By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It’s the Vegas Tour de Stadium, a bicycle ride that stops at the two venues in Las Vegas that put this market on the map for major league team sports.
The major leagues of boxing, car racing, golf, bowling, rodeo and MMA were already here in Las Vegas.
But what took Las Vegas to the next level were two buildings — the 18,000-seat arena wedged in between New York New York and Park MGM for the Vegas Golden Knights (opened April 2016) and the 62,000-seat domed stadium on the west of I-15 across from Mandalay Bay for the NFL Las Vegas Raiders (opened July 2020).
Twice I bicycled from covering Raiders games at Allegiant Stadium to T-Mobile Arena to report on Golden Knights games in 2021 and the distance of about a mile and a half is easily covered in a 10-minute bike ride.
It makes me think that a Tour de Stadium/Arena bike tour is in order because not only did the venues bring the NHL and NFL to Las Vegas they also brought concerts and other events that would otherwise bypass the Las Vegas market. That’s probably the most important economic impact of the buildings besides being the homes for the Golden Knights and Raiders.
In the case of T-Mobile Arena, it’s also the home of Las Vegas-based UFC, which has another event in the building this weekend.
Look for LVSportsBiz.com’s coverage of UFC this weekend.