Slot lovers take note that the only thing constant with Vegas casinos is change! Our video this week takes a look at how they are change names and locations, and how they have done so in the past. Starting with Bally’s, which will soon be rebranded as the Horseshoe Las Vegas… even though the Horseshoe used to be on Fremont Street. Of course, Bally’s Casino wasn’t originally Bally’s Casino!
Bally’s Las Vegas will soon be the latest of the Vegas casinos to be rebranded. Caesars says the property will now be known as the Horseshoe, and that transformation should be completed by the end of this year. With crew outside taking down the Bally’s name, it’s interesting to understand where the Horseshoe name actually comes from! All the way down on Fremont Street!
Binion’s Horseshoe was the original Horseshoe, but after Caesars purchased them they simply became Binions. However, Caesar’s still owns the Horseshoe name, and now it will be hoisted on the old Bally’s Casino! But the resort we’ve been calling Bally’s since 1986 wasn’t originally Bally’s at all. In 1973, what we know as Bally’s was another of the Las Vegas casinos: The MGM Grand!
In November of 1980, the MGM was the site of one of the worst hotel fires in American history. Over 80 people perished in that fire, and Bally’s Corporation bought the property from MGM five years later. That was the start of Bally’s Las Vegas, and it was bought by Caesars in 2005. Of course the MGM Grand was rebuilt at its new location, across from the Tropicana in 1993.
And speaking of the Tropicana, that property, too, was recently sold. And in a strange twist, the purchaser was Bally’s Corporation. They have said that they may tear down the Tropicana to rebuild a new casino, or simply rebrand the building that’s there, as Bally’s!
