Sitting on a stage at the 10-yard line in Allegiant Stadium during the Preview Las Vegas event hosted by the Vegas Chamber on Tuesday, local business leaders called the $2 billion facility a game-changer for enhancing the recovery of gaming and tourism amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevada just posted a record nine consecutive months of gaming revenue exceeding $1 billion and visitors are spending more than their historical averages, which shows no sign of slowing. Occupancy at hotels and overall visitation are edging closer to pre-pandemic numbers, despite convention business and international travel falling well short of where it was prior to March 2020 when the Strip shut down for more than two months.
“We’re seeing visitors come back at a greater pace than anyone would have expected and it’s pretty impressive,” said Brian Gordon, a principal at Las Vegas research firm Applied Analysis, one of the keynote speakers. “This building is doing exactly what it was supposed to do. … The recovery curve is steeper and brighter. While we’re seeing a lot of folks come back in greater numbers, these are almost all leisure travelers. We haven’t even seen international travel and convention-related business come back yet, even though we’ve had some momentum.”
That bodes well for Las Vegas’ future, even though in the near term, the omicron variant and rising cases nationwide will have an impact. Typically, international travelers make up 16% of visitors and convention business makes up 14% of visitation.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority who closed out the day-long Vegas Chamber of Commerce program, told the audience that Allegiant Stadium hosted one million attendees during the third and fourth quarters of 2021. Five years ago, the LVCVA predicted that 1.9 million people per year would attend events at the stadium – long before a pandemic was on the horizon.
The prediction included 450,000 people a year who would come to Las Vegas because of events held at the stadium, Hill said. That was the concept behind investing $750 million from public financing.
During the 2021 third and fourth quarters alone, 400,000 people came to Las Vegas, 75% to 80% of the goal, for events at the stadium, he added. “This stadium has worked,” Hill said. “The Raiders have made it work. The community has made it work. It’s making a huge difference here in Las Vegas. It would be a different discussion today if the stadium had not been built. This community and state made a great decision.”
Las Vegas is hosting the Pro Bowl in February, the NFL Draft in April, and the Super Bowl in February 2024.
Hill said those the upcoming Pro Bowl and Draft will be the best events in the NFL’s history.
“And the Super Bowl will be the greatest extravaganza the NFL and Las Vegas have ever had,” Hill said. “It’s going to be insane.”
A survey done on behalf of the LVCVA shows that more than 50% of visitors will add a trip or stay longer because of sporting events. That includes not only the Raiders, but the Vegas Golden Knights and other sporting events. The city also hosts several college conference basketball tournaments, along with two NASCAR races.
“The Super Bowl, NFL, and Raiders in the stadium have been a game-changer,” added Billy Vassiliadis, CEO of R&R Partners, who conducts the LVCVA’s marketing campaigns. “The stadium has expanded the opportunity not only for tourism, but for the benefit of the entire business community. It’s exceeding our wildest expectations. That is the difference maker. That is the game-changer sports have been. That’s 22 to 23 million people staying longer.”
Such a statement was impossible in the early 2000s when the NFL wouldn’t allow Las Vegas to promote the city during Super Bowl broadcasts. And given the league’s public stance against sports betting at the time, a professional football team in the city was unthinkable.
Vassiliadis talked about other major events that Las Vegas has missed out on, from soccer to concerts, that can now be brought to the city because of the stadium. He said the city has had the ability to transform itself over and over and fight through obstacles, such as the pandemic.
“We’re in the middle of a reinvention right now that will make the 1990s (the great boom launched by the opening of the Mirage) seem like it was (just) okay,” Vassiliadis said.
Holding major sporting events has created an even bigger buzz than usual within the city, Hill said. “That’s what you see and feel in this community,” Hill said. “If you walk through Mandalay Bay, Bellagio or Caesars prior to a game or concert, there’s an energy. That’s because of all of those people who have come for that event. It’s making a huge difference.”
Vassiliadis and Hill told the audience that Nevada’s indoor mask mandate hasn’t proven to be a hindrance for Las Vegas visitation during the pandemic. People want to feel safe and know they can be in Las Vegas with its COVID-19 protocols. That ability to take steps to keep people safe is especially important for businesses that send employees to conventions, they said.
Hill talked about what’s to come and mentioned the resort development on the north end of the Strip and the MSG Sphere set to open in 2023 that will be the next generation of entertainment. He said the pandemic brought new attention to the city after what he called a messy environment in June 2020, with a 20% occupancy when after the casinos reopened after the shutdown, along with the social unrest at the time. People see Las Vegas more and more as an escape from the world around them as it is today.
“You can escape here,” Hill said. “You can come here to figure out who you want to be and what the rest of your life will look like or just take the weekend off. We’re getting better and better at making that happen. I would like this environment to go away, but it’s part of the opportunity for Vegas to step up and separate itself from other cities. This is our moment. It’s not happening anywhere else. It’s only happening here.”
