The worst kept secret in Las Vegas became the hottest news on earth this afternoon. Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks took the stage inside the Encore Theater to announce the five-year headlining deal where Garth will call the shots.
Steve Wynn was beaming like a freshly fed Cheshire cat as his latest conquest welcomed everyone to the room. You could see that there was a true sense of friendship between Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks, as they discussed how the deal came about. Two different sides to the same story, as each tried to give credit to the other for making it all happen.
Garth Brooks opened up with the comment “I told him (Steve Wynn) that he couldn’t afford me. I was wrong.”
And kept adding “Did I tell you about the jet??” The deal included a Challenger jet he can use to commute from his home in Oklahoma to the Wynn Resort.
As for me, I have worked around, with and for celebrities. But, watching how Garth Brooks handled himself proved to me that he has got to be the most considerate, well-spoken, friendliest, down to earth celebrity that has ever walked the planet. He will be a breath of fresh air to the Las Vegas scene.
To Garth, there were no first names, all Mr Wynn, Miss Trisha (his wife, Trisha Yearwood), Miss this and Mister that… except when he spoke about his ex-wife. She was just “Sandy.”
Unlike other big name performers on the strip, there was never a sense of ego in his voice or appearance. You could tell that he was actually grateful to be there and that this was not just about the money. He even apologized to the media for standing up once and messing up the photographers’ shots!
He talked about how the show will not be about him, but about the audience and the fact that he gets to do what he loves, play music. That it will be almost entirely unscripted and different every night depending on the energy of the crowd. No band, just a country boy and his guitar, walking us down memory lane, and how he got his influences and what drives him as a performer.
“Did I tell you about the jet??”
The Encore Theater may be known as Garth’s home from this point on, but this moment proved to the world why Steve Wynn is still the king of Las Vegas. And he made sure the world knew it as the press conference was streamed live over the Internet.
Who else in this town has the balls to take a loss on the front end, by agreeing to Garth’s terms while betting he would make the costs up in the back end with new guests spending all their money in the casino?
Steve Wynn even joked about the cost of the deal “If I were to tell you that, I would probably lose my job with the stockholders,”
And what a deal it is:
- Friday through Sunday only.
Making sure he is home in time to take his kids to school. - Dates chosen quarterly based on Garth’s family schedule.
- His own jet to fly him back and forth
- Same ticket price for every seat in the house.
Tough anti-scalping measures to keep them low. - Tie-ins to Garth’s charities
- Once the fun wears off, he can quit.
What a deal!!
Tickets for the first five sets of shows (Dec. 11-13, Jan. 1-3 and 22-24, and Feb. 12-14 and 26-28) go on sale by phone or through the Internet at 8 a.m. Oct. 24 at 702-770-7469 or wynnlasvegas.com/boxoffice. No tickets will be sold at the box office!
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