Las Vegas Energizes for CES 2022

As CES attendees know, each year’s trek to Las Vegas in January reveals new changes. Combine an all-digital CES 2021 with the completion of significant construction projects, and CES 2022 visitors will discover a range of impressive examples of how Las Vegas continues to re-invent itself. Here is a preview of some changes since January 2020, along with helpful tips.

• McCarran International Airport was renamed Harry Reid International Airport by the local government in 2021. However, the airport’s three letter code remains LAS. The Sands Expo also changed its name to the Venetian Expo in September 2021 and the Hard Rock Hotel is now the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas with a desert theme replacing rock ’n’ roll.

• The new vast West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), features state-of-the-art design and technology, encompasses 1.4 million square feet and includes 600,000 square feet of exhibit space. It opened in June 2021 and is larger than most U.S. convention centers. At CES 2022, the West Hall will host the growing automotive category. Alert: CES 2022 will not use the LVCC South Hall.

• The underground tunnels of the LVCC Loop, built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company, connect the new West Hall with the LVCC campus. Passengers ride in Tesla cars through 1.7 miles of tunnels in the three-station system (West, Central, South), reducing a 25-minute walk to as little as two minutes. Plans are taking shape to expand the Tesla tunnels beyond the LVCC with the Vegas Loop that includes hotel-casinos and attractions, such as stadiums.

• The new domed Allegiant Stadium is home to the Las Vegas Raiders, the city’s NFL team that hosted its first football game in September 2020. Located near Mandalay Bay, the 65,000-capacity stadium also serves as a concert venue and as the home for the University of Las Vegas (UNLV) football team. Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air has the naming rights for the stadium. The Raiders are not playing at home during CES 2022.

• However, during CES, Las Vegas’ NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights, will face off against the Nashville Predators on January 4, the New York Rangers on January 6, and the Chicago Blackhawks on January 8, at 7pm PT in the T-Mobile Arena.

• Resorts World Las Vegas welcomed its first guests in June 2021. Constructed on the site of the legendary Stardust that was demolished in 2007, Resorts World is billed, “As the first integrated resort built on the Las Vegas Strip in over a decade.” The Asian-themed resort features three Hilton hotels, including the return of the Las Vegas Hilton brand, the Conrad Las Vegas and Crockfords Las Vegas.

• The gigantic globe under construction behind the Venetian and Palazzo is the MSG Sphere, a high-tech entertainment venue built in partnership with Madison Square Garden. Expected to open in 2023, the Sphere is 366-feet high and 516-feet wide and will feature 17,500 seats, beamforming advanced acoustics and “the world’s largest and highest resolution LED screen.” The venue’s exterior is also a giant display thanks to 580,000 square feet of programmable LED lighting visible from miles away. Renderings of the Sphere at night look like a giant glowing snow globe.

As an industry that thrives on the new, unique and ground-breaking, the consumer technology contingent will find Las Vegas has its own innovations to show off even before hitting the CES 2022 show floor.