How Las Vegas Became One Of America's Biggest Sports Towns

Forbes

Hosting the Super Bowl is just the latest victory in Las Vegas’ unlikely rise from sports betting capital to sports capital period, as the stigma around gambling has eased and pro teams have overcome the challenges of a small market. Over the last six and a half years, Las Vegas has built on its long association with pro boxing by adding the NHL’s Golden Knights, the NFL’s Raiders and the WNBA’s Aces, plus a Formula 1 race, the 2022 NFL draft and the 2022 and 2023 Pro Bowls. Meanwhile, MLB’s A’s are slated to make the move from Oakland.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesdaily/2024/02/12/forbes-daily-las-vegas-is-officially-a-sports-town/?sh=248c1f8f232e  Forbes Daily Briefing shares the best of Forbes reporting on wealth, business, entrepreneurship, leadership and more. Tune in every day, seven days a week, to hear a new story. Subscribe here: https://art19.com/shows/forbes-daily-briefing  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Tuesday, February 13th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, how Las Vegas became Sports Town, USA.

00:11 Two decades ago, Las Vegas tried to buy a commercial slot during the 2003 Super Bowl

00:17 to promote tourism in the city.

00:19 But the NFL stepped in, citing a contract that allowed it to reject any ad related to

00:24 sports betting, even though the spot didn't include any overt references to gambling.

00:29 How times have changed.

00:31 Sunday's Super Bowl 58 broadcast featured three commercials promoting sportsbooks, and

00:36 the game was played at Allegiant Stadium, walking distance from the casinos on the Las

00:41 Vegas Strip.

00:42 It's just the latest victory in the city's unlikely rise from sports betting capital

00:47 to sports capital, period.

00:49 Over the last six and a half years, Las Vegas has built on its long association with pro

00:54 boxing, it bills itself as the fight capital of the world, and as the home to UFC, by adding

00:59 the NHL's Golden Knights, the NFL's Raiders, and the WNBA's Aces, plus a Formula One race,

01:06 the 2022 NFL Draft, and the 2022 and 2023 Pro Bowls.

01:12 Meanwhile, Major League Baseball's A's are slated to make the move from Oakland, and

01:17 the NBA, which held its 2007 All-Star Game and 2023 In-Season Tournament Final in Sin

01:23 City and has played Summer League games there since 2004, has also touted Las Vegas as a

01:29 potential expansion team market.

01:32 Despite the historical concerns about bringing professional sports teams to a town famous

01:36 for its casinos, Las Vegas has natural advantages as a Super Bowl host city, and as a sports

01:42 city in general.

01:44 These natural advantages have been honed over decades as the home to major industry conventions,

01:49 countless corporate events, and elaborate trade shows like the tech-focused CES, which

01:53 drew more than 130,000 attendees last month.

01:57 More than 150,000 hotel rooms and a slew of marquee properties in close proximity to one

02:02 another ease logistical concerns and give marketers plenty of venues to work with.

02:08 That setup helped feed the appetite of sports owners like Al Davis, who ran the NFL's Raiders

02:13 from 1972 until his death in 2011 and dreamed of moving his outlaw football franchise to

02:19 Sin City.

02:20 One NBA team tried but failed to relocate there around 2000 without the public's knowledge,

02:26 as an industry professional who was involved in the negotiations.

02:30 Other pushes in basketball, baseball, and major league soccer fizzled out as well.

02:35 Mark Gannis, president of consulting firm SportsCorp, says, "The gambling stigma was

02:41 a significant issue, but it was only one of a number of significant issues."

02:46 For one thing, while Las Vegas is larger than, say, New Orleans or Green Bay, it is 40th

02:53 in Nielsen's ranking of U.S. media markets, with a metro area population of 2.3 million.

02:59 That curbs a team's potential ticket sales and, in baseball and hockey at least, its

03:03 local media revenue.

03:05 Sponsorship was another concern in a state that Golden Knights president Kerry Bobulls

03:10 notes is home to only nine Fortune 1000 companies, quote, "and five of them are gaming companies."

03:17 The gaming industry was a particularly tricky fit because, given that pro sports could theoretically

03:23 pull fans away from slot machines and table games, there were no guarantees that the casinos

03:27 would support a new team, politically or with their pocketbooks.

03:31 However, it turned out that, in fact, the casinos embraced the incoming teams.

03:37 MGM Resorts International is a co-owner of the Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena and sponsors

03:42 the Knights, the Raiders, and Formula One's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

03:47 Lance Evans, senior vice president for global sports corporate partnerships and sponsorships

03:51 at MGM Resorts International, says, quote, "it's just giving people another reason to

03:56 come to Las Vegas."

03:59 Sportsbooks and casinos across Nevada are handling more bets than ever, with revenue

04:03 reaching a record $15.5 billion in 2023.

04:08 The stigma around gambling began to ease after the Supreme Court in 2018 struck down the

04:13 law known as PASPA, which had effectively banned sports betting in most of the country.

04:18 Wagering on sports is now legal in 38 states, and leagues like the NFL that once opposed

04:23 gambling have had to quickly adjust to the new reality.

04:28 For full coverage, check out Brett Knight's piece on Forbes.com.

04:33 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:35 Thanks for tuning in.

04:37 "Most powerful voices of his generation."

04:48 (upbeat music)

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