The downfall of the Rio’s image is tied to the casino merger frenzy in the early 2000s and the financial crisis at the end of that decade.
Harrah’s $9 billion purchase of Caesars in 2005 gave the company high-end assets on the Strip, including Caesars Palace and Paris, eroding the importance of the Rio.
Then the financial crisis that erupted in 2008 devastated Caesars, which had debt exceeding $20 billion. Caesars’ cash flow that did not go to creditors went to maintaining its Strip properties.
The company had few resources left over for the Rio, which then-Caesars Chairman Gary Lovemand called an “asset we don’t consider essential to our strategy” in 2009.
Despite the questions surrounding its future, Marnell said the resort is unlikely to be knocked down to make way for a ballfield, a reference to rumors a year ago that the Rio would be demolished to make way for a Major League Baseball stadium. The building still has a strong structure, he said.