One of the last formerly Mob-connected casinos with original construction on the Las Vegas Strip, Circus Circus, could be sold, according to Forbes.com.

Casino owner Phil Ruffin, 89, told the business website that Circus Circus’ location at the northwest end of the Strip “is the best piece of land on the West Coast.”

“You can almost build a city on it,” Ruffin said of the 102-acre site, including festival grounds.

Ruffin said the 3,767-room Circus Circus, purchased from MGM Resorts for $825 million in 2019, is worth $5 billion, according to KLAS-TV. He said buyers are interested but did not name potential buyers. Ruffin indicated that he plans to buy another property on the Strip.

With an estimated wealth of $4.7 billion, Ruffin also owns the Treasure Island hotel-casino on the Strip and 50% of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. Ruffin was in Washington, D.C., on Monday for President Donald Trump’sinauguration.

Known for trapeze performances and other circus acts above the casino floor, Circus Circus was first opened in October 1968. Journalist Hunter S. Thompsonwrote that the atmosphere at the casino resembles a “strange County-Fair/Polish Carnival madness.”

In the past few years, Circus Circus has undergone a $30 million renovation. The family-friendly property is on the slower end of the Las Vegas Strip, which is attempting a revival with upscale resorts. In recent years, Resorts World Las Vegas and the Fontainebleau have opened near Circus Circus. Other projects are planned in that area.

Older Las Vegas Strip Casinos Demolished

Since the late 1980s, when the Mirage hotel-casino sparked a boom in megaresort construction along the resort corridor, most of the formerly Mob-linked resorts on the Strip have been demolished. These include the Desert Inn, Riviera, Stardust, Sands, Dunes, and Hacienda. 

One of the last of the former Mob casinos with original construction on the Strip, the Tropicana, was demolished in 2024. A Major League Baseball stadium is planned for that site as the home of the former Oakland Athletics, beginning in 2028. For the next three seasons, the American League’s Athletics will play home games at a minor league ballpark in Sacramento.

The Tropicana’s demolition leaves just a few properties, including the Strip's Circus Circus, Slots-A-Fun, and Caesars Palace, as the only major resorts in the Las Vegas Valley with original construction from the Mob era. In downtown Las Vegas, the El Cortez and Fremont are examples of former Mob casinos still operating with original construction.

‘Notorious’ Former Mob Casino

In its early years, Circus Circus was “one of the most notorious Mob haunts on the Strip,” according to a story on The Mob Museum website. The casino’s founder, Jay Sarno, partially built the resort with a Mob-connected $7.6 million Teamsters loan.

At one point during the 1970s, the Chicago Outfit’s Tony “The Ant” Spilotro operated a jewelry and gift shop inside Circus Circus. In the 1995 Las Vegas Mob movie “Casino,” Joe Pesci portrays a character based on Spilotro.