As Las Vegas prepares to host its first Super Bowl in less than a year, a primary goal for economic and government leaders is not only that the event runs successfully — but that it creates a lasting legacy among community members, businesses and programming.
Sam Joffray, executive director of the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee, said Tuesday that preparation for the event aims to ensure long-term community engagement, economic development, and ultimately, that Super Bowl LVIII is not Las Vegas’ last. Leaders hope the NFL chooses to return here for the event every four or five years.
“Everything that we’re doing, we’re talking about — how does this have a life beyond the Super Bowl?” Joffray said at the Orleans, where more than 300 people gathered for the Vegas Chamber’s first Business Power Luncheon of the year to hear about the Super Bowl’s anticipated impact on Las Vegas’ economy, and how local businesses can be involved.
Joffray outlined different opportunities for small business owners and other entities to participate in the event, including through an ambassador program to support local businesses, volunteer opportunities and Super Bowl 58 Business Connect — which allows local businesses to compete for contracts related to the Super Bowl.
Applications for the Business Connect program exceeded expectations, with more than 200 businesses already certified for the Super Bowl, said Joffray, who was joined on a panel by Ryan Erwin, founder and president of Red Rock Strategies, and Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Erwin, who leads Gov. Joe Lombardo’s “Corporate Combine” — which aims to foster economic development related to the Super Bowl — said the sporting event is an opportunity to show growing or expanding businesses that Las Vegas has a lot to offer them.
“We want to be on the top of everybody’s list when they’re thinking about — where do I want to grow or expand or create my business?” Erwin said, noting that Las Vegas is as much a destination for economic development as it is for tourism. “We want Las Vegas to be at the tip of everybody’s tongue for that.”
There will be countless opportunities for the number of people coming in for the Super Bowl — whether for a weekend or a week — to engage with small Las Vegas businesses as well, Erwin told the audience of local business owners at Tuesday’s luncheon.
Joffray said there’s an anticipated 62 special events associated with the Super Bowl in Las Vegas so far, which will only increase the need for hotel rooms, meeting space and other amenities the city’s economy has to offer.
“Nobody can do what we do here in Las Vegas,” added Hill, who said that the city is in a unique position because of its tourism economy to accommodate the estimated 65,000 VIP guests coming for the Super Bowl in February 2024.
The partnership Las Vegas has developed with the NFL since the arrival of the Raiders is about as good as it can get, said Hill, saying it continues to have an impact on the city and how — in turn — the city has had a positive influence on the growth of sports betting nationwide.
“Bringing Allegiant Stadium, bringing the NFL has really changed Las Vegas,” Hill said. “It has elevated our brand … It’s changed Las Vegas forever.”