Areas of Expertise
2479 stories by Corey Levitan
Madison Square Garden Sphere to Open with U2 Next Year
Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment has found the opening band it was looking for. A U2 concert will christen the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas sometime next year, according to Billboard magazine. The Irish hitmakers will perform multiple shows at the $1.8...
Cockfighting Ring Busted Near Los Angeles, Hundreds of Fighting Roosters Discovered
Authorities in the Antelope Valley seized 228 alleged cockfighting roosters while serving a search warrant in Antelope Valley, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. In addition to the roosters, 500 to 600 pounds of cannabis — worth an estimated $500,000 on...
Blackstone Hits Jackpot with Cosmo Sale
Blackstone Real Estate’s sale of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas was its “most profitable single asset sale ever,” according to a company earnings report Thursday. The $5.65 billion sale closed in May. Blackstone purchased the Strip hotel-casino from Deutsche Bank for $1.73...
American Country Music Awards Leave Las Vegas for Texas
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. After 18 years, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards is leaving town for good. This week, the ACM announced the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, as the permanent new...
Las Vegas Elvis Impersonators Sing Praises For New ‘Elvis’ Movie
Baz Luhrmann’s new Elvis movie recently hit the big screen. Does the film stand up to the biggest experts: Elvis impersonators? The movie follows Presley's (Austin Butler) career through the eyes of his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). The story covers...
Chess Champ Cashes In Checks for Poker Chips
Magnus Carlsen refuses to play in next year’s world chess championship and will voluntarily surrender the title he’s held since winning it in 2013 at age 22. His rating of 2882 is the highest ever achieved in chess. Earlier this year, Chess.com...
Vegas Mob Museum to Expand
The Mob Museum has apparently made someone an offer they couldn’t refuse. The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement has purchased a 30,000-foot parcel, just east of its historic building in downtown Vegas, in which it plans to expand. Neither...
Hunter S. Thompson’s Iconic ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ Pit Stops Revisited
Hunter S. Thompson would have turned 84 this week. His 1971 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was a mind-exploding quest for the American Dream set in one of the most unlikely cities to discover it. Here's a look back on...
US Gamblers Getting Wider, Says Reno Chair Maker
Betting your ass in Las Vegas is now a bigger bet, according to a Reno, Nev., manufacturer of deluxe gaming chairs. Seats for slot machines and gaming tables that once spanned 12 inches across have grown to a now-routine 17 to 21....
Espen Jorstad Wins His First World Series of Poker Main Event
Norwegian Espen Jorstad won the 53rd World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Saturday, July 16, marking the first victory for both Jorstad and Norway in poker's most prestigious game. The 34-year-old poker pro, who lives in London, took home $10...
