The NFL’s decision to host the 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas sparked a whirlwind of reactions when it was announced a few years back.
Given the league’s history with the city and its number one industry—it shouldn’t come as a huge shock that there was a strong reaction, but even so, some of these reasons might surprise you.
Let’s take a look at 10 reasons why it is absolutely insane that the NFL is hosting the 2024 Super Bowl in Sin City!
Gambling Capital of the World
Las Vegas is undeniably synonymous with gambling and by bringing the NFL’s biggest game to the epicenter of betting, the league has firmly staked its wager on partnering with the recently booming legalized gambling industry. The league is doing so despite the fact that it may raise concerns about the integrity of the sport from fans, investors, and sponsors. The NFL has embraced sports betting partnerships, but hosting the Super Bowl in a city built on betting really solidifies their stance and magnifies the potential for controversy and scrutiny on players and officials alike.
Expensive for the Fans
Las Vegas isn’t cheap. Plain and simple. From the extravagant accommodations, which visitors are defaulted to lest they risk life and limb at one of the city’s seedier lodges, to the pricy dining and entertainment options, fans looking to enjoy the Super Bowl experience might find themselves shelling out more money than in other cities. The high cost could make the event less accessible to the average fan, turning it into an elitist affair, another troubling trend that we’ve continued to see the NFL propagate in recent years.
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The Traffic Nightmare
Las Vegas, especially around the Strip and Allegiant Stadium, is notorious for its highly congested flow, if you want to call it that, of traffic. With the influx of visitors for the Super Bowl, the situation could escalate into a logistical nightmare, affecting not only fans but also the local population trying to go about their daily lives.
Sin City's Distractions
The allure of Las Vegas’s nightlife poses a unique challenge to players and officials, who may find the city’s temptations more distracting than in other Super Bowl host cities. After all, the bright lights and onslaught of noises are literally designed to draw you in like a moth to a flame. The NFL will need to trust in its personnel’s professionalism more than ever to ensure the focus remains on the game.
Local Communities
The Super Bowl brings a massive influx of tourists, which can strain local resources and infrastructure. While the economic boost is significant, the event can also exacerbate issues that affect the quality of life for residents. Nothing like having a massive influx of people into your already high-pressured community.
To make matters worse, the surge in tourists can lead to a scarcity in accommodations, causing hotel and rental prices to skyrocket. While this is a boon for the hospitality industry, it can make it difficult for locals to find affordable lodging for themselves or their visiting family and friends during the Super Bowl extravaganza. Imagine the Big Game being in your own city, but all the prices being inflated to the point that you can’t even go!?
Corporate Takeover
While this is sadly in line with much of the NFL’s strategy over the past couple of decades, the Super Bowl in Las Vegas is poised to be the ultimate corporate extravaganza. With businesses and wealthy, influential corporate-tied individuals eating up the bulk of the tickets, many of the die-hard fans are now sidelined in favor of celebrities, influencers, and high rollers. This shift will only continue to dilute the authentic fan atmosphere which should be a hallmark of the Super Bowl experience.
Granted, commercialization has undeniably been a critical part of the NFL’s strategy to grow the Super Bowl’s into a global phenomenon. The balance, however, between celebrating the sport and exploiting its commercial potential is increasingly skewed towards the latter in a city synonymous with spectacle and excess.
Security Concerns
Las Vegas, with its high-profile events and dense crowds, faces unique security challenges. After all, they call it Sin City for a reason and while there are plenty of well-to-do people, the city is a hot bed for criminal or pseudo-criminal behavior. Hosting the Super Bowl amplifies these concerns, requiring an unprecedented level of coordination between local law enforcement, private security, and—likely—even federal agencies to ensure the safety of all attendees.
Just Not About Football
Las Vegas is known for its extravagant shows and entertainment, which potentially could end up overshadowing the game itself. Granted, this has happened with many of the recent Super Bowls. After all, the NFL is selling a full experience, more than just the game itself I suppose.
But still… In Las Vegas that risk may as well multiply 10x. The city’s flair for the dramatic could turn the Super Bowl into more of a spectacle than a sporting event, with the focus shifting from the game to the halftime show, celebrity appearances, and lavish parties. To preserve the true meaning of the Super Bowl, a proper balance must be struck between embracing the unique opportunities that Las Vegas offers and maintaining the event’s integrity as a sporting competition.
Human Risk
Sad as it is to say, having the Super Bowl in Las Vegas could come with an increased risk of illicit activity—and one particularly troubling one comes to mind: human trafficking. Both the Super Bowl and Las Vegas are highly transient, high-velocity entities. And when you factor in the city’s reputation for adult entertainment, not to mention the influx of wealthy and potentially unscrupulous wealthy men into the city, there is no doubt that the risk of human traff will skyrocket, as the risk tends to surge around large-scale sporting events.
The Environmental Impact
In Las Vegas, like many urban areas in the U.S., environmental sustainability is a pressing concern. The pressure is heightened in Sin City considering the city’s location in one of the driest deserts in North America.
Hosting the Super Bowl, with its massive influx of visitors and the subsequent increase in waste, energy consumption, and water usage, puts additional pressure on the region’s already scarce resources. The event’s carbon footprint, from flights to energy use in hotels and the stadium, could have significant environmental implications. Efforts to offset this impact will be crucial, but the sheer scale of the Super Bowl presents a daunting challenge to maintaining eco-friendly practices in a city that is, by its nature, resource-intensive. Such is the nature of the beast when you are trying to put forth a global entertainment spectacle like the NFL is, but still crazy to think that they are going to host the Big Game in Las Vegas.
