UPDATE: Las Vegas to host 2024 Super Bowl; record visitation and betting expected

December 13, 2021 10:46 PM
  • Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming Reports
December 13, 2021 10:46 PM
  • Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming Reports

In what will be a monumental day and weekend, possibly leading to record betting and visitation, the Super Bowl in February 2024 will be hosted by Las Vegas.

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The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Monday afternoon that the official announcement will be made Wednesday at the league-owner’s meeting in Dallas.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released a statement late Monday without confirming the Super Bowl, the NFL’s championship game.

“The LVCVA is committed to positioning Las Vegas as a host city for major events, including a potential Super Bowl. The selection of Super Bowl host sites is determined by NFL ownership and we defer any questions to the league office,” the LVCVA said.

The Las Vegas Raiders’ $2 billion Allegiant Stadium that opened in 2020 with the aid of $750 million in room-tax funds would replace New Orleans. That city opted out of hosting the 2024 Super Bowl after a change in date to Feb. 11; the new date, due to the introduction of the 17-game schedule, would conflict with its Mardi Gras celebration.

“It’s huge. Huge,” said Brendan Bussmann, a casino consultant and partner with Global Market Advisors. “Hosting one of the iconic sporting events in Las Vegas proves even further that we are the sports and entertainment capital of the world. There will be no better Super Bowl than Vegas will be able to do. Period.”

Bussmann said this has been building since Las Vegas brought the National Finals Rodeo to the city decades ago. The city also hosts a college football bowl game and college basketball tournaments, NASCAR races, the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, and now the Super Bowl.

“Hopefully there’s a Final Four (NCAA basketball tourney) and other events to follow,” Bussmann said.  

Josh Swissman, a founder of The Strategy Organization, said for Las Vegas to have the “quintessential sporting event” will have a huge economic impact, but also sends a message about the city.

“It validates Vegas as a professional sports town,” Swissman said. “We’ve added professional sports teams at a pretty good clip and there’s talk of the Oakland A’s becoming part of the landscape. The NFL validated putting Vegas on the map in terms of professional sports and to host the Super Bowl is the crown jewel among all of those professional sporting events.”

Andrew Klebanow, a principal at C3 Gaming, said it’s a huge opportunity for Las Vegas because it not only means being recognized as an NFL city, but as a major U.S. metropolitan area, rivaling New York, Chicago, and Houston.

“That’s what happens when you get a Super Bowl,” Klebanow said. “It moves Las Vegas from being a gambling and entertainment town to a true major league city that can support major leagues teams. There’s not another major city in the U.S. that’s capable of hosting an event like the Super Bowl, with its 150,000 hotel rooms, including 120,000 rooms within 20 minutes of Allegiant Stadium,” Klebanow said. When the NFL hosted the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a cruise ship of rooms was needed, he said.

Las Vegas will be packed and room rates will be “through the roof,” Swissman said. The event is bigger than the game itself and plenty of people will want to be in the city that can’t go into the stadium, he added.

“The people it will bring will be much bigger than the capacity of the stadium itself,” Swissman said. “There will be a host of special events, with casinos inviting VIPs and making big long weekends out of it. The Super Bowl being on a Sunday will spill activity into Sunday night, which means people will be spending money on gambling and eating and drinking and enjoying themselves. This means a huge economic windfall for the city.”

Bussmann said it will be a “crazy week,” because the teams will come in a week before and a buzz and energy will start with that.

The game is expected to lead to record betting and visitation for any weekend in the city’s history.

“I think Las Vegas getting a Super Bowl would be the biggest tourist event in its history and continue the stamp that live sporting events in the mecca of the sports-betting capital of the country are good for both gambling and the leagues,” said Jeff Benson, sportsbook operations manager at Circa Sports. “The city and state would see record handles that could push the amount wagered on the game close to $200 million, in my opinion.”

The latest Super Bowl news comes on top of Las Vegas hosting the Pro Bowl in February 2022 and the NFL draft a few months later in April.