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Harrah's Entertainment becomes Caesars Entertainment Corp.
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DUANE PROKOP/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Harrah's is shown on April 8, 2009, on the Strip. The hotel's parent, Harrah's Entertainment, on Tuesday became Caesars Entertainment. Company Chairman Gary Loveman said the name change reflects his company's luxury brand. The company also put the Caesars name on a golf course it bought in Macau. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Harrah's Entertainment on Tuesday officially changed its name to Caesars Entertainment Corp., a move the company first considered more than two years ago.
The name Harrah's will remain as one of the company's primary casino brands, along with Caesars and Horseshoe. The company also operates the World Series of Poker and the Total Rewards player loyalty program.
Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said the name change reflects the company's luxury brand. In addition to Caesars Palace on the Strip, the company operates Caesars-branded casinos in Atlantic City and Windsor, Ontario.
The company also placed the name Caesars on a golf course it acquired in Macau in 2007 for $577.7 million.
"This rebranding of the corporate name can open exciting new opportunities for us in the future," Loveman said. "The change reflects our evolution as the industry's leading provider of branded casino entertainment."
Harrah's acquired Caesars Entertainment Inc. in June 2005 in a $9 billion buyout, which at the time was the gaming industry's largest acquisition. The company announced plans to change its name to Caesars in April 2008, but never followed through.
Kathryn LaTour, an associate professor of hospitality marketing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the name "Caesars" has far more high-end connotations than Harrah's, which made its mark attracting midlevel gamblers.
"I heard the company conducted some brand research and found that the Caesars name was much stronger internationally," LaTour said. "The company has done a great job regionally with the Harrah's brand. Caesars is a name that is much more globally respected."
The name change follows a switch earlier this year by MGM Resorts International, which dropped the name MGM Mirage in order to reflect its international hotel and casino holdings.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. is also considering a name change to reflect its presence internationally.
LaTour said name changes take time to resonate with the public.
"In one aspect, it's superficial, but this will allow the company to go after a different market since it will be perceived as being more high-end," LaTour said.
Harrah's-now-Caesars, which was taken private in January 2008 in a $29 billion private equity buyout, canceled a planned $610 million stock sale last week that would have returned about 9 percent of the company to the public markets.
Company revenues have fallen from a peak of $10.8 billion in 2007 to $8.9 billion last year, an 18 percent decline. Caesars said its net loss shrank to $164.8 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from a loss of $1.62 billion a year earlier.
Caesars operates 10 Strip casinos, including Caesars Palace, Bally's, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood Resort, Imperial Palace, Flamingo, and Harrah's, along with the off-Strip Rio.
The company is considered the world's largest casino operator with 53 properties in six countries.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.
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A turd by any other name is still a turd.
Harrah's is playing the name game! Try Shirley Ellis' song ( http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/shirley_ellis/the_name_game.html ) with Harrah's and Caesars.
Back in the south, we have a saying: "You can put a pig in a dress, but it's still a pig."
Oink Caesars Oink...
Harrahs is only getting what they deserve.
Gee, think their business dropped off enough after they bullied employees into voting for Reid? Considered it 2 years ago? But now forced to do it? Timing is everything.............wonder if jan Jones will show up as a high paid exec again.
They should of changed their name to :NO WIN HARRAH'S:
I remember being in the coffee shop at Harrahs Tahoe along with Bill Harrah and Bobbie Gentry (they were a thing then). I was a waiter and I can say honestly that Bill Harrah was a very pleasant person and a great guy to work for. I never recall him twisting any arms and forcing employees to vote for his candidate of choice. Oh...have times changed!
New name? Lipstick on a pig....
@ Besh.Cooper – For your info the casino’s did become to greedy and extravagant with much wasted space. -- But the real funny part is to use anything from Obama and not using the word waste as describing Obama soon to be short presidency and huge extravagant wasteful spending. – Actually luxury items expensive boats, cars, etc are doing really well and congresses wealth, over all, increased by 16% during this Obamacession. Waste and Obama isn’t laughable but at least it’s over for him in 2012.
I laugh when trolls say that the casino companies are failing because they are too greedy...
Gamblers calling a casino greedy is hilarious.
The companies are down because the industry is a total luxury and this president is correct when he says folks going to Vegas is a complete waste of resources.