In August 2023, I went to the Legacy Lounge at the top of Circa. From there, I saw the Stadium Swim venue and thought that would be a great place to watch the Aggies when they're on TV. So, this year, I made it happen.
The weekend of September 14-15, I went to Stadium Swim at Circa in Las Vegas to watch the Fightin' Texas Aggies defeat the Florida Gators. Here's how that trip went and some things to know if you decide to go.
Disclaimer - as with all things in Vegas, pricing and availability is subject to change at any time.
Admission
Access is about $25 on a regular day and $80 on a big weekend day where there is a lot of sports on.
Circa and Golden Gate Hotel guests get free access.
What to Bring
Bring lots of sunscreen. You will get baked from about 9am until about 6pm in September. Obviously day length will vary on different dates.
Bring a bag to carry your gear, they do have lockers available but that's probably only necessary if you have too much stuff or valuables (which I wouldn't bring anyway). One of those string backpacks kids use for soccer is perfect. I forgot a daypack and wound up using a CVS plastic shopping bag which they allowed in but, I just looked low rent (which I am, so, no big deal).
With respect to jerseys and fan merch, they definitely allow that, even encourage it. A Latina sitting a few chairs over from me was wearing a MAGA hat and nobody bothered her all day (there was a Trump rally nearby to Freemont Street the night before). She was still wearing it when the UFC started.
They have rules about see through and revealing swimsuits, offensive tattoos, etc. I'd say 80% or more of the women had visible tattoos and at least 40% of the women were wearing thongs. Men were mostly wearing boardshorts and I think I only saw a couple of guys wearing t-shirts into the pools. I don't think I saw any Speedos - except for the two old Australian men.
You have to walk through the Casino to get to the Stadium Swim area and if you're going to wear your swimwear in, for men, it has to look presentable (flip flops are fine) and for ladies, you've got to wear a cover-up until you're into the Stadium Swim area.
As far as money is concerned, just bring your hotel room key, a credit card and your driver's license. A ziploc bag is good enough for keeping them dry.
Pro-tip - if you start a tab, all you have to keep track of is your hotel room key.
Seating Strategy
Seating for the lounge chairs is first come first served. I arrived at 9 am and had no problem finding a good seat. But for the fights that night, after 5 pm, people were sitting on the sides of the ramps and the landscaping and anywhere they could find a place. The capacity was rated at somewhere above 3,800 people and I'd say that during the day, there were probably 500 - 1000 people but at night for the fights, there were easily more than 2,000 people.
One of the smartest things to do is to bring some clamps and some sort of fabric to cover your lounge chair. They do have bath towels available for free when you walk in so be sure to pick one up before you head down and locate your lounge chair.
There will be a rotation of seats as people leave. Most people won't last more than about 4-6 hours in the sun.
If you sit too close to the screen you can't see as much but, you might get more shade, earlier in the day. If you sit further back, you might have a better view but, you're going to be melting in the sun longer.
There is fancy seating you can reserve but it comes at a cost. Reasonable during the week but pretty spendy on weekends. They have 3 options for reserved seating - morning, evening, all day. The way they do it isn't a reservation fee but rather a minimum spend. So a poolside lounge rated for 6 people might go for $200 for a half day during the week, it might be 5-6 times that much on a weekend. One nice thing is that it does come with waitstaff. Obviously if you're in a big group and doing bottle service, you aren't going to have much trouble meeting the minimum spend. They also have massive platters of food you can order if your in a big group. It was kind of funny to see a cart full of burgers and fries being wheeled by.
If there's a fight on at 8pm, you should plan on arriving at least before 5pm to get a seat - if you're lucky. Earlier is always better. Especially if it's UFC or Canelo Alvarez.
Operations
They do have outdoor showers for washing off the chlorine and after a long day in the sun, a shower is refreshing.
The pool is super chlorinated and for good reason with all the randoms getting in and out of it. I did dunk my head underwater to cool off during the day but, I was the only person doing that.
Sun protection - I reapplied sunscreen every 2 hours and didn't have any trouble. Be sure to apply sunscreen to your feet and toes also. Don't forget about your ears too. I applied sunscreen to the bottoms of my feet. I don't know if it made any difference but I didn't get burned so, I guess it helped.
Drinking water - the bars have free water available but it's at the end of the bar in a tabletop dispenser with small plastic cups. You can also buy bottled water for $6. My personal strategy was to drink 3 cups of free water every time I got a beer. And since I was there all day, I paced myself to not drink more than 1 beer per hour.
In the bathrooms, they practically followed you around with a mop. They were right on top of cleaning up any liquids in the men's room whether that was pool water, or other. The place was very clean.
They do allow ins and outs with your wristband but, I think they close at 11pm and don't allow anyone in after 10pm (as I recall)
Food & Beverages
Obviously no outside food or drink is allowed.
Food was about $15 for an appetizer and about $22 for a main such as 3 gourmet street tacos. In contrast to many touristy places, the quality and taste of the food was excellent.
Drinks were about $10 for a pint of beer in a can and mixed drinks were in the $20 range. They did have a 32 oz mixed drink for $32 in a souvenir cup. These prices were actually good compared to the prices of the drinks they sell for walking around on Freemont Street where it might be $15 for a pint of beer.
Gaming
Gaming is available in Stadium Swim via sports betting machines and Blackjack tables. Redeeming your sports bets will need to be done at the Sports Book Cashier or one of the redemption ATMs inside Circa.
Large Groups
If you're in a group of 10+ people, it's a good idea to get everybody matching shirts or hats. The matching hats in a high visibility color are useful for going in the pool and keeping track of everybody in your group.
Swimming
The pools are wheelchair accessible and also have steps with a rail to get in or out of the pools. The maximum depth is about 4 feet. Might have been about 3'11" or something like that. One kind of funny thing is the depths are marked on the pool every few feet and at one point on the wheelchair accessible ramps, they show the pool depth as 9 inches. Never seen that before.
There are lots of people in the pool and you can bring drinks. Obviously there's no glass anywhere. Even the "bottle service" gets poured into a plastic carafe. Pretty much nobody except me put their head underwater but I did that every 2 hours during the day and found it quite refreshing. Obviously I made sure not to swallow any pool water.
Screens and Games
There is one giant screen that is 40 feet high and measures 143 feet diagonally.
They had a DJ spinning from the early morning to the late night.
The only time they stopped the DJ and put game sound on was once the UFC Main Event started.
During the morning sessions, they played a lot of old school hip hop and throughout the afternoon, there was a noticeable absence of Spanish music or Reggaeton. In the late afternoon, before the UFC and Boxing started, they adapted to their audience and started playing lots of Latin music.
The music is going nonstop so if that's not your thing, bring earplugs, I guess.
Conclusion
All in all, It was an interesting experience. I thought it was good value for the money and I'd definitely go back but, I wouldn't go solo, I'd have to bring at least 1 friend so you could watch each other's stuff while going to the bathroom, etc. Especially when it was crowded.
The weekend of September 14-15, I went to Stadium Swim at Circa in Las Vegas to watch the Fightin' Texas Aggies defeat the Florida Gators. Here's how that trip went and some things to know if you decide to go.
Disclaimer - as with all things in Vegas, pricing and availability is subject to change at any time.
Admission
Access is about $25 on a regular day and $80 on a big weekend day where there is a lot of sports on.
Circa and Golden Gate Hotel guests get free access.
What to Bring
Bring lots of sunscreen. You will get baked from about 9am until about 6pm in September. Obviously day length will vary on different dates.
Bring a bag to carry your gear, they do have lockers available but that's probably only necessary if you have too much stuff or valuables (which I wouldn't bring anyway). One of those string backpacks kids use for soccer is perfect. I forgot a daypack and wound up using a CVS plastic shopping bag which they allowed in but, I just looked low rent (which I am, so, no big deal).
With respect to jerseys and fan merch, they definitely allow that, even encourage it. A Latina sitting a few chairs over from me was wearing a MAGA hat and nobody bothered her all day (there was a Trump rally nearby to Freemont Street the night before). She was still wearing it when the UFC started.
They have rules about see through and revealing swimsuits, offensive tattoos, etc. I'd say 80% or more of the women had visible tattoos and at least 40% of the women were wearing thongs. Men were mostly wearing boardshorts and I think I only saw a couple of guys wearing t-shirts into the pools. I don't think I saw any Speedos - except for the two old Australian men.
You have to walk through the Casino to get to the Stadium Swim area and if you're going to wear your swimwear in, for men, it has to look presentable (flip flops are fine) and for ladies, you've got to wear a cover-up until you're into the Stadium Swim area.
As far as money is concerned, just bring your hotel room key, a credit card and your driver's license. A ziploc bag is good enough for keeping them dry.
Pro-tip - if you start a tab, all you have to keep track of is your hotel room key.
Seating Strategy
Seating for the lounge chairs is first come first served. I arrived at 9 am and had no problem finding a good seat. But for the fights that night, after 5 pm, people were sitting on the sides of the ramps and the landscaping and anywhere they could find a place. The capacity was rated at somewhere above 3,800 people and I'd say that during the day, there were probably 500 - 1000 people but at night for the fights, there were easily more than 2,000 people.
One of the smartest things to do is to bring some clamps and some sort of fabric to cover your lounge chair. They do have bath towels available for free when you walk in so be sure to pick one up before you head down and locate your lounge chair.
There will be a rotation of seats as people leave. Most people won't last more than about 4-6 hours in the sun.
If you sit too close to the screen you can't see as much but, you might get more shade, earlier in the day. If you sit further back, you might have a better view but, you're going to be melting in the sun longer.
There is fancy seating you can reserve but it comes at a cost. Reasonable during the week but pretty spendy on weekends. They have 3 options for reserved seating - morning, evening, all day. The way they do it isn't a reservation fee but rather a minimum spend. So a poolside lounge rated for 6 people might go for $200 for a half day during the week, it might be 5-6 times that much on a weekend. One nice thing is that it does come with waitstaff. Obviously if you're in a big group and doing bottle service, you aren't going to have much trouble meeting the minimum spend. They also have massive platters of food you can order if your in a big group. It was kind of funny to see a cart full of burgers and fries being wheeled by.
If there's a fight on at 8pm, you should plan on arriving at least before 5pm to get a seat - if you're lucky. Earlier is always better. Especially if it's UFC or Canelo Alvarez.
Operations
They do have outdoor showers for washing off the chlorine and after a long day in the sun, a shower is refreshing.
The pool is super chlorinated and for good reason with all the randoms getting in and out of it. I did dunk my head underwater to cool off during the day but, I was the only person doing that.
Sun protection - I reapplied sunscreen every 2 hours and didn't have any trouble. Be sure to apply sunscreen to your feet and toes also. Don't forget about your ears too. I applied sunscreen to the bottoms of my feet. I don't know if it made any difference but I didn't get burned so, I guess it helped.
Drinking water - the bars have free water available but it's at the end of the bar in a tabletop dispenser with small plastic cups. You can also buy bottled water for $6. My personal strategy was to drink 3 cups of free water every time I got a beer. And since I was there all day, I paced myself to not drink more than 1 beer per hour.
In the bathrooms, they practically followed you around with a mop. They were right on top of cleaning up any liquids in the men's room whether that was pool water, or other. The place was very clean.
They do allow ins and outs with your wristband but, I think they close at 11pm and don't allow anyone in after 10pm (as I recall)
Food & Beverages
Obviously no outside food or drink is allowed.
Food was about $15 for an appetizer and about $22 for a main such as 3 gourmet street tacos. In contrast to many touristy places, the quality and taste of the food was excellent.
Drinks were about $10 for a pint of beer in a can and mixed drinks were in the $20 range. They did have a 32 oz mixed drink for $32 in a souvenir cup. These prices were actually good compared to the prices of the drinks they sell for walking around on Freemont Street where it might be $15 for a pint of beer.
Gaming
Gaming is available in Stadium Swim via sports betting machines and Blackjack tables. Redeeming your sports bets will need to be done at the Sports Book Cashier or one of the redemption ATMs inside Circa.
Large Groups
If you're in a group of 10+ people, it's a good idea to get everybody matching shirts or hats. The matching hats in a high visibility color are useful for going in the pool and keeping track of everybody in your group.
Swimming
The pools are wheelchair accessible and also have steps with a rail to get in or out of the pools. The maximum depth is about 4 feet. Might have been about 3'11" or something like that. One kind of funny thing is the depths are marked on the pool every few feet and at one point on the wheelchair accessible ramps, they show the pool depth as 9 inches. Never seen that before.
There are lots of people in the pool and you can bring drinks. Obviously there's no glass anywhere. Even the "bottle service" gets poured into a plastic carafe. Pretty much nobody except me put their head underwater but I did that every 2 hours during the day and found it quite refreshing. Obviously I made sure not to swallow any pool water.
Screens and Games
There is one giant screen that is 40 feet high and measures 143 feet diagonally.
- They show one game on the very large section in the middle of the screen and about 8 games on smaller screens surrounding the big section.
- On a football Saturday like what I saw, they had 7-8 different college football games going.
- They did keep a big game on the center screen but they would rotate other games onto it as well.
- Frankly, based on some of the cutaways at critical points in various games, it seemed like whomever was in charge of managing the screens was not a football fan at all.
- Ideally, you want to sit where you can see your team's game but, the problem with the game rotation is that your game might move and wind up on the far side of the screen where you can't see it as well.
They had a DJ spinning from the early morning to the late night.
The only time they stopped the DJ and put game sound on was once the UFC Main Event started.
During the morning sessions, they played a lot of old school hip hop and throughout the afternoon, there was a noticeable absence of Spanish music or Reggaeton. In the late afternoon, before the UFC and Boxing started, they adapted to their audience and started playing lots of Latin music.
The music is going nonstop so if that's not your thing, bring earplugs, I guess.
Conclusion
All in all, It was an interesting experience. I thought it was good value for the money and I'd definitely go back but, I wouldn't go solo, I'd have to bring at least 1 friend so you could watch each other's stuff while going to the bathroom, etc. Especially when it was crowded.
