Rising Star Sports Ranch Resort is a former hotel resort and sports facility in Mesquite, Nevada. It originally began construction in 1996, as the Mesquite Star hotel-casino.
- Venue
- Rising Star Sports Ranch
- Town
- Mesquite, US
Rising Star Sports Ranch Resort is a former hotel resort and sports facility in Mesquite, Nevada. It originally began construction in 1996, as the Mesquite Star hotel-casino. Construction was delayed because of financial issues, but it began to pick up heavily in October 1997. The Mesquite Star opened on July 1, 1998, although owner NevStar Gaming faced further financial problems and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 1999. The Mesquite Star closed in March 2000, followed by a series of legal issues. It was purchased by Virgin River Casino Corporation, which later operated the facility without a casino as the Virgin River Convention Center. The Lee family purchased the facility in 2013, and began remodeling it in 2015. It reopened on October 1, 2016, as the Rising Star, a non-gaming hotel resort that also serves as a facility for sports training and competitions. Mesquite had become known for its abundance of new sports facilities, which prompted the Lee family to include the sports element in the new resort. The Rising Star includes a 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) indoor sports facility known as The Barn, which can seat up to 3,000 spectators. The resort also has a grass field and outdoor courts for various sports games. The resort closed in 2025, was sold to Safari Hospitality, a Cedar City, Utah based hotel management firm, and was converted into a Holiday Inn Resort. The property reopened to the public as a Holiday Inn on April 10, 2025. Construction of the Mesquite Star hotel-casino began in 1996, and the property was initially scheduled to open in January 1997. NevStar Gaming & Entertainment Corporation, the project owner, intended to launch an initial public offering (IPO) during 1996, but the company cancelled such plans because of low investor demand. Construction was subsequently stalled for several months while the developers tried to obtain financing. By the end of 1996, Hawaii businessman Richard Kelley had provided approximately $5 million in bridge