As Las Vegas preps to host what will be arguably the most anticipated and explosive presidential debate in history, the event has the potential to elevate the city and southern Nevada to a new level of national prominence.
While Vegas has remade itself over the past quarter century, changing from a gambling paradise into a broader tourist and convention destination attracting more than 40 million visitors each year, public perception hasn’t changed at the same pace.
Hosting the third and final debate doesn’t just cement the region’s status as a vital battleground across all levels of politics. It also offers the perfect opportunity to finally put the notion to rest that Vegas is just a small-market tourist outpost in the middle of the desert.
“It’s an opportunity for southern Nevada to show the world not only the glitter of our industry and gaming and hotels, but the other wonderful things that are available in southern Nevada,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates and former head of the American Gaming Association. “Somewhere between five and ten thousand reporters will be there from all over the world,” he said. “They’ll be in town not just for debate but probably for a week, and they’re going to look for other stories to cover.”
Fahrenkopf also emphasized that the debate was an incredible opportunity to put the University of Nevada-Las Vegas “on the map.”
It would be a stretch to call UNLV, with 28,000-plus students, a “small school.” But because of its remote location, membership in the mid-major Mountain West athletic conference, and the fact that it was birthed just 50 years ago, the university’s exposure to the rest of the country has been limited primarily to basketball.
The legendary Jerry Tarkanian-led Runnin’ Rebel men’s teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s reached multiple Final Fours, won the NCAA Championship in 1990 and finished the regular season undefeated in 1991. While the publicity from those years was good, it’s more than two decades old.
But if the success stories of other smaller universities that have hosted debates are any indication, the $4 million that UNLV forked over for this debate should prove to be a sound investment.
Washington University in St. Louis and Hofstra University in New York City have carved out impeccable niches for themselves as go-to venues for hosting presidential debates. WUSTL has hosted six debates since 1992, more than any other institution, while Hofstra has hosted debates in three consecutive election cycles. Both universities have garnered astounding national attention and reputational boosts from holding these events.
Lynn University, a school in Boca Raton, Florida, with just over 2,000 students, hosted the final 2012 presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. A study commissioned by the school found that the event produced $13.1 million in economic impact for Palm Beach County – highlighted by $1.7 million in new spending by local residents, a 22 percent jump in hotel tax revenue, and $63 million in publicity value – including 33,000 news stories – for the university and the city of Boca Raton.
The study noted that the “Tourism Legacy Effect for large public events may be far greater than the initial economic impact,” evidenced by a telephone survey suggesting that roughly “4.7 million U.S. adults ‘absolutely’ want to visit the area in the next five years after watching the debate.” While there are some economists and observers who say these earned media numbers are overstated, the overall value-add to the university is undeniable.
Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio was ecstatic over a projected $10 – 14 million economic boost to its community from hosting the first 2016 debate, in September. Unfortunately, the school withdrew as a host site because of mounting security costs.
The final 2012 debate at Lynn University, between two candidates in whom the public was generally disinterested, still attracted around 60 million viewers. Given that, viewership for Wednesday’s showdown should easily eclipse 80 million, bringing enormous national and worldwide exposure and publicity to the region.
Better yet, if the final Clinton-Trump debate becomes a verbal slugfest along the lines of the 1974 “Rumble in Jungle” of Muhammad Ali versus George Foreman, or the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” between Joe Frazier and Ali, then Vegas will have notched a place in history alongside Kinshasa and Manila as legendary fight hosts.
