If you do business in Las Vegas long enough, you’ll come to understand how deadly the word “pause” can be.
We all know what a Las Vegas hiatus looks like: It can take the form of a blonde celebrity taking an indefinite hiatus to get a makeover, never to return. Or a troupe of magicians going on hiatus when the NFR comes to Las Vegas, never to perform on the same stage again. Or a lounge show featuring retired athletes going on hiatus to save money, promising a comeback that never comes.
So when BattleBots – Destruct-A-Thon announced internally that it would be going on hiatus after its Aug. 10 performance, it seemed as though the show, like its famous bots, had failed.
In 2023, the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix forced “Battlebots” off the stage for five weeks. Tickets for the show, and most Las Vegas shows, have been selling poorly this summer. F1 is once again looming on the horizon, ready to take over the Battlebots precinct just off the Strip.
But the creators of Bots have announced that the show will return with a new robot fighting competition, scheduled to take place on September 6th at the BattleBots Arena at Caesars Entertainment Studios, next to the Horseshoe at the corner of Flamingo and Koval.
The update emphasizes “planned” – details are always subject to change when it comes to reopening – but BattleBots co-creator and CEO Trey Roski announced that tickets will go on sale “in the coming weeks” for the production’s “exciting new format.”
“We’ve now done 325 shows in Las Vegas, but it’s time to evolve,” Roski, who had promised a week that he would release new details about the production, said in a phone interview Saturday. “Even Madonna chooses a time when she wants to change, and she does. It’s time to create a new show.”
But an internal email sent to cast and crew on Aug. 5 left no room for ambiguity, with what seemed to be a permanent farewell message: Mr. Roski explained to employees that sluggish sales and rising production costs had forced the show to spend more money to continue than originally planned.
This could be legal
Crews were given less than a week to prepare for the change, which felt similar to the forced hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Ticket sales are down this time of year, so it was a last-minute decision to do it now,” Roski said.
When F1 returns in November, the show will take another three-week hiatus before returning to the straight through Koval Lane just behind the BattleBots venue, with producers considering taking legal action against F1 if the show returns.
“They haven’t offered us compensation. We’re in discussions with legal counsel right now,” Roski said, carefully choosing his words. “The neighbors are pursuing them. We’re trying to find out what they’re doing and what our options are.”
The owners of Ellis Island, across from Koval Lane, filed suit against F1 in April.
A 25-Year War
“Battlebots” premiered on Comedy Central in 2000 before moving to Discovery. The competition is watched in more than 150 countries. “Battlebots” has grown to more than 10 million followers on social media, and last year more than 50 teams from the U.S., Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia and South America competed in the “World Championship VII” tournament in Las Vegas.
At live shows, “BattleBot” battles took place in fighting pits surrounded by reinforced plexiglass, while fans of all ages sit on metal bleachers outside the fighting facility.
Next door to the BattleBots Arena, popular bots like Witch Doctor, Kraken, Mammoth, Hypershock and Whiplash are built and maintained, and fans can tour the facility – kids especially love the experience.
Roski said he made the “difficult decision” to put the show on hiatus but gave no timeline for when it would return. On the day of the hiatus, he planned a pool party for the cast and crew at Silverton, a resort owned by Roski’s father, Ed Roski Jr.
But Trey Roski stresses that the message was not intended to mean BattleBots was closing down permanently in Las Vegas. “Maybe it wasn’t the best wording to use, but it was the right time to do it,” Roski said. “The work that I have to do at Bots really didn’t allow me to continue the show.”
The pool party was planned before the “hiatus” was announced, not as a closing event for the show, but rather to celebrate the show having surpassed 300 performances, Roski said.
Employee crackdown
Meanwhile, about half of the show’s roughly 80 employees have been laid off — the engineers building the 12 new robots are staying on — but all of the show’s more than 40 cast members and stagehands are furloughed and eligible for unemployment benefits.
Roski said he welcomes them back and will be updating them on plans for the performances starting Monday. Rehearsals are scheduled to resume the first week of September.
The Battlebots stage show has been co-hosted by Steve Judkins and Bill Dwyer (from the Comedy Central original series) since its March 2023 debut. Judkins, a popular performer from his days as Mayfair Supper Club, is planning a trip to Australia this week, signaling that plans are underway to quickly remake the show and bring it back to the stage. Roski said he hopes the duo will star in the next version of the show.
Intense drama is planned
The new show will offer “more intense battles, more drama and more danger,” Roski said. BattleBots officials also announced a multi-weekend “Fall FaceOff” tournament that will pit teams from around the country against each other in a round-robin format. The battles will be broadcast on the BattleBots YouTube channel, which has 2.1 million subscribers.
Despite the sudden closure and the challenges of getting the show and its cast back on track, Roski remains optimistic. He’s happy to report that Caesars Entertainment is behind the show. The show still has a year and a half left on its contract with the company, and Roski says there are talks about an extension.
Caesars left the BattleBots signage at the venue, a sign that the company is invested in the show’s future. (It removed Donny & Marie signage in its Flamingo showroom within hours of the show’s final performance.)
“Caesars is very happy with our plans and thinks it’s a great new show for Las Vegas,” Roski said. “They’re behind it 100 percent.”
The Raiders’ Recklessness
Michael Shapiro’s Reckless in Vegas is set to perform at the 24th Annual Biletinnikoff Foundation Celebrity Club Fest at the Westgate on September 27, 2024. This will be the first Raiders-related event for Shapiro’s Vegas act. Leading up to that gig will be RiV’s “Unplugged” show at Notorious Live on Saturday at 8 p.m.
The event will be hosted by Super Bowl MVP and Pro Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletinoff and his wife Angela, executive director of the Biletinoff Foundation.
Co-hosts will be Mark S. Allen (a seven-time Emmy Award-winning producer and no Raiders great) and Emmy Award-winning Raiders in-game announcer Sibley Scholes. The Raiderettes will also be making appearances.
The Biletnikoff Foundation is a nonprofit organization serving young people from primarily low- to moderate-income communities and backgrounds who are “exposed” to the realities of drug and alcohol addiction, domestic and sexual violence, and human trafficking. For more information, visit biletnikoff.org.
Cool Hang Alert
Las Vegas vocalist Tyriq Johnson will perform with The Diamonds at The Pinky Ring at the Bellagio on Friday and Saturday nights. Funk/R&B jams ensue. Club pioneer Bruno Mars returns to Dolby Live at Park MGM these nights. There’s no telling if or when he’ll take the club’s stage. Johnson will perform with Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns at The Copa at Bootlegger Bistro on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
John Katsilometes’ column appears daily in Section A. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow us! Johnny Katz @JohnnyKats1 on X and @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.