Dreamscape Companies have bought the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino after months, even years of speculation, in a transaction that hit $516 million over the weekend according too Calvinayre.com
Dreamscape-purchases-rio-all-suite-hotel-casino-in-516-3m-deal-min The World Series of Poker venue for well over a decade,’ The Rio’ as it is more commonly known may freeze during the poker action summer, but the heat of that action has kept it in the headlines for all the right reasons. Like it or not, the venue has become the WSOP’s home and symbolizes the legendary festival of poker.
The Rio, with 2,500 suites, remains as iconic as it is in the skyline of Las Vegas. Key to the country’s poker plans, reports came out earlier in the year stating that the venue is also highly likely to be the site of the 2020 WSOP with the 2021 World Series.
While Caesars will continue to operate the building for the next two years–neatly tying those two years off–they will also have the option to do so in 2022 for a final year, with Dreamscape’s own team taking over afterwards. While Caesars will pay a $45 million annual rent, this cost is likely to be offset by the enormous revenue the site will bring from the WSOP and other events.
There are plenty of advantages to owning the Rio, and the car parking situation is the chief among them. Simply put, no other location in Las Vegas provides visitors with as many spaces as the Rio. While this is useful for the rest of the year, it is critical during the World Series of Poker. If the Rio also leaves the World Series of Poker, this will be the first issue of the players.
With a quarter of a million square feet of real estate changing hands in the transaction, most people assumed a Major League Baseball franchise would come with the acquisition, but this was all but dismissed out of hand despite constant references to the possibility made by local newspapers and sports promoters during this transitional period.
With 154,000 people arriving at the doors of the Rio in the summer of 2019 with dreams of poker stardom, two months of poker action between May and July in 2020 will be just as busy.
While the acquisition of Caesars by Eldorado is still coming to pass, players may find it easy for the World Series of Poker to stay at the Rio for at least the next year or two. It’s impossible to say, after all, whether the world-famous poker festival will remain where it is.
Nonetheless, despite its flaws, the Rio remains the best location for the famous World Series of Poker until another venue appears to be superior.
That seems unlikely to happen for now. With this Dreamscape purchase, the Rio is still the place where dreams will come true for at least 24 months.
