The LVCVA mentioned Sports in Las Vegas as a draw to the city. Sports vacations aren’t new. Before moving to Las Vegas I took more than a handful of vacations to watch sports in different cities.
T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium have helped assist the growth of sports vacations in Las Vegas. Like it or not, planning a visit to Las Vegas around games makes a lot of sense for sports fans.
Following favorite teams on the road is a good excuse to visit somewhere new. The Yankees gave friends and me an excuse to visit Toronto for the first time. The Rangers were just another excuse to party in Boston.
Las Vegas was always a different escape for me. Even though the energy on fight night in Las Vegas is amazing, there are plenty of reasons to visit Las Vegas without sports.
Sports Fans Taking Over Las Vegas
The addition of local teams and big events is a “good excuse” for many to visit.
It’s not rare to see a slew of visitors taking over the Vegas strip wearing jerseys of the visiting team during football and hockey seasons.
The segment is growing so rapidly that the Las Vegas Convention And Visitors Authority (LVCVA) highlighted these visitors in its annual Visitor Profile. According to the survey, 6% of the 40 million+ visitors went to a sporting event. Amazingly, they only paid $8 more per night for hotel rooms than those not visiting to see a game.
Attendance at Raiders games at Allegiant Stadium is often split or leaning toward fans of the visiting teams. In 2022, there were numerous games where out-of-town ticket holders outnumbered locals. This has also been the case for college football bowl games, soccer matches, and other events. (if you love random data, the reports are a fun read)
Anecdotally, Golden Knights games have a similar atmosphere when some of the more popular teams are playing in Las Vegas.
All of this leads to more expensive hotel rooms and fewer comps in Las Vegas – especially at the properties closer to the venues. The games also make getting reservations at some popular restaurants more difficult.
Get Ready For More Sports In Las Vegas
The number of local teams and big sports events has exploded over the past few years. Here are some highlights of the sports events and local teams in Las Vegas:
- NBA Summer League
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Vegas Golden Knights
- NFR (National Finals Rodeo)
- Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Vegas Aces
- Combat Sports – UFC, WWE, AEW
- International Soccer
- College Football Games (UNLV, gowls, one-off games)
- College Basketball Games (UNLV, tournaments, March Madness viewing)
This isn’t everything and the short list doesn’t include the possibility that the Oakland A’s could someday play baseball games in Las Vegas. There could also be an NBA team coming to Las Vegas someday.
The increase in sports, concerts/limited engagements, and other events along with the return of conventions will continue to increase demand for hotel rooms in Las Vegas. In turn, this will also make finding cheaper hotel rooms more difficult during weekends and weekdays.
Trip planning gets a little more complicated every time there’s a new event in Las Vegas.
Question: How Do Sports Impact Your Las Vegas?
Since I’m a sports fan, I know when to visit casinos for a fun vibe or avoid them if I’m not in the mood. I live in Las Vegas so my take is probably different than someone flying or driving for a long or short holiday.
Last year we discussed some visitors changing their November visit due to higher hotel room prices and traffic before and during the Las Vegas Grand Prix F1 race (LVGP). Avoiding high prices or skipping Las Vegas because comps aren’t available makes sense.
The hotel operators say they learned how to price rooms during LVGP. For example, MGM Resorts bumped their mid-strip prices at Aria, Bellagio, and Cosmopolitan for the race. Meanwhile, the company kept prices at casinos like Mandalay Bay and Luxor lower.
Now that the NFL schedule has been released, rooms at the south strip properties might spike with the Raiders playing the Denver Broncos on Nov. 24.
Back to the question at hand – has all of these sports in Las Vegas changed how and when you visit Las Vegas?
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