The Super Bowl in Las Vegas is only months away — and it’s going to be “extraordinary,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday.
The Super Bowl Host Committee and other stakeholders emphasized the 2024 Super Bowl’s magnitude and impact at a “kickoff brunch,” when they also reflected on a slew of other sports and athletic events that have already come to the city and ultimately earned it the title, “Sports Capital of the World.”
“I think the great thing about the Super Bowl is … it’s a chance for this community and any community which hosts the Super Bowl to really be able to put their flair to it,” said Goodell, in conversation with Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan. “And to be able to do it Vegas-style, in this case, and really show everybody in the world what this community is all about. And we’re excited by that.”
Although he may not have envisioned himself in Las Vegas for its inaugural Super Bowl even a decade ago, Goodell said the event coming to Las Vegas, and the growth of sports and entertainment here overall, is a credit to the city’s community and leaders.
“I’m not surprised,” he said of Las Vegas hosting the Super Bowl. “And I’m not surprised because I think leadership here in this community saw the opportunity and had the vision. I was determined to make it happen.”
The explosion of sports entertainment in Las Vegas can also be attributed to its “second to none” infrastructure, Lawrence Epstein, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of the UFC, said during Tuesday’s event at Caesars Forum.
“We’ve been lucky enough to travel around the world and visit cities in virtually every continent,” Epstein said of his organization, which is headquartered in Las Vegas. “We’ve been to all the great arenas, all the greatest cities. There’s nothing like the infrastructure you have here in Las Vegas — hotel rooms, restaurants and nightclubs and all of the other entertainment and sports that are happening.”
The Super Bowl is just the next in a long line of sporting events that have also given people around the world a glimpse into Las Vegas and the many amenities it has to offer, he said.
“These events create these unique marketing opportunities that I think take Vegas to the next level,” Epstein said. “So this is just this relationship between sport and the city that just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling.”
Attendees of the event Tuesday had plenty of proof to back up the claim that Las Vegas is a burgeoning sports mecca, with accolades like the UFC Legacy Championship Belt, the Las Vegas Aces’ WNBA Championship trophy, a Formula One first-place trophy and more on display.
Renee Wilm, CEO of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, said the race is already in preparations for its second year, after its long-awaited debut last month.
“We convinced the naysayers that not only is Las Vegas an incredible place to have an event, but it’s also a hell of a town to have a race,” she said.
Though there’s no official rotation for Super Bowl host cities, Goodell said he has “no doubt” that the event will be a success in Las Vegas, and eventually make a reappearance.
He also emphasized that the Super Bowl is intent on leaving a lasting impact on Las Vegas through a series of programs dedicated to benefiting the community long after the event has packed up and left.
One example of that was announced Tuesday with the launch of the Super Bowl Legacy Grant program, a partnership between the NFL Foundation, Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee Charities and its partners, which will invest $3 million into Las Vegas nonprofits between now and Super Bowl LVIII.
More than two dozen representatives of nonprofits receiving $1.2 million between them were in attendance at the kickoff event — which also featured remarks from Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Maury Gallagher, chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee and chairman of Allegiant Air, Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson and more.
“This is a community event,” Goodell said. “We want to make sure this community feels proud of that, but also participates in it and also benefits from it after we go.”
Echoing a sentiment he expressed last year, Goodell said he expects Las Vegas’ first Super Bowl to be “better than perfect.” Advertising — which costs somewhere between $6 million and $7 million for just a 30-second television spot — is already sold out for the February 2024 event, he said.
Las Vegas is “Sportstown, USA,” he quipped.
“I would say the buzz, at least in our environment, is off the charts and never been higher,” Goodell said. “And, again, I think that’s a tribute to so much of what you’ve created here in this community.”