NFL owners on Wednesday are expected to approve awarding the 2024 Super Bowl to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium. The news isn’t totally unexpected. In 2020, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said: “You have the infrastructure, and I think you’re Super Bowl ready. You now have Allegiant Stadium that I think is going to be a world-class stadium, so you have everything here.”
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021 | 2 a.m.
In 2003, the NFL rejected a commercial submitted by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to be aired during Super Bowl 37.
In 2015, the league canceled a fantasy football convention scheduled for the Strip and featuring Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo — again making it abundantly clear that it wanted nothing to do with our city.
Fast forward to Wednesday.
That’s when league owners are expected to approve Las Vegas as host for the 2024 Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium, putting all of the confidence in our city to anchor the world’s most notable annual sporting event.
The marriage between the NFL and our community over the past five years is nothing short of amazing, starting with the state’s investment to help fund a portion of the Raiders’ nearly $2 billion stadium near the Strip.
The $750 million in public money funded by a small hotel tax increase sure looks like a great investment when considering the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami brought that city an economic impact of $571.9 million, creating 4,597 full and part-time jobs, according to reporting from Miami Today.
Not only is Las Vegas one of the 32 cities lucky enough to be part of the NFL fraternity, we are one of the best NFL cities in the league. We’ve also been pegged to host the Pro Bowl on Feb. 4 and two months later the NFL Draft, reaffirming what many of us residents have long known — nothing compares to Las Vegas.
The league deserves credit for putting its confidence in our community, starting by listening to local leaders who repeatedly showed that the sports gaming industry here has long been the leader in responsible wagering. Sports gambling, after all, is good for the league because it means more people are following along with an interest in the game.
Speaking at the Wynn in January 2020, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said: “You have the infrastructure, and I think you’re Super Bowl ready. You now have Allegiant Stadium that I think is going to be a world-class stadium, so you have everything here. Now it’s just a matter of working with leadership to understand how you want to execute all of that — how do you want to take the Super Bowl and make it bigger and better?”
That shouldn’t be a concern, Mr. Goodell.
Let’s be honest: Las Vegas is going to throw the best Super Bowl party. Miami, New Orleans and Los Angeles will have nothing on the festivities our tourism officials will plan.
It’s going to be the most over-the-top, fun-filled week in our city’s history. Think New Year’s Eve on steroids. It will make the four days of March Madness college basketball viewing seem like a typical Wednesday night.
Las Vegas has mastered hosting one-off events through the years, consistently coming up with plans to safely bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to town for a well-executed event. You see it with the National Finals Rodeo, the EDC Las Vegas festival, NASCAR weekend and more. You’ll see it in early February when the NHL brings its All-Star Game and related festivities to the Strip.
The Super Bowl, of course, is a different challenge. There will be more people, more media attention and more excitement than anything we’ve experienced.
The good news is that Las Vegas will be ready. We’ve been waiting for this moment to again show the world everything we have to offer. Nothing beats a Las Vegas party, and the Super Bowl will be the king of celebrations.
