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Las Vegas is ‘Mecca’ when it comes to pro audio, video and lighting equipment, and applications. Live entertainment, sports and conventions drive the market, setting the global standard for others to follow.
“Very few other regions around the world have the budgets or scale of Las Vegas to support the investment in new technology, and continuous upgrades of pro AV kit are constant,” says Eric Loader, global vice-president, sales and marketing, Elation Professional. “The forecast indicates sustained growth, fuelled by technology advancements and continued investment.“It’s Vegas baby! Everything is big, bold, and out of the box!” exclaims Doug Fundator, sales director, SNA Display who lives in town. “The pro AV market can thrive because everyone is trying to re-invent the Vegas experience. Designers, builders, and end users embrace the latest and greatest technologies to provide an AV experience for visitors they can’t get anywhere else.”
“The difference with Vegas, explains Matt Morgan, business development manager, Ross Video is that (clients) are sometimes more willing to invest dollars in the best tech and content they can in order to acquire the business. In Vegas you are truly experiencing immersive AV technology as you explore.”
A-Vegas laboratory
Sean Sheridan, General Manager – Americas, Brompton Technology calls the place “exceptionally important as a hotbed for AV experimentation and hosting high-profile events.”
The city’s “vibrant atmosphere, state-of-the-art facilities and constant influx of visitors provide a space for innovation,” says Levi Lavrinyuk, director of marketing, Lightware.
Meyer Sound specialist, Jonathan Deans points out that the city is funded by huge crowds attracted by light, projection, and sound-driven attractions.
“The market has to be unique and cutting-edge for all pro AV,” he says. “The audience travels here for a one-off experience and expects this from every event, casino and performance venue. A bespoke experience is very important.”
The city remains one of the fastest growing in the States. “With the explosive residential growth comes new schools, entertainment, retail, and medical venues,” says Mikey Shaffer, senior director of sales at Listen Technologies. “The market is hopping!”
Travis Hull, Creston’s director of hospitality says: “There’s a staggering amount of opportunity in Vegas, and it goes beyond gaming. The growth of sportsbook facilities has been profound,” he adds. “These betting lounges are inspiring competitors throughout the States, where this kind of gaming has been legalised.
They’re all deploying very large LED screens with some level of personalised interactive display and advanced signage. Each resort needs to leverage other amenities to help keep customers on premises.”
Garrison Parkin, regional sales manager at Renkus-Heinz points to “the constant feeling of properties trying to ‘One Up’ each other with massive sports books, clubs and showroom upgrades. With continual hotel casino expansions and remodels the pro AV budgets are usually sizable.”
Dazzling direct-view LED canvases deliver ‘glitz and glamour’ says Datapath’s senior manager, Keven Yue but in Vegas videowall applications “are considered as ‘mission critical,’ as a control room.” That’s because videowalls are important to a casino’s operations and brand, he says,
It’s perhaps why the local systems integration market is unusual. “Most of the SIs in the US Top 50 have little or no presence here,” notes Yue. “Most AV integrators in Vegas are indigenous to Vegas and cater to the specific needs of the city.”
Others agree that Vegas is a bespoke and locally driven market. “Having good relationships within the casinos, local general contractors, and architectural groups is imperative to being successful,” says Fundator.
Lighting up town
Malls and entertainment venues have started making “really big investments” in DooH signage says Peerless-AV’s senior director, business development, Megan Zeller. “Businesses are finally ready to spend again after a period of project suspension or backlog.
In some cases we’ve been approached to come in and replace LED mounting structures or outdoor displays that weren’t suitable for the use case or environment - perhaps they hadn’t factored in seismic activity or intense heat and desert sand – and the product has failed earlier than anticipated.”
There’s big business in the luxury guest room market. Crestron is involved in lots of these at iconic Vegas properties. “Its clients want the resort experience to mirror their residential amenities, so they’re looking for ultra-high-end AV spaces that feel like home,” says Hull. “We’ve seen tremendous demand for control systems, especially lighting control. This goes well beyond AV, and it goes well beyond a single vertical in the region.
There’s demand too among outdoor pool nightclubs, indoor-outdoor lounges and restaurants for lighting product built for heavy-duty use and minimal maintenance – “essential for outdoor and challenging environments, where reliability is paramount,” says Loader.
Venues prioritise well-integrated systems to deliver immersive and multi-event experiences. “What’s interesting about Las Vegas is the need for a high level of production across many diverse forms of entertainment all within one facility,” says Brian Grahn, regional sales manager, Clear-Com.
“The Director of Production at a property might be tasked with supervising a large performance venue which may host a major artist residency, a nightclub with constant special events and artist collaborations, meeting/special event spaces hosting high-end corporate events and award shows, plus the artists and bands performing every day on the casino floor at the piano bars and restaurants.”
The Michelob Ultra Arena, part of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Las Vegas, has hosted everything from headliners like Katy Perry, to the Latin Grammy Awards, and it’s the home of WNBA Championship team Las Vegas Aces.
“While much of the specialty production equipment is brought in on an event-by-event basis, the infrastructure of such a facility is important to remain flexible in how they can deploy their core AV production systems,” reports Grahn.
Poker broadcast
In the gaming industry, there are often production opportunities hiding in plain sight. Live poker streams have become popular as casinos have begun to create their own content. A celebrated example is Bally Live Poker, broadcast live from properties, including the Tropicana Casino, several times a week to thousands of online viewers.
According to Grahn, the production is managed entirely in-house, and features all the aspects of a high-end broadcast: “Players are individually mic’d with several cameras covering the action and reactions, sophisticated graphic overlays of players hands and win percentages, all with insightful commentary from industry pros, edited and streamed live.”
At the heart of the communications system for the poker stream is a Clear-Com Eclipse HX Delta matrix, with FreeSpeak II 1.9 GHz wireless beltpacks as the primary user interface. Production crew, camera operators, and even the dealers are connected via intercom to orchestrate the stream.
Sports and casino merge
Vegas sealed its international reputation in the 1960s with the Rat Pack but now sports take equal if not top billing to artists in residence.
“In recent years, major headliners have been the draw, whereas previously it was spectacular/production-based performances,” says Deans. “The past few years had a huge influx of sports stadiums, along with event-based experiences.”
The city has welcomed NHL (The Golden Knights), NFL (The Raiders), WNBA (The Aces), and Formula One has made Vegas its home for the next decade.
“Sports franchises not only bring the need for AV pros in the stadiums but also for the practice facilities and other applications, such as conference rooms for management,” says Hull.
A new baseball stadium built on the site of the former Tropicana on the Strip will be the new home of Major League Baseball team Oakland Athletics. Interactive experience Atomic Golf teed off in March boasting 102 golf bays, VIP suites, a nightclub, full-service bars, a taproom, and a chef-curated kitchen over four floors.
“The M Resort is Raiders-branded, and it’s very close to their practice facility, eight miles off the strip,” says Hull. “They’re currently building a second tower for that hotel to meet demand. Additionally, now we have an F1 race, hotels are looking for ways to add rooms and spaces that feature views of that street course.”
A Howard Hughes Holdings and Sony Entertainment-backed 500,000 sq ft film studio is planned. A ‘Symphony Park’ will be added to the city, as well as a large expansion of convention space downtown. The Brightline high-speed rail link from LA-Vegas due in 2028 will continue to drive growth.
“Recent openings of Resorts World, Fountain Bleu, and the Sphere have already raised the bar for entertainment venues, fuelling competition and the demand for more cutting-edge AVL solutions,” adds Loader.
Fountainebleu, the newest luxury hotel in the heart of the strip, features multiple dvLED video walls installed by Peerless AV in its conference centre.
The Worre Studios is a 25,000 sq ft production facility which “redefines events by seamlessly merging virtual and traditional formats,” says Lavrinyuk. A stage-in-the-round design is enveloped by a 360-degree, 1.9mm, 4K LED interactive screen system, powered by Lightware’s UBEX.
“Vegas thrives on spectacle, innovation, and larger-than-life experiences,” he says. “The approach here is not just about providing technical solutions - it’s about creating immersive, unforgettable experiences.”
Above and below: Illuminarium at Area 51, Las Vegas, is a visitor attraction giving guests an immersive experience of Space or an African safari using 4K interactive projection, 360° audio, in-floor vibrations and scent systems.
Part of the experience
Las Vegas is a key hub for festivals and concerts that constantly push the boundaries of AV technology. Sheridan picks out Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival for its “mammoth stage setups incorporating massive LED screens and complex light shows that elevate the audience experience.”
When the Sphere opened last autumn at the Venetian, another eye-opening yet distinctly intimate entertainment venue made its debut at the same resort. Voltaire features architectural and theatrical lighting by design studio, Lightswitch.
“It’s interesting to compare and contrast those two ways of thinking about entertainment,” says Lightswitch principal, John Featherstone. “Both venues offer experiences pushed to the extremes - one a massive edifice of technology that immerses you in a grand experience, and the other a beautiful, intimate space that offers a remarkably personal experience.”
Local competition compels venues to provide the most compelling immersive and experiential show in town. “Now the game or the band you’ve booked to see isn’t everything like it used to be,” says Zeller. “They’re just part of the overall experience. Screens are supplementing what’s going on in the field or on stage.
“The Sphere is mind-blowing inside and outside,” she adds. “Such major tech activations wouldn’t have happened if designers and architects hadn’t witnessed what happened there. It made people up their game!”
Another example, during Super Bowl LVIII played at Allegiant Stadium in February, the STRAT hotel was turned into a 1,149 ft tall bottle of 1942 Don Julio tequila with projection mapping.
“It’s literally a laboratory for this kind of thing,” says Hull. “Vegas is known for gaming and entertainment, and by its nature, the city must innovate to remain the top destination as other locales try to mimic what Las Vegas is accomplishing.” Visitors are familiar with neon signs advertising the latest act around town. “Now, you become part of the show before you sit down,” says Morgan. “We see more immersive technologies highlighting what’s happening around town broadcast on the Sphere, to AI triggers changing the signage and lights as you walk through a resort. No longer do we just passively take in information, we’re part of an experience.”
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