June 30, 2003
Rolling the dice

A new magazine aims for a national audience of wealthy or wanna-be-wealthy readers

By STEVE FRIESS

There are few sure bets in either Sin City or magazine publishing, but industry handicappers are putting solid odds on a high-end monthly called Vegas that launches this week.

THAT’S VEGAS, NOT “Las Vegas,” because Las Vegas is just a place, but Vegas, copublisher Michael T. Carr insists, is “something you hold in your heart.” (No pics of free pirate shows or Regis Philbin slots to be found here.) The $1.5 million start-up, modeled after Miami’s Ocean Drive magazine and co-owned by that book’s SoBe News Inc., aims for a national, not regional, audience of wealthy or wanna-be-wealthy readers. Supermodel Heidi Klum graces the cover of the 220-page premiere issue that includes 75 pages of ads from ultraluxe retailers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Only 30,000 of the initial 80,000-copy debut run will be distributed in Vegas itself—and most of those will be placed in the poshest suites of the Strip’s ritziest resorts.

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