Money, Baby Sports Lounge Closes Permanently at Virgin

By Scott Roeben, on June 28 2022
3 min read 4 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Bars

A sports lounge at Virgin Las Vegas, Money, Baby, has closed at Virgin Las Vegas amidst what we’ve heard is some Vegas-style drama.

The Money, Baby space is awesome, but it appears the company managing the venue, Clive Collective, has had a falling out with ownership of Virgin, so the venue has closed.

We assume Virgin is either going to hammer things out with Clive Collective (our impression is that’s a longshot) or will start looking for another partner to operate the venue.

Money, Baby has cashed in its chips at Virgin.

We first got wind of trouble at Money, Baby on June 24, 2022.

We got our hands on an internal communication to employees saying the venue would shut down June 24-27, with an update to follow. Apparently, the update is the place has shuttered permanently, as least under the current management.

On June 28, a popular Las Vegas Twitter account, Las Vegas Locally, confirmed the closure and shared a document distributed to Money, Baby Las Vegas staffers.

When you work in the service industry in Las Vegas, you have to roll with the punches. Sometimes, the punches feel like kicks to the nadular region.

The formal closure notice to employees is fairly straightforward, but the initial communication touched upon why the venue closed so abruptly.

A Money, Baby manager informed employees, “Good morning team, as many of you know, we are having hiccups while working through our business relationship with the hotel. As this relationship makes it challenging to operate properly as a business, we will be closed for the weekend.”

The executive told staff they should pick up any tips due them, so employees assumed the worst. Specifically, a permanent closure. People in the service industry have a sixth sense about such things.

Money, Baby had a great vibe, despite the sports.

Virgin provided this statement in response to our inquiry, “Money, Baby! is owned and operated by MBLV, LLC and is a tenant at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. We have not been provided with any notice of closure from MBLV, LLC and we have no further comment on this matter.”

Like we said, drama.

One thing we know for sure: There are always two sides to the story.

We aren’t a sports person, but we really liked the Money, Baby space during a recent visit. There’s a patio, several bars, interactive games and a bigass sports viewing area.

Every time a bar closes in Las Vegas, an angel loses its wings. Money, Baby had three bars.

We have to assume a big stumbling block for Clive Collective was the fact Virgin’s sports betting partner, Betfred, has yet to open. It’s an ongoing frustration for Virgin as well. Money, Baby was initially billed as a “sports betting and nightlife destination,” but the sports betting element has yet to materialize.

Money, Baby was essentially a killer sportsbook, just without, you know, sports betting.

There’s also the question of whether Virgin is drawing the promised traffic. Virgin officials say the off-Strip casino resort is doing well, but it’s often quiet in the casino. We prefer it that way, but that’s just us.

It’s unknown if Virgin could take management of the venue in-house, or how long it could take to find a new partner, but anticipate the venue will reopen with a different name, and hopefully in a hotel that has sports betting. All the kids are doing it.

Update (7/8/22): Stuff just got real. Money, Baby is in default and is being shown the door by Virgin.

Shout-out to the 100 or so employees scrambling for work thanks to this dumbassery.

 

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