Things We’re Excited About for 2023

Things We’re Excited About for 2023

In addition to all the exciting renovations, reimaginings, reopenings, and brand-new places that opened last year, there is so much to look forward to this year! There are some BIG things happening in Las Vegas in 2023, and you’re going to want to be here to experience it all in person. Vegas is always an exciting place to be, but this year is going to be one for the record books!

MSG Sphere

Locals have been eagerly watching this futuristic spherical venue take shape behind the Venetian for years now, but 2023 will be the year that the MSG Sphere finally opens its doors for what is going to be a first-of-its-kind fully immersive entertainment experience. Now standing at a cost of $2.17 billion – the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas history – the MSG Sphere will be home to the world’s highest-resolution LED screen, a 160,000-foot LED screen with over 170 million pixels that will surround the audience inside a 366-foot-high sphere with more than 164,000 speakers.

The MSG Sphere will also feature a record-shattering 580,000-square-foot exterior LED display and a cutting-edge Holoplot sound system with 4D elements that include wind and scent. It’s all a very big deal, the first and only such project of its kind in the world, the largest spherical structure in the world, and all sorts of other world’s first and largest superlatives. And U2, one of the world’s biggest bands, is heavily rumored (it’s all but officially announced) to be opening this venue later this year.

Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix

There is no other event in Las Vegas more highly anticipated right now than the first-ever Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix happening November 16-18, 2023. The greatest racing spectacle on the planet will, for the first time ever, take place in the world’s greatest spectacle of a city with a 3.8-mile temporary street circuit that travels through the heart of Sin City and past some of the most iconic sights on the Strip. Breaking with F1 tradition, the race will be held at night against the backdrop of the Strip’s neon lights.

New headquarters for the race are being in a large empty lot located along the planned street circuit, and once completed it will be four stories tall and 300,000 square feet; plans are to keep it open as an attraction for locals and tourists with Formula 1-related activities year-round. Tickets to this event are some of the most coveted in the world right now (read more about how to get your tickets here), and range from $500 general admission tickets to the preposterously lavish and exclusive $5 million “Emperor Package” offered by Caesars Entertainment.

L’Étape Las Vegas by Tour de France

Formula 1 isn’t the only race of world renown being held for the first time in Las Vegas this year: the first-ever L’Étape Las Vegas will give amateur cyclists the legendary Tour de France experience through the stunning desert and mountainous terrain of Red Rock National Conservation Area in Las Vegas. This race is open to the public with multiple course options available for cyclists of all levels, including a 10-mile family ride and a free 1-mile kids race. The competitive races and family ride will be held on May 7; the free kids race will be on May 6.

The Fountainebleau Las Vegas

After a 15-year odyssey that saw its name change from Fountainebleau to The Drew and back again to Fountainebleau, the tallest building in Las Vegas in on track to open in Q4 of 2023. Once it opens, this 67-story luxury property will add 3,700 hotel rooms, 550,000 square feet of convention space, and a 3,300-person capacity theater to Las Vegas.

Durango Casino & Resort

Station Casinos, a Las Vegas-based owner and operator of multiple casino-resorts throughout the Las Vegas Valley that specifically cater to Vegas locals, is building a brand-new ground-up casino-resort in the Rhodes Ranch neighborhood in southwest Las Vegas, and it’s on track for a Q4 2023 opening. This 15-floor resort will have 200 rooms and 20,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, offering a “boutique” gaming and resort experience with a design inspired by its desert surroundings.

63 Las Vegas

You may have seen work underway over the past year at the once-empty lot next to the CityCenter complex. This addition to CityCenter is called 63 Las Vegas, which will be a four-story luxury shopping mall filled with rare flagship retail and restaurant tenants unique to Las Vegas – like the $20 million Ocean Prime, the first location of this high-end steakhouse chain in Las Vegas (there are 17 others located in posh areas of major cities throughout the country), which will be the anchor restaurant tenant.

Renovations at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood

The Strip-facing façade of the Miracle Mile Shops with its massive curved LED screens have become emblematic of the modern Las Vegas, even if the property itself is, speaking frankly, just a regular mall (Zappos Theatre, home to many A-list residencies, aside). But major renovations have been underway for over a year now that will significantly update both the exterior and interior, adding even more LED screens throughout as well as all new lighting, flooring, artwork, décor, digital signage, and more. The indoor rain show, a holdover from its days as the Aladdin Hotel & Casino, is also getting an upgrade, and some of the new additions planned include an immersive show that uses projection mapping technology and a second Las Vegas location of Sandbox VR, where groups can roam freely inside of virtual worlds.

New residencies debuting in 2023

In addition to returning favorites like Adele, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, and Miranda Lambert, all coming back in 2023 with more dates of their hit residencies, A-listers Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, and Maroon 5 will all debut brand-new residencies of their own this year. Garth Brooks kicks off his Plus ONE residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in May with dates through December. Keith Urban relocates from a successful run at the Colosseum last year to a new residency at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood running March through July. Maroon 5 will play Dolby Live at Park MGM with dates running March through August.

And over at the Venetian, the B-52s – “World’s Greatest Party Band” – have 10 dates scheduled at the Venetian Theatre May through September. Also happening at the Venetian inside the Palazzo Theatre, SIX The Musical – the Tony Award-winning Broadway pop music sensation about the six wives of Henry VIII – will have a limited seven-week residency starting in March.

New buzzworthy restaurants, bars, and lounges

Things are really heating up over at Caesars Palace, where several high-profile new eateries will be opening this year. First, the legendary 135-year-old NYC staple Peter Luger Steak House will open its first location outside of New York. But why open one steakhouse that originally hails from New York when you can open two? Chef Chris Santos will open a Vegas spinoff of his first restaurant, Stanton Social in New York, called Stanton Social Prime. And over at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, Café Lola – the Las Vegas-based chain of super-girlie cafes known as much for their pink lattes and frosé all day as their Instagrammability – will open their first location on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Horseshoe Las Vegas has already introduced a few new concepts since rebranding from Bally’s, but country singer and American Idol judge Blake Shelton’s Ole Red will likely be the biggest draw to the reborn resort. This location will be the largest Ole Red restaurant yet and the first to open this side of the Mississippi.

The Horseshoe isn’t the only Las Vegas resort seeing red: over at the Red Rock Resort on Las Vegas’s westside near Red Rock National Conservation Area, the new Rouge Room will be a European-style cocktail lounge with both indoor and outdoor space (outdoors you can expect a full bar, lounge-style seating, and cabanas next to an upscale adults-only pool).

Looking ahead to 2024:

Because it’s never too early to start planning!

Super Bowl LVIII

Scheduled for February 11, 2024, Super Bowl LVIII will be held at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas’s new $2 billion stadium that officially opened in 2020, marking the first time the city of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada will host the Big Game. A regular Super Bowl weekend draws over 300,000 people to Las Vegas and officials expect another 100,000 on top of that already huge number.

Dream Hotel Las Vegas

Work on this 20-story, 531-room hotel and casino located on the south end of the Strip is already well underway, with a target opening in late 2024. Dream Hotels are known as an upscale boutique brand, and Hyatt’s recent acquisition (as part of its independent lifestyle portfolio) won’t change that. The $550 million development will introduce new dining and nightlife venues including a third-floor pool and day club, 12,000 square feet of meeting space, and a 20,000 square-foot casino.