The Laughlin River Run 2015

Laughlin River Run

Wednesday, April 22, 2015  –  Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Laughlin River Run has a 32 year streak.  While it has not been with out its issues, especially after the Harrah’s Shooting, It seems to keep on going.  Now there is a “No Colors, No Soft Colors Rule and it is strictly enforced. See more “No Color” Establishments here.

The Police presence seems to be stronger each passing year and I swear there is a cop for every bike in attendance.  If you think you are going to get away with even the smallest infraction of any law, think again.

I have begun to wonder over the past few years if Laughlin still wants this event in their town.  They seem to make it increasingly expensive for vendors, and the room prices are stoopid for guest even if you try to book well in advance.  Last year the Aquarius Hotel did not even have a vendors area on the property at all, nor did they offer any discounts for vendors.  I was going to stay an extra day last year, and even though they had plenty of rooms, they would not drop the room rate from the 160.00, so I let’em keep it. I guess it is better to lose the head in the bed and the business from dining and gambling, than to drop the rate.

More and more people seem to be complaining, and mostly about the cost.  Unlike other events such as Sturgis, Laughlin does not keep official statics on the event.  But I did some hunting, and found a few numbers.  In 2001 the crowd was estimated at 70.000.  A decade later, 2011 the crowd was estimated at 30.000.  However, according to a local news station, the event peaked out at around 26.000 on Friday. That’s more that a 50 percent drop in attendance.   While all the major events throughout the nation have suffered due to the downfall in the economy, some events  are on the rebound and showing improvement  such as Sturgis. In 2001 they had an attendance of 410.000 and in 2011 it rebounded to 416.000. but it is still off by about 50.000 if you consider the average for the decade.  See all the stats here.

Will the Laughlin Run be able to continue with its numbers falling yearly? More and more people are checking it off the list of annual events, major players are and have pulled out.  So all you can do now, is sit back and see what happens. While I don’t mind going, I will be spending my dollars differently if we do make it, and not giving it to the costly hotels, and backing off on the gambling bucks.