Las Vegas’ journey to becoming America’s top sports town
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz discusses the significance of Las Vegas hosting its first Super Bowl and its voyage to being the destination for all sports fans.
Video Transcript
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JASON FITZ: "Welcome to Las Vegas." It's the neon sign that welcomes tourists from all over the world to the Las Vegas Strip, and it's also the sentiment that Las Vegas is giving the entire sports community as what was once the entertainment capital of the world now grows into the sports and entertainment capital with the Super Bowl taking place at Allegiant Stadium. Now, I'm the first to admit, I'm from Vegas. I grew up as a little kid in Vegas. Vegas is part of the fabric of who I am, so I'll admit my bias.
But I also remember Vegas being part of the sports community long before anyone was paying attention. Think back to generations ago when the wide world of sports was on and you would see a classic boxing match taking place at Caesar's Palace, or Evel Knievel making a daredevil jump on the Las Vegas Strip no one thought could happen. And for me as a kid, I remember Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon being larger than life as UNLV basketball became a phenomenon that made the city come to a stop and pay attention.
I would argue Vegas has always been a sports town, but the presumption is they would never be a professional sports town. Why? Regulations. See, a lot of people didn't realize until 2001 regulations existed that didn't allow any team based in the state of Nevada to be bet on in sportsbooks. That meant no action on significant games for professional sports. That was even an issue in 1984 when the Utah Jazz considered moving to Vegas. Did you know that? But the NBA and the city couldn't agree on how to handle it with the sportsbooks and it squashed the deal.
So for me, I thought there'd never be this opportunity, but perception changes. In fact, in 2018, we saw the Supreme Court allow every state to make their own decisions on sports gambling. And now, we're in a world where you can bet on almost anything from almost anywhere. 20 years ago, if you had had a bet placed on how long the National Anthem would be, somebody would think you'd lost your mind, and they'd ask who your bookie is. Now, you can do that from anywhere at any time.
And that normalization has allowed Las Vegas to grow past the way it was perceived before. Now, you add on top of that championship level play, and you've got a formula for success. And I do mean championships. Take a look at the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights. That's right, an NHL team in the desert, a defending Stanley Cup champion. A team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in their very first year and bonded with the city in a way that no one will ever be able to break.
If that's not enough championships for you, how about the Vegas Aces, the WNBA champions two-time defending owned by Mark Davis, the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, as they watch tremendous success in championship parades become part of the superstar culture of what they do and how they do it. And yes, Allegiant Stadium, where everyone will be watching the Super Bowl, is absolutely beautiful. The league looks at it as a landmark destination.
Have the Raiders put together the results yet that have sent them to the playoffs and beyond? No. But can they be confident in what the city is and how the city will support it? Yes. Just look at the average ticket prices. You can argue all day long where people are coming from. What you can't argue with is Allegiant is always sold out, the place is always packed, and every single NFL fan, no matter where they're from, wants to be there.
These are the very tenants that Major League Baseball are betting on with the proposed relocation of the Oakland A's and with the presumption that the NBA, at some point, is going to expand and add their own franchise. This on top of golf. We've got LIV Golf, you've got F1 racing. Everything is happening in Vegas.
It's happening for a reason. It's a destination city people want to go to for a weekend. It's a destination city people want to check out for a game. To me, all of this is going to equal and lead up to sustained success of professional sports in Las Vegas. Because at the end of the day, while the city continues to grow, the city will always have an identity, an identity of people that have come from everywhere looking for opportunity and an identity of people that have come everywhere looking for the particular lifestyle that Las Vegas can offer.
Now, those sports teams can add an extra layer to that lifestyle, while at the same time giving tourists from all over the world yet another reason to come in and check it out. We can argue all day long about what home field, home ice, home court will look like. What we can't argue about is that sports fans the world over now think Las Vegas and they don't just think of Elvis. They don't just think of residencies of tremendous musical acts. They don't even just think of wild spheres with logos printed on the outside.
They think of incredible sports environments and incredible sports moments. And that is something that is going to catapult Vegas into the next generation of being the sports and entertainment capital of the world.