Can Las Vegas Sports Tourism In Fall Save Declining Visitor Numbers?
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — With Las Vegas absorbing a major hit in tourism in June (visitors down 11.3 percent from June 2024), can sports events like Raiders home games in the fall, an Allegiant Stadium boxing match in September and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November help turn around the distressing number?
Las Vegas economic development officials have tried to diversify Southern Nevada’s tourism-based economy but the fact is Vegas doubled down on sports tourism by investing public money and resources in the Raiders stadium ($750 million), A’s stadium ($380 million) and F1 race on Strip (Clark County gave the Strip to the Las Vegas Grand Prix for free to use).
After playing their first Las Vegas games in 2020, the Raiders have earned a reputation for staging games at Allegiant Stadium that draw thousands of fans wearing the visiting teams’ colors. If they’re staying in hotel rooms, those visiting fans are actually helping Southern Nevada pay off its debt of more than $1 billion on the $750 million in pubic dollars that helped build the Raiders stadium. A hotel room tax is paying off the pubic debt on the domed 62,500-seat stadium.
The Raiders held a mock game at Allegiant Stadium Saturday at 1 PM. An eyeball estimate of the crowd looked like about 20,000 fans in the lower bowl. It’s veteran NFL coach Pete Carroll’s first training camp at the helm of the Raiders, with new minority owner Tom Brady seen on the field with Raiders General Manager John Spytek, Brady’s former Michigan teammate. Raiders/Aces owner Mark Davis was neither at the Raiders mock game or Aces’ 111-58 loss to Minnesota Saturday. Davis was in Canton, Ohio for the Pro Football Hall of Fame activities as the Class of 2025 was welcomed.
The Raiders have a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium Aug. 16, which should attract lots of red-clad 49ers visitors. In September, the Raiders host the Chargers Sept. 15 and the Bears Sept. 28. In October, there’s only one Raiders home game, against Tennessee Oct. 12.
In November, the Raiders host the Jaguars Nov. 2, Cowboys Nov. 17 and Browns Nov. 23 — just a day after the Las Vegas Grand Prix Nov. 22.
The Broncos come to Las Vegas Dec. 7, while the New York Giants show up Dec. 27. Expect big tourist numbers for those two games. And the Chiefs fans always travel to Vegas, with a Raiders vs Kansas City showdown Jan. 4.
The June tourism numbers were hurting in all areas. The hotel occupancy rate of 78.7 percent was down 6.5 percent from June 2024. The average daily room rate of $163.64 was down 6.6 percent from June 2024, which translated to a monthly Revenue Per Available Room rate of $128.78. That was a 13.8 percent decrease from the prior year for June.
A brutal number in June was the number of room nights occupied, which decreased 9.7 percent down to 3,546,600. The decrease in room nights mean less room tax revenues to help off the public debt on the Raiders stadium.
UNLV’s football game has become a force in the Mountain West Conference, with the Rebels hosting a game that could bring lots of Los Angeles area fans to Allegiant Stadium. UNLV hosts UCLA Sept. 6, which could be a good draw for visiting fans.
UNLV is also pitching a four-ticket deal for $80 for its season-opener against Idaho State Aug. 23.
And an Allegiant Stadium first — a boxing match — could be a massive tourism draw as Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, will face off against Terence Crawford, the undefeated multi-division world champion, Sept. 13.
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