Corrections and clarifications: This article has been updated to note that MLB is one of four major sports leagues that can earn a combined $4.2 billion annually from widely available sports betting.
Las Vegas is big on sports.
There’s a shiny new NFL stadium that hosted the Super Bowl in February. The annual Formula 1 race is held throughout the Strip. The UFC fights in the Las Vegas sphere. The arena hosts NHL and WNBA teams.
Overall, Las Vegas has added three major league sports teams in the past decade, two of which are recent champions. And with the implosion of the Tropicana planned for early Wednesday, the city plans to add Major League Baseball to the mix, along with a new ballpark for the Athletics, formerly located in Oakland, California.
All of this is part of an effort to rebuild Las Vegas into the “Sports Capital of the World.”
“Historically, communities cared about sports, but they didn’t expect major league sports. That’s partly because of gambling, partly because of our own size. ” said Michael Green, a history professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
But after a population boom and the legalization of sports betting across the U.S., “a number of factors are coming together,” Green said.
Sports betting’s role in Las Vegas’ growth
Las Vegas’ relationship with sports has come a long way over the past two decades.
In 2003, the NFL rejected the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau’s bid to run Super Bowl ads. Nevada was the only state offering legalized sports betting at the time, and the league included gambling-related advertising in its contracts with networks, even though there was no mention of gambling in the submitted ads. He cited a clause prohibiting it.
However, by the 2010s, major sports leagues changed their view of Las Vegas and its relationship with sports betting. The NHL launched the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, and in a vote that year, NFL owners approved the Raiders’ move from Oakland to Las Vegas by a 31-1 vote.
The shift in sentiment toward sports betting became even clearer in 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down a law banning sports betting outside of Nevada. Bills to legalize sports betting have been launched across the United States, with proponents promising new streams of tax revenue to states. The four major sports leagues are also said to have the potential to make even more money, with the American Gaming Association predicting in 2018 that the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL could collectively earn $4.2 billion annually from widely available sports betting. A report was released stating that there is.
Currently, 38 states and Washington state offer legal sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association, a trade group for the casino industry.
“It’s amazing how quickly attitudes toward legal, regulated sports betting have changed,” said Becky Harris, distinguished fellow in gaming and leadership at UNLV.
While some studies have shown that legalizing sports betting could have a negative impact on American household finances, recent research has linked legalizing sports betting to an increase in credit card debt and overdrafts. However, this change has been positive for Las Vegas.
The stigma against gambling that Las Vegas faced in the early 2000s is “almost a thing of the past,” said LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill. He said he doesn’t think Las Vegas can offer this much sports, especially when it comes to sports. NCAA events – if only that stigma hadn’t gone away.
“If[sports betting]was still limited to one or two markets, there would have been some skepticism,” Hill told USA TODAY. …The whole issue remained unresolved.” Aside from that, I think the landscape of Las Vegas will look different. ”
Expanding the charm of Las Vegas
Casino magnate Derek Stevens recognized the potential for growth in sports betting when designing his downtown resort, Circa.
The facility is a sports enthusiast’s dream, featuring six outdoor pools and a three-story sportsbook with games broadcast on 40-foot high-definition screens.
Circa was “designed before sports betting was legal, but we always thought it would be legal,” Stevens told USA TODAY.
Las Vegas has always been the place to watch major sporting events like the Super Bowl and Final Four, added Alan Feldman, director of strategic initiatives at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute. Sports fans can now watch games inside the arena as well as at the sportsbook.
“We’re giving millions of visitors across the country a reason to come to Las Vegas,” he says.
According to LVCVA’s 2023 study, 6% of visitors attended a sporting event while visiting Las Vegas, up from 2% in 2018.
“This expanded the interest in Las Vegas and really expanded the market,” Hill said. “It’s now part of our brand.”
And the new venue in Las Vegas opens the door to hosting other major events. Allegiant Stadium hosts the Raiders’ home games, but visitors also flock to the stadium to watch pop stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
Hill said the stadium will have the same “transformational effect” on Las Vegas that the Mirage, the Strip’s first mega-resort, had 35 years ago.
These “may be the two most important investments Las Vegas has ever made. They are part of the maturation of the city and have led to significant changes,” Hill said.
The city’s major sports teams will draw more tourists and create “new high-value jobs” in sports education and other sports-related fields, according to a 2023 research paper published by UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research. It turns out that doing so has boosted the economy.
While not necessarily helping to diversify Nevada’s tourism-dependent economy, CBER Director Andrew Woods said it is contributing to the development of the tourism sector.
“It’s clear that it’s having a positive impact on the economy,” he said. “We still rely on the success of leisure and hospitality, but (sport) continues to make leisure and hospitality successful.”
