COVID-19 and Sports: LVSportsBiz Q and A with Economist John Restrepo
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Today’s “Give Me 5” Q and A is with John Restrepo, a Las Vegas-based economist who discusses the economic impact of the stay-at-home order and business shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Las Vegas market.
LVSportsBiz: With so many sports events in Las Vegas grounded, what’s the biggest economic fallout for the local economy?
John Restrepo: A major drop in visitation with the associated loss of jobs and taxable sales, as well as hotel room and gaming revenues.
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LVSB: What’s the impact on all those workers who staff the sports events?
JR: Large scale layoffs.
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LVSB: What was your own gut reaction to the news that local sports like the Golden Knights, Lights, UNLV college sports etc. would be shut down?
JR: They will be closed to fans for awhile but games may initially be played in front of empty seats until the long-term safety measures and protocols are established.
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LVSB: How will the local economy respond and/or recover from the sports events shutting down?
JR: Unknown at this point, but you could have a situation that fans will have to wear masks and be temperature tested before entering into venues. And seats may end up being removed for all for social distancing, thereby impacting revenues from sporting events, etc.
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LVSB: Has the Las Vegas economy diversified enough to deal with a category of entertainment — sports — shuttering for a time?
JR: No, it has not. We are headed in the right direction, but diversifying economy especially one based on discretionary spending and low-wage, low-skill workers is very hard diversifying quickly. It will take an unprecedented amount of time, talent and political will to do it.
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