Columnist Jeff German: Siller takes hard look at Hard Rock

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

The Gaming Control Board took a standing eight count last Friday in its well-publicized advertising fight with the Hard Rock Hotel.

But one Control Board member, Bobby Siller, wasn't even close to throwing in the towel on Monday.

Siller showed no signs of walking away from this fight, as he looked back on Friday's Nevada Gaming Commission decision that gutted a three-count complaint accusing the Hard Rock of bringing discredit to the casino industry with its edgy billboards.

The Gaming Commission tossed out two counts that the Hard Rock said infringed on its First Amendment rights. But the commission also kept Siller's spirits up by ordering the resort to face the third count of reneging on a promise to run future ads past an internal compliance committee.

Unless an agreement can be worked out, a full-blown hearing will take place before the Gaming Commission Nov. 18, giving Siller plenty of opportunities to return some punches. That's not a position you want to be in if you're a prominent licensee looking to get back in the good graces of regulators.

"I respect the opinion of the commission," Siller said. "But I also think that (the Hard Rock) is a poor example of a corporation that is sensitive to the needs and concerns of the community."

Siller said the Hard Rock, throughout months and months of sparring with regulators, has been more worried about preserving its market share of the 20-something party crowd than the impact of its racy advertising on the community. Several pro-family groups have been critical of the resort's billboards, which have exploited sex to appeal to the younger generation of high-rollers.

"At what point is there a responsibility to be a good corporate citizen?" Siller asked.

The hotel's stubbornness and "selfish" attitude, Siller explained, has caused him to view the property with a skeptical eye.

"There's a loss of credibility, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "We'll be looking at things a little more carefully over there in the future."

If it sounds like this fight has become personal to Siller, it has. He believes Hard Rock officials misled him and were never sincere about wanting to follow the rules of decency in their advertising.

"It's been a flat-out nightmare dealing with the Hard Rock," he said. "It's been a contrast in what can be done and what shouldn't be done."

Hard Rock President Kevin Kelley knows that Siller is gunning for his property's license. That's why Kelley said Monday he's hoping to resolve the hotel's differences with the Control Board once and for all.

"We work inside a regulated industry," Kelley said. "We're going to do our best to live within the boundaries of those regulations."

Kelley sounded conciliatory months ago, too. But then, with the help of some fancy lawyering and heavyweight casino industry friends, he turned around and took more shots at the Control Board.

"When it came to a point where our license was placed in jeopardy because of advertising content, that's where we had to draw the line," he said. "We never wanted this to be personal."

Neither did Siller.