Lewis Hamilton Grandstands have activations and entertainment starting at $185. And the Turn 3 Grandstands, with the largest band zone on the circuit, start at just $200 each.
Back at the Sphere, the T-Mobile Grandstands boasts the biggest F1 Las Vegas party with top performers and prices from 225 bucks. But the Heineken silver main grandstand seats located at the start finish line are just $300. But if the thought of sitting in the grandstands doesn’t appeal to you, there are rooftop views from Beer Park at Paris for just over $2,800. The Bellagio Fountain Club with gourmet food and fine wine starts at just over $8,000. And the exclusive Wynn Grid Club luxury suite, with 360 degree views and your own private outdoor terrace? Well, that will set you back just north of $22,000. Financing is available. I’m kidding. They ain’t going to finance shit.
So, now that we have the tickets settled, what about your hotel room? Well, believe it or not, there are over 30 hotels available for under $300 a night, and over half of those are under $200 a night. Budget friendly travelers can stay at one of these popular Sin City resorts, which may not have been your first choice, but many are on the strip or Fremont Street. There’s also many mid-tier resorts that offer great locations and plenty of amenities with some like Treasure Island not too far from the race course.
If you don’t mind paying a little extra, there are over a dozen nice resorts to choose from in the $200 a night range, including several on the actual racetrack. Step up your game with rooms over $300 a night. Some of which, like the Paris and Caesar’s Palace, have their own viewing experiences and offer direct access to the course and events. But if money is no object, go all out with a room at one of these exclusive resorts like Bellagio, which offers luxury suites and amazing views of the race action.
Finally this week, now that we have our tickets and hotel sorted out, what about special events going on during race week? Well, there are plenty. And that’s in addition to the usual shows and residencies that are always in Las Vegas. You can enjoy a night of laughs with comedian Tom Sigura at Park MGM November 21st, plus the smooth, soulful music of Kim at the Palms and the party rhythms of Pitbull as he takes the stage at Fontton Blue on the 21st and 22nd.
If you’re heading out in the evening, there will be plenty to dance to as several Sin City nightclubs host DJs during F1 Las Vegas, including Omnia and Zoo, plus a performance from Steve at the Hakasan Club located at MGM Grand. Of course, there will be live entertainment at the race itself with Zed, MGK, and Tain on stage in the T-Mobile Zone and additional artists performing at the East Harmon stage, including Dylan Francis and Shaggy.
Plus, there’s an F1 app that you can download that will help you keep up with tickets, news, entertainment, the event schedule, and more. We’ll put a link to download that app in the description of this video. So enjoy the F1 race, but don’t try to watch it from a pedestrian bridge. They’re on to that and they really don’t like it. And check out our other videos for more entertainment options in Vegas. And subscribe to our channel to find out what’s going on in Sin City when there’s not a race.
Vinnie Favorito was once touted in Las Vegas as the next Don Rickles
In addition to being a hard-working comic, Favorito was also a hardcore gambler known for hitting up his audience members for money
A new documentary shines a spotlight on Favorito’s career and gambling addiction
In the days of the Rat Pack, if a cocktail server needed financial help for a family emergency, Frank Sinatra would gladly tip her a hundy. In the early 2000s, it was the reverse — at least for some who attended the thousands of Las Vegas Strip performances by comic Vinnie Favorito.
Vinnie Favorito poses in 2006, when he was at the top of his career game and the bottom of his craps one. (Image: Getty)
The former Strip headliner would ask pretty much anyone he perceived as having money to loan him some of it.
“Vinnie Plays Vegas: The Con Man of Comedy,” now streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV, is a documentary exploring the rise and downfall of an entertainer who preyed on gullible audience members to fund his gambling addiction.
“I wanted to pay everybody back,” Favorito came clean to director Brian Burkhardt, his friend and fellow comedian, in the film, “but you get deeper and deeper and deeper like a drug, and you’re lying. You’re lying all the time.”
The promotional art for a new Amazon Prime documentary about Favorito. (Image: Amazon Prime)
An insult comic once touted as the next Don Rickles, Favorito has always leaned heavily into crowd work. That’s when you ask audience members where they’re from and what they do for a living before crafting appropriate zingers.
But unlike Rickles, Favorito was fishing for marks as well as comedy material.
After his shows, he approached the audience members who identified themselves as having six-figure jobs and hit them up. They were usually good for $1,000 to $15K each.
“It’s kind of [the] same skill,” said Mike Weatherford, a co-writer of the film, who documented Favorito’s exploits during his time as the entertainment reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The guy who was a doctor was the one he’d made sure to shake hands with after the show and, say, ‘Hey, why don’t we play golf?’”
Favorito performed this act (and con) at venues including Binion’s, O’Shea’s, the Flamingo, and the Westgate for nearly 20 years.
Even after the Flamingo fired him for borrowing from one of their waitresses, he continued. Some of the victims who spoke in the documentary recalled giving him money on multiple occasions.
“I’m not trying to make an excuse,” Favorito added. “But when you’re trying to chase the money and make that easy shortcut, everything goes south, and you don’t realize how deep you get. Now I’m so behind with people, and you’re trying to keep track of your own story … I’ve got to play the carnival game that you can hit a jackpot hand on. But the dream never came.”
Comic Relief
In September 2016, Favorito declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy to give himself a fresh start. More than 60 creditors jockeyed for pennies on the more than a million dollars he officially owed. There’s no telling how much more he owed to friends, co-workers, and fans unofficially.
How many people out there have a credit card that they couldn’t pay, years ago or now?” Favorito asked. “It’s kind of the same thing. You’re borrowing money, you know you don’t have the money to pay it, and later on, you’re going to end up trying to get out of the card.”
Weatherford told Casino.org that he doesn’t feel that merely coming clean about his addiction will be adequate to restore Favorito’s reputation — “unless he’s doing an apology tour and raising money for Gamblers Anonymous.”
And Favorito doesn’t seem to disagree.
“I’m the biggest piece of shit in the world for what I did,” he told Burkhardt. “I’ll always be looked at as the gambler. Don’t lend Vinnie money. You can’t escape that.”
Favorito still performs in Vegas. His show is at the 170-seat Robin Leach Lounge at the Notoriety Live theater downtown.
Las Vegas immersive entertainment hub AREA15 is turning five in a big way, celebrating the arrival of its second phase of development on September 17. Zone 2’s main attraction, Universal Horror Unleashed, opened its doors over the summer to attract seasonal tourists, but the rest of the offerings are following suit as the year draws out.
After io9’s invited visit to Universal Horror Unleashed, io9 chatted with Mark Stutzman, AREA15’s chief technology officer, about the new way to experience Vegas through futuristic visions of participatory entertainment. And it all really started with rave culture.
“The original idea was, ‘Let’s use it for festival grounds.’” Stutzman shared, “We decided it was too hot, and we put up a warehouse, and we said, ‘Let’s do festivals in the warehouse.’ And then we said, ‘Well, shoot, why don’t we kind of start creating this immersive destination?’ And that’s where it all started, and Zone One has just been insanely successful for us.”
Meow Wolf, the raconteur of interactive art portals that have sprung up across the country, was only the beginning as Zone One’s first anchor.
“Everyone who’s coming to AREA15 is coming [for] immersive experiences, right? Like, that’s their whole goal. And so obviously on the Zone One side, Meow Wolf is our anchor tenant and they’ve done a great job of continuing to drive traffic,” he said.
Zone One features a buffet of AR and VR games and visual walkthroughs among its neon-powered music, dining, and shopping selections. Stutzman continued, “We have 80 acres here to develop, and Universal is our anchor tenant in Zone Two out of a five-phase project. The entire district will be immersive experiences—it’ll be sports and entertainment; it’ll be great restaurants and all that good stuff. The thing that we’ve been leading into most recently is these kinds of IP-based immersive experiences because you get kind of the brand recognition—the emotional connection—and then we bring not only the experience of building immersive experiences that are engaging.”
Area15 is carving its own tech-forward frontier that’s more attractive to Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z than big E-ticket-esque major IP hubs. Universal Horror Unleashed, like Meow Wolf, leans into AREA15’s fun parallel dimension to the Strip’s casino nostalgia. Meow Wolf’s premise is that it’s a portal to other realms beyond its sci-fi-tinged grocery storefront; you have to look beyond for ways to break through and discover its genre-mashing labyrinths of cosmic and fantasy adventure.
Similarly, Universal’s desert warehouse of horrors acts like a storage facility of the studio’s lore that, because it was placed on AREA15’s dimensional rift-inspired land, brings the monsters to life in their wheelhouse of terrors. Stutzman elaborated, “We built a lot of these experiences and we leaned heavily into AR and VR and all this other cool tech but it’s really tech that should be the enabler. What should be most forward are the performances and the experience and the story and the emotional connectivity to the content, which is why we’re leaning more into the IP now. It just really works well and Universal is a testament to that. I mean, [it owns] some of the strongest IP in horror.”
The alternate universe thread is more for those who seek it out with Easter eggs in zone one that speak to it but the retailers within aren’t necessarily going to crossover with each other; it’s just a delightful nugget of lore that brings a sort of otherworldly, futuristic, multi-dimensional edge to the space.
“We’ll have similar in Three and Four and Five, but we’ll have other cool stuff that we launched, like The John Wick Experience, which is a partnership with Lionsgate, another incredibly strong IP owner. John Wick has been insanely successful, kind of beyond our models,” he said of the Continental Las Vegas. You can’t stay there because, well, things get hairy as soon as you try to check in—since you arrive at the same time as John during one of his tiffs against the high table.
“We love kind of doing over the top and Zone Two is going to be crazy with all the different experiences,” Stutzman said of the ongoing development. It will include an interdimensional creature carousel, a drop ride, and a hollowed-out plane with its own fake universe airline concept. But a big thing for the CTO is that at the heart of the tech there are still artists at work.
“Art has obviously always been a big part of who we are so we really wanted to tie into it and we’ll we’ll actually have art tours. And we don’t want to lean into it in a cheesy way. We want to lean into it in a serious way because it’s quite an impressive collection.”
He also noted that AREA15 seeks to cultivate Las Vegas’ art scene through community art events in addition to festival installations surrounding the outdoor plane areas. “We’ll have lots of musicians under there just entertaining and then we’re also going to throw raves but it’s really going to be an amazing space.”
Elon Musk’s tunneling firm, The Boring Company, has temporarily halted work at one of the company’s sites in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to a new report from Fortune. The disruption is related to a “crushing injury” sustained by one of the workers at the site, according to the magazine, which spoke to local firefighters.
Emergency responders received a call around 10:12 p.m. local time on Wednesday night about an “industrial/machinery incident,” according to Fortune. Employees at the worksite in Las Vegas told responders that someone had “sustained a crushing injury,” according to Fortune, but further details haven’t been released. The Clark County Fire Department didn’t immediately return a phone call on Thursday.
Fortune reports that an 18-person rescue crew used a crane to lift the worker out of the tunnel. The worker was transported to a local hospital and is reportedly stable, though the extent of their injuries is unclear at this point.
The incident reportedly happened in the tunnel that’s being expanded to reach the Las Vegas Airport. The Boring Company first opened a tunnel that brings people along a 1.5-mile route at the convention center in 2021 and has made efforts to expand ever since. Musk’s original idea for a mass transit system, known as the Loop, was first planned to carry 16 people in driverless pods at more than 600 miles per hour.
But that plan was downsized for Las Vegas. Visitors now travel at slow speeds of just 35 miles per hour in regular Tesla vehicles that anyone can buy. They also have human drivers, far from the autonomous rapid transit idea that was originally pitched. The Boring Company now has 3.5 miles of tunnels under Las Vegas and is expanding its operations in an effort to shuttle more people in a larger network under the city. The company has gained approvals for up to 68 miles.
The Boring Company has previously been cited for worker safety issues in Nevada, according to investigations by ProPublica, Bloomberg, and Fortune. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reportedly took a more “hands-on” approach to safety after injuries in 2024, according to Fortune. There were at least eight citations from Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, including the “collapse of a large concrete bin in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center.”
The Boring Company didn’t reply to an email about the incident on Thursday. Gizmodo will update this article when we hear back.
“How do we break down the journey into bite-sized pieces, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming or insurmountable?” says Jesse Levinson, the cofounder and CEO of Zoox. “This moment is a huge one, but the service is still unpaid and fairly limited.” Zoox launched in 2014, and though it’s been testing its technology in San Francisco, at its Foster City, California, headquarters, and in Las Vegas for years, this will be the first time it’s allowing anyone willing to download an app to ride. The company was acquired by Amazon in 2020 for a reported $1.2 billion.
Olsen, the May Mobility CEO, says he is comfortable with the company’s slower launch process after watching others rush to put self-driving cars on the road. “One of the things we’ve seen across the industry is that a vehicle might perform brilliantly some of the time, but then will do wildly inappropriate things in the edge cases,” Olsen says. He declines to say exactly when the firm would remove the safety drivers from its vehicles, or when it might expand its Lyft partnership to other areas or cities, but he says any moves the company makes will be tested and validated with real-world and simulated data. The service will scale more quickly as time goes on, he says.
May Mobility offers rides through Lyft.
COURTESY OF Lyft and May Mobility
Climb in, Lyfters.
COURTESY OF Lyft and May Mobility
Two US self-driving vehicle firms shut down this past decade after their robotaxis were involved in serious road accidents. In 2018, a testing self-driving vehicle operated by Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona. Uber sold off its self-driving technology to a competitor in 2020. In 2023, General Motors subsidiary Cruise struck a pedestrian in San Francisco after the person was thrown into the empty robotaxi’s path by a collision with another car; state regulators later learned that the Cruise dragged the person 20 feet while it attempted to move out of traffic, and revoked the company’s permit to operate. General Motors got out of the robotaxi business a year later, citing high development costs and a desire to focus on personal vehicles.
Keep On Robotaxiing
Still, robotaxi companies say they have plenty more public deployments on the horizon. Zoox says it will start picking up public riders in San Francisco later this year, and will then launch in Austin and Miami. May Mobility plans to deploy robotaxis in Arlington, Texas, before the end of the year, this time on the Uber platform. Waymo has announced future service in several US cities, including Miami, Washington, DC, and Dallas. Tesla is running a small, invite-only ride-hail service in the California Bay Area with drivers behind the wheel using its more limited Full Self-Driving (Supervised) tech, which requires the person up front to stay alert at all times. Musk plans to move quickly: He said this spring that the company would have “millions” of vehicles operating autonomously by the second half of next year.
Vegas residents can download Zoox’s app.
Chris Noltekuhlmann
Rides are free for the time being.
COURTESY OF ZOOX
Developers of self-driving vehicles have argued that their tech will increase safety and ride efficiency, bringing down prices in the long term. (Of course, these companies will also no longer have to pay a cut of each ride to human drivers.) But even in Phoenix and San Francisco, where Waymo has been running public robotaxis for years, cities have yet to catch a clear glimpse of how the expensive-to-develop technology might transform residents’ lives.
“It’s not at the scale yet where it’s really dramatically changing anything,” says Adam Millard-Ball, an urban planning professor who directs the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies.
Robotaxi services will likely have to get much bigger, Millard-Ball says, before they can prove out their expansive visions. Waymo has released studies suggesting that its tech is safer than human drivers in many situations, but some experts still argue that it’s hard to compare robots’ performance to humans’ given the still-limited number of miles the cars have driven.
“Can this make the rideshare industry grow the pie?” asks Jeremy Bird, Lyft’s executive vice president of driver experience, who collaborated with May Mobility on the Atlanta launch. Bird says Lyft has studied data from where autonomous vehicles have already been deployed, and he thinks the answer is yes. But when robotaxis will become a moneymaking venture is still a big question mark. Clearly, though, plenty of people are still working to find out.
Important Las Vegas updates are here, as a popular nightclub is closing it’s doors in October, and five Sin City resorts are undergoing major renovations! Plus, how can you own a piece of the Mirage for yourself, and a look inside the Sphere at the new Wizard of Oz attraction! Plus, how you could own a piece of gambling history as the Mirage Las Vegas is holding an auction!
In a week filled with significant Las Vegas updates, we begin with one of Sin City’s favorite nightclubs. Closing down. As you probably know, Caesar’s is transitioning their Cromwell resort into the Vanderpump Hotel. As part of that transition, Drai’s Night Club will close its doors on October 31st. But have no fear. It will reopen just two days later in the basement on November 2nd. While Drai’s will survive, another Vegas venue was not as lucky.
A few weeks ago we told you that the Dream Las Vegas hotel project was on life support, but now it’s flatlined and it’s over $40 million in debt. So the owners simply gave their land to the construction company to cover some of those expenses. However, not too far away, a new hotel is being planned near Allegiant Stadium. The yet to be named eight story, 220 room development is owned by Embassy Suites, who envision it as a sports driven destination with a gym, spa, and rooftop recreation area, including a pool.
Also, another of the major Las Vegas updates finds that Mirage is still transitioning to the new Hard Rock, but the opening date has been pushed back to late 2027. However, if you would like to own a piece of Vegas history. Mirage is having an auction next week, and you don’t even have to be there to participate. Pieces of the Mirage, including segments from the volcano, will be available for purchase via an online auction. There will also be artwork including 300 unique exclusive pieces, including the famous mermaid and dolphin statues. The live auction will be held September 20th at 10 am. However, absentee bidding is available right now, so if you’re interested, just follow this link: Mirage Auction.
Now, you may have seen this as a child… but never quite like this, as the Wizard of Oz has officially opened in Las Vegas… and there’s no place like the Sphere to see it! Followed Dorothy and friends down the Yellow Brick Road like never before, surrounded by a high definition 160,000 square foot screen, and over 167,000 immersive speakers. You’ll feel like you’re inside the movie with this multi-sensory 4D experience, and hotel packages are available through the Venetian.
And speaking of Las Vegas updates, Ellis Island, and renovation work, there are five sin city properties that are either launching upgrades, finishing upgrades, or we’ll finish upgrades before the end of this year. That includes the $35 million expansion at Ellis Island, which added a new casino bar, a new rooftop bar, and a new high limit gaming area. M Resort has an ongoing, multi-million dollar upgrades including an expanded casino floor with new games, and a second hotel tower which should be opened by New Year’s.
Four Queens renovated their North Tower remodeling 300 guest rooms with sound, dampening windows, larger bathrooms, and new furniture, including 50 inch TVs, mini fridges, and coffee makers. And Green Valley Ranch just announced that they will be updating nearly. 500 hotel rooms and a $200 million project that they say will create a more refined and contemporary atmosphere.
And finally this week, it’s not a major renovation, but Westgate Las Vegas has added an iconic 13,000 square foot Elvis Presley Villa to its room offerings that’s bigger than my house. And it’s actually where Elvis lived during his residency there from 1969 to 1976. It has its own pool, multiple bedrooms, and even a private elevator. So if you’re an Elvis fan and wanna sleep where Elvis slept, eat where Elvis ate and used the toilet, where Elvis… um… used the toilet! And it’ll only set you back about $20,000… per night! Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Las Vegas updates and gambling news!
The biggest blockbuster of the summer came out 86 years ago. While some people balk at the idea of paying $12 to catch a film that’ll be on streaming platforms a month later, apparently thousands of folks are flocking to the Sphere in Las Vegas and dropping about $200 a ticket to watch The Wizard of Oz, according to a report from Bloomberg. The film is reportedly grossing about $2 million per day from its showtimes on just one (very large) screen.
Citing information from Wolfe Research, Bloomberg says that the new AI-slop-filled The Wizard of Oz could gross more than $500 million by the end of the year, and as much as $1 billion before the run concludes. The version of the film showing at the venue has been adapted to fit the 160,000 square foot screen and make use of the Sphere’s unique environment.
Sphere Entertainment, owned by New York billionaire and noted self-appointed blues musician James Dolan, spent $100 million on making the film fit the venue after securing the rights to show it from Warner Bros. That included using AI to upscale the resolution of the film and artificially create extra scenery to make it fit on the venue’s screen, and going full “4D” to have artificial winds blow in the faces of the audience when the tornado hits.
Dolan also reportedly cut the film down to 70 minutes, per a review from the Los Angeles Times, to squeeze in more showtimes, which, oof. Nothing better encapsulates the tech mentality of slashing something that is a true spectacle in order to turn up the flashiness in favor of substance and maximize profits. But hey, people seem to enjoy it.
“The Wizard of Oz” (1939) vs. “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere” (2025)
Over 90% of the film has been “touched up” with AI to create this new version of the film. Personally, I find this to be disgraceful. pic.twitter.com/l1KcZHwsC3
— The Oz Archive (Tyler) (@TheOzArchive) July 29, 2025
The Wizard of Oz likely won’t be the last film to get the Sphere treatment, either. Dolan is shopping for other films to throw on the massive screen and is interested in the rights to the Harry Potter and Star Wars films, among others, per Bloomberg. It’ll be interesting to see if Dolan manages to get the same deal on those films as he did with The Wizard of Oz, as he only had to pay a licensing fee to Warner Bros. to show it and will pocket the profits from each showing. Now that the studios know what films make when shown in the Sphere, they might be interested in a cut.
While Dolan tries to lock down more rights, the Sphere already has a few other screenings joining the mix. It has been showing Postcard From Earth, a documentary by Darren Aronofsky, and an extreme sports documentary called From the Edge will be joining the marquee next year. If Dolan’s Knicks keep paying the luxury tax, you can thank the Sphere.
Extreme heat, long operation hours, and an influx of millions of tourists a year creates a perfect storm for bus fleets in Las Vegas, leading to rapid wear-and-tear and more service outages.
Those service outages are exacerbated by a federal rule that caps the number of spare buses a transit agency can maintain at 20% of their overall bus fleet, regardless of how many more buses a transit service needs to maintain reliable service.
Transit agencies that keep more spare buses than allowed risk losing federal funding if they aren’t granted an exemption from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) for additional spare buses. However, the federal agency has never granted a waiver for additional buses to any state.
Southern Nevada’s congressional delegation is now asking the FTA to remove or increase its cap on the number of spare buses the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) can maintain in Las Vegas.
Southern Nevada’s transit authority operates a fleet of over 400 buses and relies on FTA funding to purchase both active and spare buses, but federal limits on spare buses have strained operations.
In a letter Thursday Democratic U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto – along with Reps. Susie Lee, Steven Horsford, and Dina Titus – said “transit agencies across the country face a variety of operational and environmental challenges that often require maintaining spare bus ratios above the current 20% cap.”
“Las Vegas, like many western cities, experiences extreme heat that accelerates bus wear and increases breakdown frequency, requiring more frequent maintenance to keep vehicles operational. This puts significant strain on RTC’s fleet, as insufficient spares can lead to service disruptions for the approximately 80 percent of Las Vegas riders who rely on transit for commuting to work,” wrote the delegation.
High transit demand and the extreme desert climate leads to rapid wear and tear on buses in Las Vegas, especially for high-mileage buses operating routes with long hours.
Unlike many other cities, tourism and a non-traditional workforce in Las Vegas creates high peak demand for transit service throughout the day, with some routes operating 24 hours daily.
Asphalt in the city can also reach temperatures of more than 140 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to the RTC, increasing maintenance needs for buses traveling on hot roads throughout the entire day and reducing the fleet’s availability.
Frequent special events that attract thousands of tourists at a time also complicates bus management, placing further strain on an already stretched fleet.
Conventions and sporting events frequently create a surge in ridership that requires more spare buses to provide reliable transit, said the RTC.
“Las Vegas’s vibrant tourism economy depends on reliable transit service to transport millions of visitors, not just year-round residents, especially during major events such as the Super Bowl, Formula 1 Grand Prix, FIFA tournaments, and large concerts,” wrote the delegation.
Southern Nevada’s transit authority said they have worked to address frequent breakdowns in their fleet by prioritizing preventative maintenance, including regularly performing cooling system checks and addressing common wear-and-tear issues like battery and alternator failures exacerbated by the intense heat.
But more flexibility on spare buses allowed in a fleet is needed so “agencies like RTC of Southern Nevada to better maintain reliable, safe, and equitable service for their communities,” reads the letter.
What the hell is so funny about Sin City? Well, in addition to big name comedians playing big name resorts there are Las Vegas comedy clubs, comedy shows, and resident comedians, and we’re telling you all about them this week in gambling!
If you like to laugh, Las Vegas has you covered! From resident comedians with regular shows to standup comics doing one night only.Plus, comedy shows with magic, dragons, and blue men! So, let’s begin by looking at some big name comedians hitting town between now and the New Year… starting in September when David Spade and friends play the Venetian before legendary Jerry Seinfeld hits Caesar’s Palace on the 5th and 6th. Near the middle of the month, Fluffy rolls into town for two shows at the Cosmo, and Howie Mandel performs with Arsenio Hall at MGM Grand on the 20th. Then near the end of the month, comedian and movie star Chris Tucker will take over the Wynn for two nights, the 26th and 27th.
Great Las Vegas comedy continues into early October as the Wynn welcomes Sebastian Maniscalco, while Daniel Tosh brings his unique style of comedy to the Cosmopolitan on the 4th. Jeff Dunham is still around and will play Planet Hollywood the day after, while the legendary Steve Martin visits the Wynn with longtime friend Martin Short. Jerry Seinfeld returns to Caesar’s Palace for two more shows, October 10th and 11th, while Kevin James opens at the Venetian on the 24th. Finally, superstar Adam Sandler closes out the month at Fontainebleau, October 31st, and opens the month of November on the 1st!
And speaking of November, big name comedians keep coming as Jay Leno performs at MGM Grand, and Jeff Dunham returns for more at Planet Hollywood. Earthquake will play the M Resort November 7th, and Daniel Tosh is back for another night at Cosmo on the 8th. The middle of the month brings Martin Lawrence to Resorts World, and Tom Segura’s “Come Together” tour will make a stop at Park MGM just before Thanksgiving.
In December, Ron White is at Cosmopolitan as the National Finals Rodeo kicks off, and Brian Reagan performs his act at the Palazzo on the sixth of the month. Then Jeff Dunham returns to Planet Hollywood again on the 7th as Jeff Foxworthy helps close out Rodeo week, performing at Planted Hollywood. Lastly, the observational and sometimes dark humor of Dane Cook will close out the year at the Palazzo on December 13th. That’s a lot to laugh about right there, but that’s only the visiting comedians!
There are several resident comedians and shows that you can see in Vegas most all the time… comics like Carrot Top, who’s been a staple at the Luxor since 2005, and the amazing Voices of Rich Little, who’s been performing in Vegas since the mid 60’s and is currently at Tuscany Suites. If you still want more standup, Sin City has several comedy clubs to choose from, including Brad Garrett’s Club and the Big Black Comedy Show at Planet Hollywood. There’s also the LA Comedy Club at the Strat and Comedy Cellar at the Rio… plus Jimmy Kimmel’s Club, which you can find at the LINQ.
Now when it comes to Las Vegas comedy shows with magic, dragons and blue men there are several to choose from… including some of the best shows in all of Sin City. Names you already know, like Absinthe and Mad Apple, but also Piff the Magic Dragon at Flamingo, and the Atomic Saloon show at Venetian. The Blue Man Group has been wowing Las Vegas since the year 2000, and they are at the Luxor. And Terry Fator is still bringing in crowds at the Strat.
Next, Marriage Can be Murder has been cracking up Vegas visitors for over 20 years, and they are now at the Rio. Plus, the unauthorized Harry Potter parody: Potted Potter, is on stage at the Horseshoe. The unique silent comedy of Tape Face can be found at the MGM Grand, while the iconic music of the seventies powers the Disco Show at the LINQ. Also playing the LINQ is the original bad girl of comedy, Luenell… and we close out our list of Sin City comedy shows with the The Ultimate Variety Show, currently at Planet Hollywood.
We could end our list of Las Vegas comedy shows right here, but there are some Las Vegas shows that like to sprinkle in a little magic with their comedy shows… like Penn and Teller, who are in residence at the Rio… and the Mac King Comedy Magic Show, which is running at Excalibur. Adam London’s Laughternoon show is at the Ahern Las Vegas, while the Mike Hammer Comedy Magic Show is at 4 Queens. Then the interactive, lighthearted show from Nathan Burton is playing the theater at Flyover Vegas while Colin Cloud Mastermind can be found at Harris’s. And we close out our show with the House of Magic, blending classic awe inspiring illusions with comic hilarity at Silver Sevens.
So if you are in Las Vegas and can’t find anything to laugh about, well… you can’t blame us!
Sep. 1—A man called the Kalispell Police Department, alleging that his partner in Las Vegas had given away his cats, one of which was purportedly worth $5,000. He said Las Vegas police instructed him to go to the local police department to make a “courtesy report” to send to them. He told an officer he would report it in Las Vegas when he returned home.
Men with menacing stares sitting in a brown truck with no license plates and guys on bicycles were reportedly exchanging what someone thought was drugs. The caller also noticed a red vehicle on the scene.
A DoorDash driver reportedly delivered violence when someone called the Kalispell Police Department alleging the driver assaulted an employee and wanted to press charges.
A welfare check was requested by an employee concerned about the well-being of a woman dressed in black who was allegedly dragging a big box around a parking lot and looking under cars while screaming for her rabbit. There was indeed a rabbit, which was eventually caught. Officers advised the woman of her warrant before she moved along.
Officers responded to a later call with another request to check on the woman’s welfare, who by this time was reportedly lying in the grass next to the box, which the rabbit was hopping in and out of. She and the rabbit were fine.
An employee wanted to file a complaint when someone came into the kitchen and flashed the cooks. The jail was notified about the indecent exposure incident.
A property owner called the police to report a vehicle they did not recognize, which had out-of-state license plates and didn’t belong to a tenant. The manager was reportedly concerned the suspicious vehicle could be associated with a malfunctioning security camera and stolen light bulbs.
A man reportedly fell while trying to protect his bleeding dog from a rottweiler’s attack. The owner of the rotweiler was ticketed for having a dog at large. The other dog owner took his dog to the vet and, at the time, was unsure if he would seek restitution.
A man brought his three dogs, which included an allegedly aggressive German shepherd, to Begg Park, letting them into a fenced area reserved for dogs under 30 pounds and someone called the police after reportedly hearing a dog yelp, saying they were unsure if one of his dogs “got a small dog,” claiming it had previously attacked a small dog.
The man told officers his dogs had “so much energy” he liked to let them run around with no other dogs first, before letting them loose into the rest of the park. He said the accusations were false, complaining that it was “unfair” that the caller didn’t speak to him directly and left.
A vehicle reportedly ran over a sprinkler.
Someone calling from Parkline Trail allegedly heard an individual screaming profanities.
LAS VEGAS — The top tourism official in Las Vegas says the city hasn’t priced out regular travelers, even as July visitor counts fell and casinos took in more from gamblers.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), said monthly figures can bounce around but argued the destination remains competitive at different price points.
“We’re not happy with the downturn but the city’s taking steps to address that,” Hill told reporters Friday.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), speaks to the media.
CBS News
Las Vegas saw a 12% decline in visitors compared to a year ago, hosting about 3.1 million people, according to LVCVA data.
Convention attendance fell about 10% in June, then rose about 10% in July. Looking over a longer stretch, Hill said the meetings business is roughly flat and the next 16 months of bookings look especially strong.
With social media griping about add-on costs, resorts are leaning into promotions.
Recent examples include: Resorts World waiving resort fees and paid parking through Sept. 10, the Sahara Las Vegas Hotel offering free parking, late check-out and upgrades on select stays, Downtown Grand Hotel bundling dining credits, free slot play, no resort fee and The Strat touting “Summer of Value” rooms with taxes and fees included.
The tourism agency is also pushing budget tips and free activities citywide.
“The idea that generally Las Vegas is not a value, that it is overpriced, I don’t think our customers are doing math when they are concerned about a specific issue,” Hill said. “They’re expressing concern about that specific topic, that tends to then move into a narrative around Las Vegas is expensive or Las Vegas is not a value, but if you actually do the math on that, that’s not accurate.”
The skyline on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, with casino operators in the area including Resorts World, Fontainebleau, Sahara and Circus Circus, as viewed from the observation deck atop The Strat.
L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
International travel remains mixed.
Traffic from Canada is down about 18%, which Hill attributed in part to friction caused by politics and tariffs. By contrast, visits from Mexico, the United Kingdom and Australia are rising, with more flights into Las Vegas.
He also criticized a $250 U.S. visa fee for travelers from non-waiver countries, costs that can top $1,000 for a family of four, and long processing times that he said suppress demand.
Despite the downward trend in overall visitors, Nevada gaming revenue remains resilient, a sign that visitors who do come are still spending.
Nevada casinos kept $1.36 billion from gamblers in July, up 4% from a year earlier, according to data from state regulators.
The Las Vegas Strip drove the increase with $749 million, a 5.6% gain. Downtown Las Vegas rose 3.6%.
Hill expects momentum to build in the fall, citing a packed events calendar and stronger bookings into December.
Andres Gutierrez is a CBS News reporter based in Las Vegas. Most recently a reporter with CBS News Detroit, Andres brings more than a decade of award-winning breaking news reporting and fill-in anchor experience across several markets including Kansas City, Missouri and Dallas, Texas. While covering Detroit, he reported on major national stories, including the mass shooting at Michigan State University, and the historic six-week strike by the United Auto Workers. Gutierrez also played a major role in CBS News and Stations’ in-depth coverage across platforms of the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley – the first parents in the U.S. to be held criminally responsible for a school shooting committed by their child. Gutierrez graduated from New York University and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Does he know the Wizard is kind of the baddie? Photo: Brenton Ho/Variety via Getty Images
Playing the titular role, MSG CEO James Dolan opened The Wizard of Oz at Sphere Thursday night. Famously, the Wizard is a charlatan in every version of the text. In the books and 1939 film, he’s relatively harmless. In Wicked, he’s basically a fascist. But in Las Vegas, where spectacle-over-substance is kind of the whole point, the Wizard was a beneficent showman. Kind of like James Franco in Oz the Great and Powerful?
The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is the latest Contrabulus Fabtraption MSG has put on in their Vegas orb. It is a “reimagining” of the 1939 MGM film starring Judy Garland.
Yes and no. MSG, Google Cloud, Warner Bros. Discovery, and VFX studio Magnopus upscaled The Wizard of Oz to 16Kand used generative AI to fill the frame. Because there’s so much more frame to fill with a near-360 screen. The film also cuts 20 minutes out of the runtime, but adds 4DX-style elements to the show, like a wind effect during the tornado scene.
According to Google, AI was used to “enhance the film’s resolution, extend backgrounds, and digitally recreate existing characters who would otherwise not appear on the same screen.” So instead of how the film would cut to Dorothy, then the Scarecrow, then back to Dorothy, it now keeps everybody on the same giant frame. That’s right, we’re doing long-ass oners in this version of The Wizard of Oz. And AI was used to insert James Dolan and David Zaslav into the movie.
MSG Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery CEOs James L. Dolan and David Zaslav were digitally inserted into the background of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere. “I won’t tell you where, it’s only for like two seconds,” Dolan said at the premiere. “[They] replaced the faces of two very short, two-second characters in the movie with mine and David. I challenge you to find it.” Going from Dolan’s hint, we’re guessing the VFX team took the faces off two little people actors. Cool! VFX specialst Ben Grossman added that the two actors were “too blurry to be identified.”
Critically, the reviews are mixed. Salon called it “an atrocity.” USA Today said people worried about the use of AI should “shelve” their “protestations” until they see the film themselves. The site also featured a beta testing “Deeper Dive” AI feature that could tell readers all about “ethical AI.” Varietywas somewhere over the rainbow in the middle, saying the spectacle was spectacular but the AI was kind of ghoulish, especially when it “was used to replace Judy Garland’s face with a poreless plastic sheen (where film grain and delicate lighting gave her skin a certain softness before). Dorothy’s once-glistening eyes now look almost cow-like, framed by fine CG eyelashes.”
Financially, it had better be really freaking successful. Dolan told The Hollywood Reporter“We went way over the budget. What we were originally thinking, we ended up almost two times what we were originally thinking. We’re getting up pretty close to that $100 million mark.” MSG plans to play the film at Spheres across the globe for at least a decade. In fairness, it took the OG Wizard of Oz a long time to make its money back, too.
The Venetian Resort has filed a nearly $2 million lawsuit against QTLST Management and Shawn Copeland, claiming the media management company and its CEO breached a contract for a corporate event that the Las Vegas casino resort had to cancel earlier this summer.
An aerial view of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The venue is teaming up with Hyatt on a new loyalty-sharing program. (Image: The Venetian)
QTLST is an LA-based media production company that employs 2-10 people, according to its LinkedIn page, which lists a website (qtlst.com) that was never set up.
According to court documents filed Aug. 27 in Clark County District Court, QTLST entered into an agreement in May 2024 to host “QTLST World Media Week” at the resort from July 26 to August 2, 2025. The contract included extensive room reservations — over 1,500 per night for four nights — as well as dozens of luxury suites, meeting spaces, and a $500,000 minimum commitment for food and beverage services.
The payment schedule required an initial deposit of $229,200 by June 10, 2024, followed by two additional installments. Faire to meet these deadlines, as stipulated by the contract, would trigger a cancellation fee of $1,946,000.
According to the lawsuit, QTLST Management failed to make any of the required payments.
After missing the first deposit deadline, the Venetian issued a formal warning in late October 2024. When no payment was received, the resort terminated the agreement on November 2, 2024. Additional invoices and demand letters sent in November and December went unanswered, the filing states.
The casino resort’s claim alleges three counts of breach of contract, fraud, and unjust enrichment. The Venetian seeks the full cancellation fee, plus 18% interest on the unpaid balance, reimbursement for legal costs, and any other damages deemed appropriate by the court.
“QTLST reserved 1,535 hotel rooms per night for four consecutive nights (from July 28, 2025, through and including July 31, 2025), as well as twenty-five (25) suites for July 26, 2025, thirty (30) suites for July 27, 2025, and twenty-five (25) suites for August 1, 2025,” the lawsuit reads.
Industry observers note that disputes like this underscore the financial risks tied to large-scale corporate events on the Las Vegas Strip, where contracts often involve thousands of expensive room nights and substantial food and beverage guarantees.
The case is currently awaiting adjudication in Clark County District Court. If the court rules in favor of The Venetian, Copeland and QTLST could face a significantly larger financial burden once interest and legal fees are factored in.
More than 100 piles of cremated human remains have been discovered in a mass gravesite near Searchlight, Nevada, approximately 50 miles south of Las Vegas, prompting police and authorities to launch an investigation.
Piles of Cremated Remains Reported
According to 8 News Now in Las Vegas, the piles of ashes were discovered on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land along a dirt road. The outlet obtained photos showing small gray piles of ashes scattered across the ground. The BLM stated it is working with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to investigate the cremated remains.
The BLM has confirmed that the ashes are indeed human remains and is actively investigating the discovery. Any uncertainty about the nature of the material was dispelled by the presence of a broken urn found at the site. The tipster captured several photos of the piles of ashes surrounded by cacti, desert brush, and mountains. According to 8 News Now, the remains appeared weathered, and items such as pieces of zip ties and a broken urn were also found at the scene.
Can People Dump Human Ashes on Public Lands In Nevada?
Nevada law does not prohibit individuals from scattering ashes on public land, and there are no restrictions against scattering cremated remains. However, the Bureau of Land Management states that the commercial distribution of cremated remains is not permitted.
According to its website, the BLM manages one out of every ten acres of land in the United States, primarily in the western states. In a 2011 memorandum, the agency stated that commercial entities are not permitted to dispose of cremated remains on BLM-managed land. However, it noted that requests from individuals or families to scatter ashes should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Cremated remains are not classified as a hazardous substance, the memorandum reads. However, the volume of material involved in the commercial distribution of cremated remains could interfere with other land uses and might necessitate designating and regulating the area as an active cemetery. Since the BLM does not manage active cemeteries, this could lead to the disposal of certain public land parcels under appropriate legal authorities.
