Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Surpasses Tourism Expectations for 2022
Over 800,000 of the 1.7 million fans who flocked to Allegiant Stadium for sports and music events in 2022 were tourists, as per a recent report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. This number is almost twice the initially projected tourism proportion.
Steve Hill, the Chair of the Stadium Authority and President & CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, had predicted that tourism would account for only 27% of an average Allegiant Stadium audience. However, this forecast fell significantly short as tourism actually contributed between 40% and 49% of the total attendance.
Estimates show that 65% of the 500,000 fans who attended the last five Raider home games in the 2021-2022 season (or 325,000) were from out of town. The stadium authority reports that a record high of 69% (or 39,900) of these fans arrived for the December 18, 2022 match against the New England Patriots.
When it comes to the biggest attendance record, the much-anticipated Shamrock Series football game on October 8, 2022 between Notre Dame and BYU saw a whopping 87% (or 48,716 fans) of the attendees traveling to Las Vegas specifically to witness this matchup. According to the stadium authority, 81% of these fans planned their trips solely for this event.
Bowl Us Over!
The impressive increase in tourism driven by Allegiant Stadium is a significant triumph for Las Vegas tourism, reeling in more than a few skeptics who vehemently opposed the idea in the first place.
With a construction period between 2017 and 2020, Allegiant Stadium was built to lure the NFL's Raiders from Oakland. The cost of this project amounts to $1.9 billion, making it the second-most expensive stadium ever constructed - second only to the $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. While SoFi was entirely privately funded, a massive $750 million of Allegiant's expenses were covered with municipal bonds facilitated by Clark County.
Two grassroots lobbying groups denounced this funding method back in 2016, with Nevadans for the Common Good lamenting, "The stadium deal involves substantial risk to the public without providing commensurate community benefits." Similarly, the Nevada Taxpayers Association stated, "There are multiple sources of data indicating that subsidized stadiums can be a detriment to a community."
Former Skeptic Sings a New Tune
The incredible impact of Allegiant Stadium on tourism has even managed to win over a former critic. Tick Segerblom, a current Clark County Commissioner, was one of only five state senators who voted against the stadium's public funding back in 2016. With new revelations of its success in attracting tourists, Segerblom is now singing a different tune. "The truth is, I think it's beat everybody's wildest expectations. It filled a void, and now we can hold any event in the world. It really has been incredibly beneficial," Segerblom told the R-J.
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