The Horseshoe Las Vegas has two owners sitting on different layers of the same property. Caesars Entertainment, Inc. operates the casino and hotel, while VICI Properties Inc. owns the 44 acres of land and the buildings on them and leases the whole site to Caesars.1Caesars Entertainment. Horseshoe Las Vegas Fact Sheet The split is common in the casino industry and surprises most visitors, who assume a single company owns everything.
Caesars Entertainment Runs the Casino and Hotel
Caesars Entertainment is the operator. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker CZR,2Caesars Entertainment. Caesars Entertainment – Who We Are and it employs the staff, manages the nearly 70,000-square-foot casino floor, and oversees the 2,056 hotel rooms.1Caesars Entertainment. Horseshoe Las Vegas Fact Sheet Gaming, hotel stays, food and beverage, and the loyalty rewards program all run through Caesars.
The Caesars name has a layered corporate history. In July 2020, Eldorado Resorts completed its acquisition of the former Caesars Entertainment Corporation and adopted the Caesars name for the combined company.3Caesars Entertainment. Eldorado Resorts and Caesars Entertainment Complete Merger So the operator behind the Horseshoe traces back to a Reno-based company that absorbed the old Caesars empire and inherited its portfolio of casino brands, including Horseshoe, Harrah’s, and Caesars Palace.
VICI Properties Owns the Land and Buildings
The physical property belongs to VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust that trades on the NYSE under the ticker VICI.4VICI Properties. VICI Properties – Real Estate VICI’s business is owning high-value gaming and hospitality real estate while leaving operations to tenants. Its portfolio includes more than 60 gaming destinations across the United States and Canada, and the Horseshoe Las Vegas sits on a 44-acre footprint near the center of the Strip.1Caesars Entertainment. Horseshoe Las Vegas Fact Sheet
Caesars and VICI operate under a triple-net lease. Caesars pays rent and also covers property taxes, insurance, and all maintenance costs for the building and grounds.5Securities and Exchange Commission. VICI Properties Inc. Form 10-K VICI collects steady rent without carrying day-to-day property expenses, and Caesars operates on prime Strip real estate without having to own it.
The lease is long. VICI’s filings describe initial terms of 15 years with four five-year renewal options the tenant can exercise,6VICI Properties. VICI Properties Inc. Annual Report a structure that can stretch the arrangement beyond 30 years.
Why the Property Is Called the Horseshoe
The Strip property most people picture when they hear “Horseshoe Las Vegas” operated for years as Bally’s Las Vegas. In 2020, Caesars sold the Bally’s trademark to Twin River Worldwide Holdings (now Bally’s Corporation) for $20 million, paid in two installments.7Securities and Exchange Commission. Bally’s Corporation Form 10-K The deal included a perpetual license letting Caesars keep using the Bally’s name on the Las Vegas property for as long as it wanted.8Bally’s Corporation. Twin River Acquires Iconic Bally’s Brand From Caesars Entertainment
Caesars chose not to. It rebranded the property as Horseshoe Las Vegas, officially launching the new identity in December 2022.2Caesars Entertainment. Caesars Entertainment – Who We Are The Horseshoe name itself came to Caesars through an earlier deal: in 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment bought Binion’s Horseshoe from Becky Binion Behnen, picking up both the Horseshoe brand and the rights to the World Series of Poker. Harrah’s later became Caesars Entertainment and carried both forward.
So the short version of ownership today: Caesars runs it, VICI owns the dirt and the buildings, and the Horseshoe name sits on the property because Caesars decided in 2022 to use a brand it already owned.