For once, this is a gambling story where you find yourself enjoying the gift of hindsight.
You can look back at the events of Super Bowl LVIII and decide for yourself whether Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO and President Steve Hill and a few thousand of his allies succeeded in their collective goal.
“I’ve put a fair amount of pressure on the community,” Hill told me a few days before kickoff, “but our goal is to make this the best Super Bowl that’s ever taken place. We’ll all be disappointed if we don’t feel like that’s the case and we don’t feel like the NFL agrees with us at the end of this.”
Back in 2021, Hill led a group that included political influencers and Raiders executives to successfully present a proposal to the league in an effort to make Las Vegas a Super Bowl site. That idea alone would have been laughable just a few years earlier, but the growth of Las Vegas, the arrival of the Raiders, and liberalization of legalized sports betting in a majority of states changed the odds considerably.
Taking nothing away from Hill & Co., from there Las Vegas did what Las Vegas does best when it comes to putting on the next big event or party to end all parties. It managed to outdo itself.
And taking nothing away from future Big Game locations, after all the over-the-top razzle-dazzle on the field, at halftime, and in the air above Allegiant Stadium, I was left wondering what the contingent representing New Orleans, next year’s Super Bowl site, was thinking.
By the numbers alone, it was a big week for Las Vegas, which has many of them. Whether it’s measured in casino profits, a record handle by the legal sports books, the surge of visitor volume, or the economic boost to small businesses, it was a very good run.
In addition to an estimated 330,000 free-spending visitors, many of whom were willing to pay higher costs for rooms, food, booze, and tickets to the game, Nevada sportsbooks set a new record for Super Bowl handle with $185.6 million in bets. The hold was approximately $6.8 million, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. There were a few $1 million plays, but as ever, the books did well on the volume from players of every pocketbook.
Beyond other economic benefits estimated to be as high as $700 million before game time, there’s the harder-to-measure metric of a week-long advertisement for Las Vegas.
The evening after the game, I listened to a top veteran of Las Vegas advertising set aside all the lusty economic statistics and casino fortunes to remind me that the value of the week to the Las Vegas brand was essentially immeasurable. The pyrotechnic performance of the Strip and beyond provided yet another reminder that no one does spectacle like this place. Super Bowl ads are notoriously expensive, but the advertising Las Vegas received for playing the flamboyant host is priceless.
Still, there are areas of improvement and challenging questions to answer. Here are a couple.
Critics made a good point when they noted the use of hundreds of unpaid volunteers and a small army of poorly compensated concession workers at an event that grossed hundreds of millions of dollars. Once all the accolades have died down, the ideal moment for Culinary Local 226 to organize service workers at Allegiant might be at hand.
Is there an organized labor showdown ahead?
The dazzle of the Super Bowl hasn’t softened the ire of Oakland A’s fans, who still feel jilted about losing their team to Las Vegas. Ramming through another stadium deal via taxpayer-funding mechanisms at a time when public schools are performing poorly and the state trails many others in serious quality-of-life categories was a really bad look that even the best ad mavens will have a hard time softening.
Is there more trouble coming for the A’s and their lawmaking enablers?
Time is sure to answer those questions. For now, Las Vegas basks in its own reflected glory.
Maybe the last word should go to Hill, who was asked even before the kickoff of the first Las Vegas Super Bowl when Las Vegas could expect the second one.
He almost answered with, “If Vegas does what Vegas can do, the NFL is going to be back as soon as they feel like it is a reasonable thing to do.”
Meanwhile, good luck, New Orleans. You too, Santa Clara. That goes double for you, Inglewood.
