Las Vegas Spent Decades Deprived of the Super Bowl. Now It Could Bring in $700 Million (2024)

big profits

After years of the NFL trying to distance itself from Sin City, industries in the region —from betting to brothels —are about to cash in

Try to shake it off, Swifties. The players are gonna play-play-play on Sunday, but Las Vegas learned how to parlay pro football’s big game into big crowds and bigger profits long before the Strip landed Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.

From street vendors selling $40 T-shirts to resale brokers getting more than $30,000 a ticket for the best remaining seats, the Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs is estimated to draw 330,000 people to Las Vegas and pump as much as $700 million into the economy. Service workers and security companies are working overtime — and in a community reliant on gambling and tourism, even a tiny piece of the action can mean a lot.

For decades, casinos and the community’s legion of sports bars have promoted parties for every pocketbook— to the official chagrin of the NFL commissioner and his attorneys. The league, which was started by bookmakers and their friends, got the vapors at the very mention of “Super Bowl” and “Las Vegas” sharing the same marquee.

That stance rapidly changed in 2018 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which essentially limited legal bookmaking to Nevada. Suddenly, the idea of legalizing, regulating — and taxing — an activity already practiced by millions became politically palatable. Today, 38 states and Washington, D.C., have legal sports betting, and the NFL is in partnership with casino corporations and online sports. Hey, no deal is bad if you get a piece of it, right?

But if Las Vegas was already cashing in on the Super Bowl, then just how much bigger can actually hosting the event be? Even with the celebrity icing of Taylor Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on top?

The math is simple, Gaughan Gaming Sports Book director Vincent Magliulo says. “Allegiant Stadium holds 65,000 people. That means most of the 330,000 people coming to Las Vegas won’t be watching the game from inside the stadium.”

Editor’s picks

Every Awful Thing Trump Has Promised to Do in a Second Term
The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 50 Worst Decisions in Movie History

Those throngs of free-spending tourists are staying extra days, while corporations are pouring into town to entertain their best clients. Unlike in previous years dominated by weekend visitors, hosting the Super Bowl means a full week of events and promotions. “Hosting the Super Bowl fills the entire city at a height that we don’t see, really, on a normal Super Bowl week,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO and President Steve Hill says.

Small businesses are also benefiting from the NFL’s Business Connect program designed to help local diverse business owners compete for Super Bowl vendor contracts. “Not every service industry here is an industry that is going to directly participate in the Super Bowl or the events surrounding it,” Hill says, “but any time you raise the economy in the community, it reverberates at some level throughout the community.”

Sports bars and the casinos’ super-sized betting books will burst at the seams on Sunday, but tourists face higher room rates and costs for food and beverages even before they place their first wager. Casino bargain guru and Las Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis says you have about as much chance finding discount accommodations this week in the gaming corridor as you have of winning a date with Taylor Swift.

“I’ve always felt being in a Las Vegas sports book or bar is better than being at the game, and that doesn’t change just because the game is here,” Curtis says. “Aside from those things, which are essentially free, there’s not much in the way of bargains, rooms or otherwise.”

The biggest winners on Super Bowl Sunday will almost surely be the Las Vegas sports books on a day when the expanding nation oflegal bookmakers are expected to handle a record $1.5 billion in wagers, according to the American Gaming Association. Illegal gambling on the game is expected to exceed $23 billion.

Related

Lenny Kravitz Schedules 'Blue Electric Light' Las Vegas Residency
Keith Urban Will Take Over Fontainebleau Las Vegas for New 'High' Residency

Given the increased frenzy of having the Super Bowl on the Strip, estimates from multiple sources say Las Vegas books should easily exceed last year’s $153 million in wagers. Bookmaking hall-of-famer Magliulo, who like many in his profession has watched in amazement at all the changes in the industry, estimates the handle might go as high as $200 million. That would set a record in Las Vegas for the event.

The 49ers remain a slight favorite. With 19 legal-sized pages of proposition wagers, which offer a chance to bet on everything from which team will win the opening coin toss to which player will score the first touchdown, there are plenty of choices available. When the payouts and collections are finished, historically the Las Vegas books have averaged a slightly better than seven percent profit on Super Bowl wagers.

“There was a time when we, as a city, couldn’t even advertise,” Magliulo says. “We couldn’t buy one of those 30- or 60-second spots from the networks to run an LVCVA commercial. But now the game is here. The best way I can sum it up is, it’s a confirmation. The NFL, the respective leagues, and even the NCAA have realized what we’ve known all along, that Las Vegas is as premiere an event-driven destination as anywhere in the world. Nobody can put on an event like we can.”

In Las Vegas, Super Bowl weekend traditionally brings a dramatic increase in public and private security. Local law enforcement has greatly increased its presence and that includes the Metro Police Department Vice unit, which increasingly focuses on sex traffickers. Although visitors might be astonished given all the professional sexual encounters available in Las Vegas by phone and app, prostitution is illegal in Clark County.

But 88 miles north on US 95 in Nye County, the metaphorical red light is always on at the Alien Cathouse, where sex workers who call themselves the Cosmic Kittens beckon travelers in from the two-lane highway that runs through one of the nation’s least-populated areas. One of 19 legal houses in the state, the Alien employs up to seven sex workers depending on customer traffic.

Operations manager Dee Dee says she hopes to see everyone busy for when the Super Bowl after-parties begin. “I’ve seen other events bring an upswing in visitors at times, so I’m waiting to see what happens this year,” she says. “It could be interesting.”

Then, like so many Nevadans rooting for the home team — Las Vegas, that is — even Dee Dee can’t help sounding a little like a member of the chamber of commerce.

Trending

Kelly Clarkson and Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock Settle Lawsuit Over Millions in Commissions
Trump Pressures Republicans to Pass a Law to Keep Him Out of Jail Forever
Scandoval Lawsuit: Raquel Leviss' Claims Against Tom Sandoval Survive Challenge
Morgan Wallen's Nashville Bar Postpones Memorial Day Weekend Opening at Last Minute

“We definitely wish Las Vegas all the luck operating this event,” she says. “It should be a good one, and I hope to see a few people come up our way afterward.”

Around these parts, everyone wants a little piece of the action.

Las Vegas Spent Decades Deprived of the Super Bowl. Now It Could Bring in $700 Million (2024)

FAQs

How much money did the Super Bowl bring to Las Vegas? ›

According to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill, the Super Bowl was only expected to bring in more than $600 million to our economy but actually brought in more than a billion.

How did the Super Bowl affect Las Vegas? ›

Beyond its entertainment extravaganza, the Super Bowl gave Las Vegas the opportunity to showcase itself as more than a tourism hub. Initiatives spearheaded by organizations such as the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA) leveraged the event as a platform for attracting businesses.

How much money was gambled on the Super Bowl in Vegas? ›

With Super Bowl 58 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers taking place at Allegiant Stadium, the game shattered state records for total money wagered on the Super Bowl. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, $185.6 million was wagered on the 2024 Super Bowl at the state's 182 sportsbooks.

How much money did Las Vegas make from the Super Bowl 2024? ›

From street vendors selling $40 T-shirts to resale brokers getting more than $30,000 a ticket for the best remaining seats, the Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs is estimated to draw 330,000 people to Las Vegas and pump as much as $700 million into the economy.

How much did Vegas pay to host the Super Bowl? ›

Las Vegas Paying $60 Million To Host Super Bowl 58, Including $17 Million For 'NFL Expense Reimbursem*nt' Super Bowl 58 is literally rolling into Las Vegas, with National Football League contractors, vendors and staffers already here in Sin City to prepare for the big game at Allegiant Stadium Feb. 11.

Who is paying for Allegiant Stadium? ›

How much did Allegiant Stadium cost to build? Allegiant Stadium cost nearly $2 billion to build. The Raiders received financial help from the city of Las Vegas to accrue the funds, gathering about 40 percent of the cost from public funds, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal back in 2020.

How much did the Super Bowl stimulate the economy at the event location? ›

Another benefit to hosting the Super Bowl that politicians tout is the local tax revenue, an estimated gain between $12 and $22 million for Los Angeles with millions more going to the state of California in 2022.

Which city will host the next Super Bowl in 2025? ›

Louisiana leaders have big plans for Super Bowl LIX, which New Orleans will host on Feb. 9, 2025. Why it matters: Tourism officials estimate the event will mean at least $500 million in economic impact to the state.

How much is Usher getting paid for the Super Bowl halftime show in 2024? ›

Usher Is Not Getting Paid to Perform at the 2024 Super Bowl

Turns out, Usher is earning literally $0.00 for giving everyone a free 15-minute concert in the middle of a football game. But before you spiral in a rage, please note the NFL has a long and illustrious history of paying their halftime show artists nothing.

Who owns the Las Vegas Bowl? ›

The bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events.

Who gets the profit from the Super Bowl? ›

The NFL not only receives 100% of the revenues from all ticket sales, but it also makes tens of millions of dollars in merchandise sales and even more from broadcasting deals with CBS, NBC and other networks.

How much revenue will the Super Bowl generate for Las Vegas? ›

As for Las Vegas, the city is preparing for over 330,000 visitors to book about 350,000 hotel rooms for Super Bowl weekend, with an estimated economic impact of over $600 million. According to STR, Vegas hotels are expected to earn $504 RevPAR during the big game, outpacing the $390 earned by the Vegas Grand Prix.

Was the Super Bowl a success for Las Vegas? ›

Every indication says Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas was a massive success. The economic and marketing success of the Super Bowl has prompted many to speculate about when the city would host another one. But it also served as a wake-up call to at least one of the city's biggest shortcomings.

How much are the hotel rooms for the Super Bowl 2024? ›

Hotel guests in Las Vegas during Super Bowl 2024 paid the highest room rates in continental U.S. history, according to an analysis by CoStar's STR. The average daily rate on Saturday and Sunday during Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas was $758 and $808, respectively.

How much money is brought in from the Super Bowl? ›

Attendees pay thousands of dollars for tickets, while companies pay millions for 30-second commercial spots. A reliable figure doesn't exist for how much money the Super Bowl actually makes each year, though most estimates range from a minimum of $300 million to a maximum of $1.3 billion depending on the source.

How does the Super Bowl affect the economy in 2024? ›

A record number of Americans are expected to tune into Super Bowl LVIII, with consumer spending linked to the game also forecast to hit an all-time high, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Annamae Dooley

Last Updated:

Views: 5897

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (65 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Annamae Dooley

Birthday: 2001-07-26

Address: 9687 Tambra Meadow, Bradleyhaven, TN 53219

Phone: +9316045904039

Job: Future Coordinator

Hobby: Archery, Couponing, Poi, Kite flying, Knitting, Rappelling, Baseball

Introduction: My name is Annamae Dooley, I am a witty, quaint, lovely, clever, rich, sparkling, powerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.