NFL Commish to Las Vegas: Let’s Get Through NFL Draft in April, Then We’ll Talk Super Bowl in Sin City
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It’s part of the week leading up to the Super Bowl — the NFL commissioner meets the press in the “Big Game” host town. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell offered the same message Wednesday about the idea of Las Vegas hosting a Super Bowl that he gave when he chatted at a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce event earlier this month.
Goodell’s message: We’ll talk about the Super Bowl coming to Las Vegas after Sin City hosts the NFL Draft event on the Strip April 23-25.
In response to a Las Vegas newspaper sports writer’s question, Goodell said he recently visited Las Vegas and observed, “You can feel the excitement” for the NFL Raiders moving to Las Vegas for the 2020 season. “Las Vegas is becoming a diverse city,” Goodell said.
Folks, just relax, Las Vegas will get a Super Bowl.
Southern Nevada is giving the Raiders $750 million in public dollars to build the domed, 65,000-seat venue on the west side of Interstate 15 across from Mandalay Bay. Not only does the NFL assign Super Bowls to host cities like Miami (11 times) and New Orleans (10 times), it also picks NFL markets that open new stadiums to host Super Bowls, too.
Plus, Las Vegas is the king of the one-off event. The truth is the NFL would be lucky to have Las Vegas host a Super Bowl. There are more than 300,000 visitors already coming to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekends. The hotel/convention center/airport/party club infrastructure to accommodate massive single events is second to none in Las Vegas.
So, yes, Las Vegas will get a Super Bowl. After Miami hosts Super Bowl 54 Sunday, it’s Tampa for the Super Bowl in 2021, the Los Angeles stadium for 2022, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in 2023 and back to New Orleans for Super Bowl 58 in 2024.
And LVSportsBiz.com believes if Las Vegas can be patient, Sin City has a good chance to host the Super Bowl in 2025 — as long as Las Vegas comes up with a host committee, millions of dollars of raised cash for the event and blocked-off hotel rooms for the NFL.
OK, what else did Goodell, commissioner since 2006, chat about in South Florida today?
Well, he pointed out seven of the eight divisional playoff teams were new teams over last season’s final eight teams. The one repeating team — the Kansas City Chiefs — is playing the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s “Big Game.” San Francisco was 4-12 last season before turning around and achieving a sterling 13-3 record this season. So, every NFL team can hope for a bright future was the commissioner’s message.
On injuries: “The data is the key component. The number one injury is lower extremity injuries…We believe we have made the game safer.” Concussions did increase slightly to 224 this season from 214 last season.
On Miami hosting the Super Bowl 11 times. “They know how to do this. We believe we’ll be here many times.”
Asked about what the NFL has learned about the Ray Rice domestic violence case five years ago. “It’s a complex set of issues — domestic violence. As a league, we’ve been incredibly responsive.”
On (former Raiders receiver) Antonio Brown. “Thinking about the well-being of Antonio. We want to get help him get him on the right track. We want to work to do that. That’s the first step.”
On hiring minority coaches: “We are not where we want to be. It’s clear we need to change. It’s clear we’re committed to do that. We have to make those changes.”
On new stadiums opening in the fall in LA and Las Vegas. “Thrilled to be back in Los Angeles with two teams. We’re launching the Raiders in Las Vegas. It will be a great new home for the Raiders. We have the flexibility to move Super Bowl champ to Thursday or Sunday (during opening week of the season).”
On games in Mexico: “Our fan base continues to grow. We want to build on that.”
On Kobe Bryant’s death: “I just don’t think only Los Angeles is mourning the loss of Kobe Bryant. He brought a lot to our world. It’s hard to understand and it’s hard to process. We as a league have been very responsive and respectful to someone who has contributed so much to sports. Both individuals (Bryant and former Hall of Fame defensive end Chris Doleman who just died at 58 years old) will be seen on Sunday in some fashion.”
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.
