Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jeff German: State gives Hard Rock a hard time

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

May 22 - 23, 2004

The Nevada Gaming Commission didn't do the Hard Rock Hotel any favors last week when it rejected the resort's bid to pay a $300,000 fine and implement tougher internal controls to calm fears about its edgy advertising campaign.

Hard Rock lawyer Jeff Silver acknowledged under questioning from Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard that the hotel was trying to "buy its peace" with gaming regulators. The fine would have been the stiffest the resort could have received.

The deal was worked out with the Gaming Control Board, which has come down on the Hard Rock in recent months, not only for its suggestive advertising, but for creating a sexually permissive atmosphere at the resort, frequented by celebrities and the 20-something crowd.

Bernhard said after the decision that the five-member commission, which oversees the Control Board's regulatory authority, had trouble understanding what the board and the Hard Rock were asking it to approve.

Questions surfaced about the Hard Rock's promise to run future ads by an internal compliance committee and whether that process would preclude the board from finding any of those ads in violation of the board's standards for decency.

"By the time we finished the two-hour meeting, I felt like I didn't understand how the stipulation would be interpreted in the future by the Hard Rock and the Gaming Control Board," Bernhard said.

And so peace is not what the Hard Rock is going to get.

Instead it will get a full hearing before the Gaming Commission July 29 on allegations that recent newspaper and billboard ads violated the board's moral standards. The hotel already has admitted that it went too far in the ads, which light-heartedly backed the heavy use of "prescription stimulants" at the resort and suggested in a sexual connotation that "there's always the temptation to cheat" there.

A slight chance remains that another agreement more to the Gaming Commission's liking could be struck between now and July 29.

But if that doesn't happen, the hearing will give the Control Board an opportunity to publicly air all of its evidence against the Hard Rock, which will dirty up the hotel's name further within the casino industry.

Much of the industry, which appears to be in the middle of an advertising renaissance, was watching the meeting. Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, sat through the two-hour debate along with his good friend, Frank Schreck, a politically connected gaming lawyer who represents several megaresorts.

Some of the Hard Rock's competitors, including the Palms, its archrival, have been running suggestive billboard ads similar to the Hard Rock's around town.

The Hard Rock, which has gained the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, is attempting to turn the proceedings into a First Amendment fight.

That is sure to play a big role in the upcoming hearing. But the Hard Rock also will be portrayed by the Control Board as the juvenile delinquent of the casino industry, which is the kind of rap that can lead to licensing troubles.

We know one Control Board member, Bobby Siller, who oversees the board's Enforcement Division, will be gunning for the Hard Rock and its Chief Executive Officer Kevin Kelley.

Siller didn't sign the agreement with the Hard Rock and accused the resort of not taking the settlement negotiations seriously. In this space on April 23, Siller said he had no respect for Kelley.

Both Siller and Kelley were absent from last week's meeting.

But Bernhard read into the record a biting letter from Siller, who accused Kelley and the Hard Rock of continuing a pattern of "reckless behavior."

Siller vowed to seek "disciplinary action" against the hotel's license the next time the hotel ran afoul of gaming regulations.

Kelley said after the meeting that he hopes a public hearing can be avoided. He prefers to work out another settlement with the Control Board that will win the Gaming Commission's approval.

That's because he knows the longer the Hard Rock remains the focus of a push for decency in advertising, the better its chances of coming out a loser.

archive