LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Phil Ruffin, the billionaire owner of Circus Circus, is reportedly looking for buyers for the 102-acre property on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip.
In a new interview with Forbes on Friday, Ruffin confirmed what had previously been his rumored desire to sell the property he bought from MGM Resorts International in 2019.
"Let's just say there's been interest," Ruffin told Forbes staff writer Will Yacowicz. "It's worth $5 billion."
Channel 13 previously tried to confirm those rumors in November, though our inquiry received no response from Circus Circus.
Ruffin — whose other Las Vegas Strip holdings include Treasure Island and the Trump International Hotel, which he co-owns with now-President Donald Trump — paid $825 million for Circus Circus.
The carnival-themed hotel-casino has been a recognizable fixture on the Strip for nearly 60 years.
Opened by Jay Sarno, of Caesars Palace fame, in 1968, the property has undergone its share of changes over the years, including the addition of a hotel tower (and multiple hotel expansions) and the opening of Grand Slam Canyon (now the Adventuredome) in 1993.
The property also includes the 37-acre Las Vegas Festival Grounds, most recently known for hosting the multi-day When We Were Young music festival.
“It’s the best piece of land on the West Coast,” Ruffin told Forbes. “It's got the highway, it's got the Sahara, it's got 2,000 feet on the Strip, and it's the last Strip property. And 102 acres is just a massive amount of land — you can almost build a city on it.”
The north end of the Las Vegas Strip has been the subject of much development news of late, including recent plans for a new mixed-use resort-casino-arena complex across the street from Circus Circus.
Check out renderings of the proposed arena project on the north end of the Strip:
Before the Oakland Athletics baseball team chose the now-imploded Tropicana Las Vegas as the site for their proposed Las Vegas ballpark, the portion of Circus Circus property that serves as the Las Vegas Festival Grounds was reportedly considered.
At the time, Ruffin told Channel 13 the property was deemed too small to realize Bally's Corporation and the A's vision for a sports and entertainment complex that would include a new resort-casino hotel.
Ruffin indicated he plans to use the proceeds from selling Circus Circus to buy another piece of property on the Strip, but told Forbes he is willing to look at options in other states, too.
"I have my eyes on some properties," he told the magazine. "It could be in another town, if it's good enough."
