Las Vegas in 2025: Here are 25 things to look forward to
New year, new stuff.
As Las Vegas turns the page on 2024, there’s plenty to anticipate throughout the valley in 2025.
Nostalgia for the ’90s should be running high with projects involving “Friends,” Pamela Anderson and New Kids on the Block.
For those of you who grew up a couple of decades before all that, get ready for attractions based around Bob Marley and Evel Knievel.
Elsewhere, Aviation Nation will return after a two-year absence. WrestleMania will be back in Las Vegas after more than three decades. And a new members-only club could cost you nearly $10k for the first year.
Here are 25 things to look forward to in Las Vegas in 2025.
Hollywood 2.0, take two
A bill that would have strengthened the state’s film tax credits and paved the way for two movie and television production studios in the valley never made it to a vote during the 2023 Legislature. Both projects — one backed by Warner Bros. and UNLV in the southwest valley, the other by Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corp. in Summerlin — will return to in the spotlight when the Nevada Legislature reconvenes Feb. 3.
Showcase of the Immortals
Las Vegas has hosted WrestleMania just once. WrestleMania IX took place April 4, 1993, in broad daylight in the parking lot of Caesars Palace. The event consistently ranks among the worst WrestleManias of all time. We’ll get another chance April 19-20 with WrestleMania 41 inside Allegiant Stadium, but boy how times have changed. In 1993, tickets were priced from $25 to $150. At Allegiant, the top-priced two-day tickets are $15,000 — or $18,887.10 including fees.
Area15 goes to the movies
As part of the 20-acre expansion at Area15, Universal Horror Unleashed will bring four year-round haunted houses: Universal Monsters, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Scarecrow: The Reaping” and Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer.” Additionally, fans will be able to feel like a world-class assassin by walking through the doors of the Las Vegas Continental when the immersive world of The John Wick Experience opens at Area15 in February.
Singers that will stay awhile
Janet Jackson’s residency at Resorts World opens Dec. 30, but the first chance most of us will have to see it will be in 2025. The truly new residencies coming next year include “Blake Shelton: Live in Las Vegas” in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace starting Feb. 5; “Black Eyed Peas: 3008 — The Las Vegas Residency” in PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort (Feb. 15); “Mötley Crüe: The Las Vegas Residency” in Dolby Live at Park MGM (March 28); “The Best of All Worlds Tour — The Residency,” featuring Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff, in Dolby Live (April 30); “Josh Groban: Gems” in The Colosseum (May 9); Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay (June 13) and “New Kids on the Block: The Right Stuff” in Dolby Live (June 20).
NBA clarity
LeBron James wants a team in Las Vegas, and commissioner Adam Silver can’t stop talking about adding a team here. Oak View Group announced plans for a 20,000-seat NBA-ready arena and resort project, near the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, in early 2022 but said in September the plans had hit a snag. Meanwhile, the LVXP group wants to put an 18,000-seat NBA-ready arena with its resort project between the Sahara and Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Expect plenty of updates next year.
Reshaping the Raiders
The Strip won’t host the 2025 NFL Draft — that honor goes to Green Bay — but the event still looks to be vital for Las Vegas. With the Raiders suffering through a miserable season, even by their standards, the team may land a pick high enough to help turn things around.
F1 continues to expand
Formula One is about to have a year-round presence here. Grand Prix Plaza, the 39-acre complex that houses the Las Vegas Grand Prix Pit Building, will open an F1-inspired karting experience on part of the race circuit. The project also will have shopping, dining, racing simulators and interactive exhibits designed to help grow the sport in America. It’s scheduled to debut in the spring. Elsewhere, F1 Arcade Las Vegas will have 87 simulators, a 41-foot Champagne Bar and an outdoor terrace when it opens at the Forum Shops next fall.
Wide world of sports
Allegiant Stadium may have been built for the Raiders, but it’s become a global sporting hotspot. MLS squad Inter Miami CF, aka Lionel Messi’s club, will take on LIGA MX champion Club América in a preseason match Jan. 18. Allegiant also will be a host venue for soccer’s 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup on a yet-to-be-announced date. And, after making a splash at the stadium last year, the National Rugby League’s Telstra Premiership will begin its season there March 1 with the Canberra Raiders facing the New Zealand Warriors and the Penrith Panthers against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. That’s part of a four-match day that also will include the UK’s Super League with the Wigan Warriors playing the Warrington Wolves as well as a women’s international match between Australia’s Jillaroos and England’s Lionesses.
Stadium-sized acts
Allegiant Stadium also will host performances by AC/DC (April 26), Post Malone and Jelly Roll (May 3), Kendrick Lamar and SZA (May 31), Coldplay (June 6-7) and Shakira (June 28).
Casino upgrades
We aren’t expecting any new casinos this year, but several existing ones are being expanded or improved. The Venetian will continue to roll out refreshed spaces as part of its $1.5 billion resort-wide reinvestment project. Durango’s $116 million growth will add 25,000 square feet of casino space and an additional parking garage. Ellis Island’s $35 million makeover will create a larger gaming floor, a center bar and a rooftop event space. And the $20 million expansion at El Cortez will include two new bars and an additional 10,000 square feet of casino space.
Viva Knievel
The Evel Knievel Museum is coming home. The collection of artifacts that tell the story of the motorcyclist’s bone-crunching career is relocating from Topeka, Kansas, to the Mission Linen building, 1001 S. First Street. That’s less than five miles from Caesars Palace where, on Dec. 31, 1967, Knievel jumped the hotel’s fountains and rag-dolled across the parking lot, becoming a legend in the process.
Oh. My. Gawd.
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, “The ‘Friends’ Experience: The One in Vegas” will be there for you. The attraction will feature re-creations of Central Perk, Monica’s apartment and other sets, original props and costumes and a nod to Ross and Rachel’s Las Vegas wedding. Look for it at the MGM Grand in the space that previously housed “CSI: The Experience” and “The Hunger Games: The Exhibition.”
Tudum!
Netflix will expand its Las Vegas presence, which already includes Stranger Things: The Official Store at Showcase Mall, with Netflix Bites. Described as “a one-year culinary residency,” the dining experience will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner with foods inspired by Netflix shows. It’s scheduled to open in early 2025 at the MGM Grand.
One love, two experiences
Every little thing gonna be alright when Bob Marley Hope Road opens in the former Bayside Buffet Space at Mandalay Bay. Hope Road by Day will offer an immersive walkthrough experience while Hope Road by Night will treat guests to a live show celebrating Marley’s music and influence. Marley’s children Cedella and Ziggy are among the executive producers.
The final frontier
Rob Lauer, CEO of the Las Vegas Spaceport, has said he plans to break ground next year on the project near Pahrump. While you’re waiting for that to materialize, the “Interstellar Arc” Spaceport promises to take visitors “on an epic 26th-century deep-space mission across the far reaches of the cosmos.” The 20,000-square-foot venue is expected to open next fall at Area15.
Rising from the rubble
The Mirage closed its doors July 17, and workers quickly started demolishing the volcano. The Tropicana was shuttered April 2 and imploded Oct. 9. The Mirage isn’t expected to reopen as Hard Rock Las Vegas, with its distinctive guitar-shaped hotel tower, until 2027. The Athletics don’t plan to have their new stadium, on the Tropicana’s former site, ready until Opening Day 2028. But it will be nice to see some progress where those icons once stood.
Bond, Zero Bond
If regular lounges, bars and coffee shops are no longer enough for you, Zero Bond may be just the thing — assuming you have the connections and disposable income to pass its rigorous application process. The trendy private membership club, established in Lower Manhattan in 2020, is scheduled to open its second-ever location at Wynn Las Vegas. Described as “an eclectic community of connectors and innovators across business, culture, media, politics, health and sports,” memberships at the New York location range from $2,750 a year with a $750 initiation fee for those younger than 28 to $4,400 a year with a $5,000 initiation fee for those 45 and older.
Symphony Park takes shape
Symphony Park is going to look a lot different next year. Capella, a 22-story high-rise, will include 272 residences as well as commercial space. Its sister property, the five-story multifamily community Bria, will offer 275 apartments. For shorter stays, the AC by Marriott/Element by Westin hotel will have 441 rooms over five stories.
The continued food hall-ification of Las Vegas
Via Via, the upcoming Venetian food hall so nice they named it twice, is rounding up culinary favorites from around the country. Among the new-to-Las Vegas concepts, Chef Mason Hereford is bringing his New Orleans favorites Turkey and the Wolf and the breakfast joint Molly’s Rise and Shine. Howlin’ Ray’s will offer up Nashville hot chicken by way of Los Angeles. American chef Ivan Orkin, who moved to Tokyo to open a ramen shop, is opening an offshoot of his Ivan Ramen from New York’s Lower East Side. The New York-based Scarr’s Pizza will focus on organic ingredients. And Close Company, from the creators of the influential Death & Co spawned in New York’s East Village, will serve signature cocktails.
The end is nigh
Work on the $305 million project to rebuild the Tropicana-Interstate 15 interchange has disrupted traffic to varying degrees since May 31, 2022. It’s finally expected to be completed in late 2025.
Putting the BLVD in Las Vegas Blvd.
Puma used a Paris Hilton DJ set to help open its second North American flagship store as part of the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. The rest of BLVD, the sprawling 400,000-square-foot retail center that replaced the Hawaiian Marketplace on the Strip, will open in 2025. Other tenants will include Adidas, JD Sports, H&M and what’s said to be the world’s largest In-N-Out Burger.
On the big screen
It’s the most acclaimed performance in a movie set here since Nicolas Cage won his Oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas.” Pamela Anderson is a Golden Globe nominee for her work in “The Last Showgirl” as a dancer coming to grips with the end of an era when her showgirl revue abruptly closes. It’s scheduled to open Jan. 10. Las Vegas also will be featured in “F1,” starring Brad Pitt, and “Easy’s Waltz,” with Vince Vaughn and Al Pacino. Zak Bagans has launched Scarehouse Films, a horror movie production company that plans to start making films in 2025. And Las Vegas native JT Mollner followed up his acclaimed second feature, “Strange Darling,” by writing the script for the long-awaited Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk.” It’s due sometime in 2025.
Taking flight
Aviation Nation is coming out of hibernation. Once an annual event, the air show that serves as something of an open house at Nellis Air Force Base skipped 2023. The 2024 installment was moved from fall to spring, then canceled. Its return, headlined by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, is scheduled for April 5-6.
BravoCon’s back
Wine was guzzled and tea was spilled when 27,000 fans turned out to hear from more than 160 “Bravolebrities” during BravoCon’s Las Vegas debut in 2023. According to Bravo, 78 percent of attendees said it was “one of the best weekends of their lives.” After taking 2024 off, the celebration of all things Bravo will return to Caesars Forum Nov. 14-16.
Marchy comes home
Jonathan Marchessault was one of the last remaining Original Misfits, and he’ll be the last of the summer’s eight departures from the Golden Knights to return to The Fortress. The scrappy forward is scheduled to be back in T-Mobile Arena when the Nashville Predators visit April 12.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.