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After a controversy around hosting the Formula 1 race, the Super Bowl will be another test for how well Las Vegas handles mass sporting events.
Travelers staying in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl can expect to pay the highest hotel room rates in the football championship’s history, according to a forecast released Monday from CoStar’s STR.
The average daily rate for a Las Vegas hotel room is forecasted to be $573 between February 9 and February 11. Miami set the previous record in 2020 with an average rate of $559.
This will be Las Vegas’ first time hosting the big game, and it will be one of the largest events in the city’s history, said Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Over 330,000 visitors will book about 350,000 room nights in Vegas for the Super Bowl. The city should get over $600 million in economic impact.
The Super Bowl should be a bigger revenue generator for hotels than November’s Vegas Grand Prix. Vegas Hotels are forecasted to earn $504 revenue per available room during the Big Game, blowing out Vegas Grand Prix’s $390, according to STR.
Super Bowl and Formula 1: Success for Some But Not for All?
While excitement is running high for the Super Bowl, some local businesses are more cautious in their optimism after their experience with the Formula 1 event.
“After everything that happened with Formula 1, there was a bit more hype around that event,” said Angela Barbaryan, executive director for StripViewSuites, a property-management agency for short-term rentals and vacation rentals.
In the lead-up to Formula 1, StripViewSuites found their bookings weren’t picking up as expected. They had to change strategy at the last minute. “Our rates fluctuated significantly over those dates,” said Barbaryan. “We had rates as high as $1,000 a night as low as $100 a night depending obviously on the unit, the location, etc.”
For the Super Bowl, Barbaryan expects more business in advance of the game. “[We’re] not 100% yet. We’re anticipating more bookings over the next couple of weeks.”
The Formula 1 race had over 117,000 visitor attendees (plus additional locals). The average attendee spent $4,128, according to a Las Vegas Grand Prix presentation at the Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
Overall spending from race attendees and non-attendees combined totaled $561 million. “The event itself was fantastic, and it certainly met expectations,” said Hill.
Can Las Vegas Manage Mass Sporting Events?
Putting up an event as large and complex as Formula 1 for the first time was a challenge for Vegas. “It was the first year we had put on the event,” said Hill. “It’s the hardest thing that we have ever done.”
Construction, road closures, and a temporary bridge for the Las Vegas Strip Circuit disrupted the lives of locals for at least six months. About two-thirds of locals said the closure impacted their commute time, according to a survey by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Some businesses say the construction work deterred tourists and locals due to congestion. On January 2, a group sent a letter to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, F1, and the Clark County Commission to reimburse them for millions in losses caused by the racing event or risk a class-action lawsuit.
One of the group’s demands was removing the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix’s temporary bridge before the Super Bowl. F1 is in the process of taking it down.
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Tags: future of lodging, las vegas, las vegas convention & visitors authority, sports tourism, super bowl