Yes, Las Vegas is an amazing choice for this.
Here “s why:
With over 40 Million annual visitors from around the world (the majority of which are from the US and Canada), Las Vegas is a prime location for people looking for entertainment.
On any given night, the headline shows of all types are packed to the brim with visitors wanting to see something – and as Nascar, Rodeo, UFC and Boxing have already proven, Vegas visitors love sporting events. All of those are routinely the hottest tickets on the strip, sold out months in advance, with locals often priced out of the market.
In order to secure the stadium, they had to secure a certain number of presales for season tickets and boxes. They easily surpassed the number, and quickly. Out of the 2+ Million residents in the Vegas Valley, there was more than enough interest to buy them – now, whether or not the locals will go to every game themselves, or sell their tickets to out-of-towners on StubHub, it doesn “t matter. These games will be sold out, night after night.
Las Vegas is growing. Rapidly. There was stagnant growth in population for two years, but it has picked back up and now it is back within the top 3% in the country for job growth. This is a young, booming, diverse economy, and its just the right type of environment for young families to have wholesome, family entertainment, like NHL.
This new team will attract even more businesses – and the proposed NFL team will do even more toward that end.
Additionally, as gambling revenue makes up less than 20% of the casino profits, and instead more is coming from retail, entertainment and dining, this is a strategy that makes a lot of sense.
“Gambling” specific tourists are in the city less than 2 days per week on average, with the rest of the time made up with corporate / business travelers for conventions. These are the types of people who traditionally will choose to go to a sporting event as a business outing in their home town when given the choice, as it is a “neutral” ground.
(Ie, Linda from Accounting, Bob from HR and Sam from Marketing can’t agree on which Cirque show they’d like, and they’re expensive anway, so you might as well just go to the NHL game.)
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/Is-Las-Vegas-the-right-city-for-an-NHL-expansion-team
Originally Posted On: 2016-06-15