Super Bowl Stunt May Be Last Use for Mirage Volcano

Posted on: November 1, 2023, 02:57h. 

Last updated on: November 2, 2023, 11:47h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

The popular Mirage volcano will survive, at least until the end of this year’s Super Bowl. But that’s only because another tourist attraction will cover it up.

Paramount Mountain will disguise the soon-to-shutter Mirage volcano
Paramount Mountain will disguise the soon-to-shutter Mirage volcano as the mountain in the company’s movie logo. (Image: Paramount Global)

A temporary display called Paramount Mountain will be erected atop the Mirage volcano, where it will operate from Thursday, February 8, through Super Bowl Sunday. This Super Bowl experience is an attempt to generate publicity for Paramount Global’s streaming services at a time when the company’s Wall Street investors are demanding increased profits.

Paramount Mountain, which will resemble the mountain in the company’s movie logo, will feature a “Paramount+ Lodge” and a gondola ride promising “interactive fan experiences” built around the company’s streamed shows, including Yellowstone, Transformers, Star Trek, Dora The Explorer, Ghosts, Sistas, and UEFA Champions League.

The new attraction is the brainchild of Paramount Global, which owns CBS, the network broadcasting Super Bowl LVIII live from Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024. Paramount Global will also air a Super Bowl simulcast on its Nickelodeon channel that’s geared toward kids and families, and Paramount Mountain is expected to serve as a hub for that broadcast.

Paramount will begin promoting the attraction on Friday, November 3, which is 100 days out from the Super Bowl. That day’s episode of CBS Mornings will feature 100 “Paramount mountaineers” live from New York’s Times Square, who will travel across the U.S. to plant NFL team flags at Paramount Mountain’s base.

Will the Volcano Be Extinguished After That?

Mirage volcano
The volcano has been thrilling passersby since it opened, along with The Mirage, 34 years ago. Both Las Vegas institutions are expected to close sometime in 2024. (Image: poolmagazine.com)

All anyone knows for sure right now is that the iconic free show, which debuted along with The Mirage in 1989, is destined to be demolished sometime in 2024 to make way for a giant, guitar-shaped hotel tower.

It’s part of the resort’s already-underway transformation into Hard Rock Las Vegas.

Though The Mirage/Hard Rock is keeping quiet about the subject, for it to choose to demolish the volcano after already getting Las Vegas visitors used to the idea of living without it — first due to F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix preparations, then for Super Bowl preparations — doesn’t seem like a bad Las Vegas bet to take.