FOMO-Driven Design: Creating an Arena for Millennial Customers in Las Vegas

Las Vegas: the hot spot of a decade ago was the craps table. Today, as more and more millennials flex their purchasing power, the hot spot in Las Vegas is the live experience. The goal of T-Mobile Arena: create the kind of place that generates FOMO.  For those of you who just had to Google FOMO, it’s real. In fact, in a recent Harris poll by EventBrite, 69% of millennials have experienced it. FOMO drives millennials to show up, share and engage.

The trend’s not forecasted to slow down any time soon: since 1987, the share of consumer spending on live experiences and events relative to total US consumer spending has increased 70%. Mintel’s 2015 American Lifestyles report projects that over the next five years, total consumer spending will grow by nearly 22%. Finally, gambling is not the driver of today’s Las Vegas: in the 1990s, 58% of Las Vegas resort revenue came from gambling; in 2014, that number was down to 37 percent. While the next generation heads to Las Vegas in droves, they are trending toward walking right past the casino and into the nightclubs, restaurants and parties that make for a complete experience. In 2015, just 63% of millennials gambled, compared to 78% of their parents’ generation and 87% of their grandparents’ generation.

Millennials want experience; they want to share with their friends and they want to be a part of memorable experiences.

Millennials want experience; they want to share with their friends and they want to be a part of memorable experiences. So, in a place full of entertainment-driven competition, here’s how we created an innovative venue catered toward millennial purchasing habits:

• Next generation hospitality like the Hyde Lounge and Tower Clubs (pictured at right) are the new place to be and create a socially driven, high-end club accessible to any guest.  VVIP drop offs at two private entries create mystique and prestige.

• Immersive, opulent interior spaces create a unique and memorable social setting in Las Vegas’ hottest new hospitality space geared toward the way millennials want to spend their time in Las Vegas – and that’s with unique retail, restaurant and entertainment.

• Indoor-outdoor spaces create a hybrid entertainment experience that extends outward from the building and into the broader district. Outdoor lounges overlook the Strip (I predict this will be the nation’s ultimate new selfie spot) and an exterior stage at the front of the building creates opportunity for 365 entertainment. Think fight night weigh-ins, pre-VMA concerts – the kind of social media-worthy activities millennials love to share.

T-Mobile Arena is the future of Las Vegas – a future driven by millennials in an experience-oriented economy.