November 3, 2023 • 44 mins
On this episode Joanna and Chris are joined by Chris Sotiropulos, VP of Stadium Operations for Allegiant Stadium to talk about our world class NFL venue and to discuss preparing the stadium and the field for the Big Game. Then Bill McConnell, COO of the Las Vegas Host Committee joins the discussion to talk about the experience that fans can expect in and around the stadium during Super Bowl weekend. Finally, Jeremy Aguero joins the podacast. Jeremy is the Treasurer of the Super Bowl LVIII Executive Committee and he'll give us a snapshot of the kind of financial momentum Las Vegas is currently experiencing in the lead-up to the game.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
This is Inside the Vegas Huddle,your podcast connection to the events and initiatives
led by the Las Vegas Super Bowlfifty eight host Committee in advance of the
big game at Allegiance Stadium. Welcometo Inside the Vegas Huddle. Welcome back
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to Inside the Vegas Huddle. It'sJoanna Bowman with iHeartRadio and I'm Chris Matthews
with Channel eight KLASTV here in LasVegas, and we're back for another exciting
episode, episode number four. Chris, and it's amazing how fast time's going
with the one hundred days out nowfrom the Super Bowl. It's crazy when
you think about the announcement counting down, the people coming into town, the
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city preparing for this. So Insidethe Vegas Huddle we've kind of given folks
an idea, listeners an idea,and those who view it on all the
different platforms, and idea of what'sgoing on in Las Vegas as we prepare
for Super Bowl fifty eight. It'sgoing to be so exciting. That's right.
It's called Inside the Vegas Huddle forour reasons. So we kind of
get the behind the scenes action,a little sneak peak of what it takes
to put on a Super Bowl.So to kick off this exciting Super Bowl
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fifty eight, you need a tremendousstadium. That's what Las Vegas has at
Allegiance Stadium. So we have thevice president of Stadium Operations, Chris Sotaoropolis
here to just talk about everything associatedwith the Allegiant Stadium. Chris, we
might be biased here in Las Vegas, but this stadium. When you hear
others around the NFL talk when theycome and visit, they've got to be
saying to themselves this is number one. I'm also a little bit biased,
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but we feel like we designed andbuilt one of the best stadiums in the
NFL, in the world, andwe are. I'm extremely excited to showcase
do com February for the Super Bowl. Absolutely, And of course, like
Chris said, if you live herein Las Vegas, you've seen Allegiant Stadium,
you know, from start to finish, to see what it's become.
But for anybody outside of Las Vegas, dive into some of the unique features
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of Allegiant Stadium, because, yeah, we want to brag about it a
little bit. We think it's thebest. Tell us why it's the best.
Yeah, it's a great building.I think when we started designing Allegiant
Stadium back in twenty seventeen, weobviously knew the Super Bowl was going to
be played here somedays, so tonow kind of be here and know that's
a reality and talk about what makesour venue so special. And I think
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one of the main features, andI think what makes Allegiance Stadium so special
is when we talk about the playingsurface. We play on a natural grass
field inside of a dome stadium,and that's just something really unique, and
I think it really just highlights theimportance of player safety being able to play
on natural grass when you think ofthe history of football, I mean football
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started being played on grass, sothat was really one of the important things
we wanted to maintain. So whenthat when the game happens in February,
it'll be on a nice grass field. You know what else is really neat
about the stadium. I think Ialways tell people that come and ask me,
Kras we're going to Allegiance Stadium.I stop and I say, Hey,
what you have to do, nomatter what is walk around the concourse.
If you can go up, maybetake a stadium tour. But you
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gotta also see all the art,talk about the art and how that all
came to be because it's Las Vegashistory, it's writers history, and it's
really really cool, and it's alllocal artists. That's exactly what we were
trying to do. When you lookat you know, how do we you
know, the Raiders being new inVegas, you know a lot of history
with your organization, But then wealso looked at Vegas and you look at
the history of the city, somuch history. So when we looked at
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how are we going to incorporate anart program, it's got to combine both.
So you know, when you're walkingaround and you're seeing it, you're
seeing really great moments in greater history. You're also seeing really iconic Vegas imagery.
And I think those combined really createssomething that I don't know any other
city could create, something as eclecticand cool. It really has something for
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everyone. And that's what I kindof tell it's, you know, you
you walk around and you see,you know, a photo of you know,
Al Davis, and then you gotElvis Presley and you got really just
iconic things. And we really wereable to showcase that in the in the
art program, which you're really excitedabout. Yeah, being able to to
tour Allegiance Stadium is always something reallycool that I also tell people to make
sure they do when they come fromout of town. But super Bowl fifty
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eight, we obviously are showing offthe best of our city and that includes
the seating options that are available atAllegiance Stadium and some of the premium options
that are available. Tell us alittle bit about that, Yeah, So
again, we wanted to design somethingthat you know, Vegas is luxury,
Vegas's first class. We had todesign seating options that really showcase that.
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So in total, we've got overone hundred and thirty suites, so we've
got some great premium product. We'vealso got the wind Field Club, which
in our North End zone really righton the field, and that's really one
of the best spots to really feellike you're part of the action. In
addition, this past offseason, wealso added some more club suites, so
we've really enhanced that premium experience.So whether you know you're in one of
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those club suites or Winfield Club,nine different areas that really have an elevated
experience. On our one fifty suitelevel, it's an all inclusive food menu.
We bring in celebrity chefs to reallyshowcase a lot of different culinary things
that enhance what the city really isall about. We are talking with the
vice president of Stadium Operations, ChrisSodoropolis, and Chris, I got to
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ask you about that big torch andwhen people come to the Super Bowl,
they're going to see this and thatthey've been to again, they've seen it,
the big torch. But then also, what about those Leonio doors.
I got to ask you, whenare you going to open up those Lanni
doors. I don't think they've everbeen opened yet for a game. Have
they I don't think so we're hopingsomeday they're going to get open. I
can't. I can't. I don'tknow when that's going to be. But
we're going to keep everyone on theirtoes, so hopefully there will be the
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perfect day where we can really showcasethat. But when we looked at,
you know the history of the Raiderssixty plus years, we've played in a
lot of different stadiums, and Ithink when you look at our days in
La at the La Memorial County Coliseum, that Lani door with the paristyle and
with the torch really just embodies kindof a little owed to that kind of
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history where we were playing there.But really the torch very symbolic. Obviously
Al Davis his you know, legacyon this organization and you know, the
words that he spoke, the greatnessof the Raiders in its future to the
fire that burns brightest is the willto win, and I think that torch
really embodies that spirit that Al hasstill left for us. So when you're
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in the stadium, impossible to miss. I think that's just that iconic moment
when you walk in and you're reallyenamored by it. And it's actually the
largest three D printed structure in theworld. So when you were trying to
develop that, it's like, howdo you really incorporate and get the look
of it. And that's kind ofthe methodology that we went with, you
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know, creating that torch. Soagain, if you're in the building,
impossible to miss, that's kind ofyou know, every building has that has
that area that really just people gravitatetowards, and for us, I think
the torch really embodies that. Yeah, I think that has to be maybe
one of the most photographable things atAllegiance Stadium, and you guys are always
cutting at as well in terms ofwhat you're doing to maybe make our world
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a better place. I know,there's a lot of really great sustainability measures
that have been recently put into playsand you've, guys, over a Legion
Stadium achieved some pretty great status.Do you want to brag about that a
little bit? Yeah, So we'vegot a few things to brag about,
and we don't do it just tobrag about it. I think, you
know, sustainability is a huge partof just giving back to the community.
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I think, you know, wewant to be good stewards to the city
that we play in, into theyou know, constituents that really helped make
Allegiant Stadium what it is. Sowe recently received Lead Gold certification, which
is a really prestigious designation that reallyspeaks to the operational sustainability in the within
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the stadium. So everything we dofrom waste aversion, water, resourcefulness,
those are all things that go intothat certification. That's something that just really
speaks to the volume of sustainability touches. Everything touch is the guest, the
employees, and it's a really teameffort getting everyone involved in making that a
priority, so as we get readyfor the Super Bowl, that was really
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something important for us to get thatLead Gold certification status. In addition,
we also recently announced we are elitiant. Stadium is fully on renewable energy,
and that's a really important thing forus to talk about because again, for
the you know, elite, weplan to be here for many many years,
thirty plus years, so to beable to have that as a component
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in our in our you know,energy supply, that's really you know,
gives back to the to the environment. So we're really happy that we're able
to do that, and Roy's lookingfor ways to get better as as it
relates sustainability, because we know wewant to you know, do things that
are right for the community and youknow, engaging those practice so we can
set the standard for what other buildingscan do here in this city. Yeah,
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it feels like you guys have kindof set the standard from the moment
you open the doors till now.So that's really exciting. Getting ready for
Super Bowl fifty eight on February eleventh, I got to ask you about the
configuration. I know they're gonna changea little bit on that north end correct,
and then CBS was recently By theway, we brag about CBS because
the game is gonna be on ourchannel, so we're excited about that.
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But the CBS was recently intent alsokind of a walk through prior to the
New England game to kind of goover some things talk about that and how
the configuration may change for the SuperBowl. Yeah, I don't want to
give everything away, but it's gonnalook a little bit different. I think
when you talk about, you know, the game being on a worldwide stage,
so the amount of additional media thatwe bring in, so there's things
that we have to do to youknow, create additional boosts. There's things
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that we have to do to accommodateyou know, additional radio broadcast. And
when we talk about the CBS component, you know, this season has been
really great. We've been able totry out a lot of different technologies.
So when CBS comes in in February, you're gonna see a lot of different
cool things that they might not normallydo for normal broadcasts. But being able
to accommodate that, and I thinkit just speaks again to the technologically advanced
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nature of the building. You know, where you go to some older buildings,
you're not able to really accomplish doingsome of the things that you know,
whether it's the broadcast or halftime,whatever these groups want to do.
But we've got the infrastructure to reallygive them a canvas to, you know,
really create some awesome moments. Sowhether you know you're gonna be in
the stadium enjoying it in person oron TV, it's really gonna make for
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a incredible experience. So we'll seesome things that we may have never seen
in a super Bowl before. There'sprobably some things that are gonna get implemented
here that is gonna blow some peopleaway. So we're excited to showcase that.
And I think when you look atI think that speaks to really Vegas
as a whole. Vegas is acity that's always innovating, there's always such
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there's a lot of new things.So I think when you look at you
know how we wanted to envision theSuper Bowl here. This isn't just your
average city. We wanted to makesure we go above and beyond. So
I think you're gonna see some reallyexciting stuff that gets into the into the
broadcast. I got to ask youone more thing, about the stadium itself
when you just mentioned Las Vegas andeverybody who goes, all these visitors who
come to the Super Bowl got togo down to the one wall where you
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start with the settlers. You walkdown the wall one side on the left
side, you come back and youhave to go through the history. You
know, Frank Sinatra, Donnie Oh, it's my blah blah blah, Katie
Perried, But talk about that wallbecause that's that's that's history right there that
you got to check out. Yeah, another great element of the art program
again, just kind of shout out. Michael Goddard was the one that really
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you know, took the vision ofwhat you know Mark thought and really brought
all local artists. You know whenwe look at you know what he did.
You know, we didn't want tooutsource anything. So it's all the
local artists. And when you talkabout that history area again, people that
aren't don't know Vegas, they thinkof, you know, certain things and
for us to be able to nowyou know, when you're walking through and
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you know you show up early,you know you're looking something to do before
the game starts. We're gonna teachyou a little something, whether it's you
know, about Vegas or about theconstruction of the building. We really tried
to incorporate mints that really highlighted whatmakes you know, this building so unique
and special. Let's hope that gamelives up to the art super Bowl because
it is fabulous. I always tellpeople, yeah, to check out the
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artist. I was insane, terrific. And the halftime show. I know
you've last time we talked Chris,we didn't have the artist. It wasn't
announced last podcast we did the lastepisode, so now to know that it's
usher and I'm sure Chris sees thingsbehind the scenes, are maybe hearing little
tidbits of how he's going to makethat really cool and unique too. I'm
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hearing little things. I'm on theconversations. But from what I know about
what ushers all about, what hecan bring to the table and really what
again, what we want to showcasehere in the city, I don't think
anyone's going to be disappointed with whatthe show is going to bring in.
You know, while the day isall about football, I think, you
know, throwing a little concert inthe middle, there is also a fun
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this a little concert, no bigdeal. Well, thank you Chris,
we appreciate you giving us kind ofa brief history of Allegian Stadium, and
people are going to be able tosee and expect from the greatest, greatest
stadium in the world right here inLas Vegas during Super Bowl fifty eight.
Yeah, we're very excited. Ithink it's you know, I mentioned it
earlier when you and I think whenthe stadium was just a pipe dream raiders
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were, you know, deciding tocome here to think that we're now,
heck, six seven years later,we're now getting ready to talk about a
Super Bowl. I think just reallyspeaks to the volume of what the stadium
means to the community and really beingable to showcase the stadium on a worldwide
stage. So we're we're we're extremelyexcited. Still quite a bit of work
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to do. That one hundred datecountdown, you know, still gives me
a little bit anxiety, but theteam over at the stadium, in conjunction
with everyone, we're really excited toreally showcase what makes Allegiant stadiums of special.
And we're back for another episode ofInside the Vegas Huddle. Hello,
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my name is Joetta Baumann with iHeartRadio, and I'm Chris Matthews with Channel A
KLESTV here in Las Vegas, andwe got a special guest going on right
here and he's going to join us. That is the CEO of the Las
Vegas Host Committee, Bill McConnell.And Bill, thank you very much for
being here. It's exciting now becausewe're one hundred days counting down from one
hundred days. It makes it seemlike it is right around the corner.
(14:20):
Wake me up. Is this adream? Because the whole thing feels like
a dream. But yeah, onehundred days ago. So much to be
excited about. And thanks for havingme. Glad to be here. We
love that you are here because wehear all things NFL. You are the
guy in town to talk to.Well, I's got a lot of pressure
to put on you right away.Before I joined the Las Vegas Super Bowl
Host Committee as a chief operations officer, I spent the last ten years as
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a general manager for the stadium inJacksonville, and prior to that, I
worked for the NFL for a twentyplus season. So I had a chance
to work from the NFL side ofthings on the Super Bowl and so now
to be on this side of itworking for Las Vegas representing the host committee.
It's just it's an honor beyond words. But when you think of the
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NFL and what they've done through theyears and now this will be Super Bowl
fifty eight, and you mentioned youworked for a number of years with the
Super Bowl. What is the NFLsaying about that you're here and what is
the NFL saying about Las Vegas asthey now prepared it's one hundred days out.
Well, I think we almost allhave to step back because, yes,
it's Super Bowl fifty eight, butin many respects, it's Super Bowl
one because it's the first one inLas Vegas. And I think that we
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all know, whether people are sayingit or just feeling it, that this
one is going to be special beyondall others. Yeah, and I think
that brings that brings everybody together becausewe again, we all know that when
you take the power of the NFLand what is special and fabulous about Las
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Vegas and put them together for thebiggest event in the world, I mean,
you could just Vegas. If youcan dream it, you can do
it. And my joke about thedream was only part tongue in cheek.
But to think that we're putting ontogether the first super Bowl in Las Vegas.
Given the history of the NFL,the history of Las Vegas, I
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mean, you can tell me storiesabout how not too many years ago,
the chances of a Super Bowl inLas Vegas were zero, and that math
just doesn't work out. There wasa long ago when the NFL did not
even like Las Vegas. You couldn'teven advertise the casinos. And how things
have just changed now. It's phenomenalwhat's going on. And this won't be
the last Super Bowl in Las Vegaseither. The NFL likes what they you
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know, you have, they hadthe rotation. I cannot imagine the NFL
not putting Las Vegas in that rotation. Well, the fact that the NFL
has come out recently and already endorsedthe notion of multiple super Bowls in Las
Vegas, I think speaks to whatthis community, what the city, what
this Southern Nevada region. You know, where they are on the big event
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map. And so to give usthat endorsement before we've proven ourselves in real
time says a lot. But italso challenges challenges us a lot to be
as successful as we all know itcan be, right and we know the
details that go into the preparations andthe planning. It's not easy from start
to finish. So if you coulddive into that a little bit more built
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in terms of what really would yousay has been something that has stuck out
to you in terms of getting theSuper Bowl set up, specifically with Allegiant
Stadium and how unique that stadium is. There's so many things that stand out,
but I think what stands out tome from my background and experience again
is where we're starting from. Andif you realize that it was only a
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few years ago when the NFL finallyreached out to Las Vegas and the conversations
happened between the LVCVA, the leadershipof Las Vegas and the NFL, and
the NFL presented a bid which isprobably this high of obligations and requirements and
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you know, if you're to lookat it financially, fifty or sixty million
dollars worth of obligations and requirements frompublic safety, transportation, and the stadium,
which which Chris gave a great overviewin the in the last segment Community
Relations. The list goes on andon, and to see the host committee
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and those the leaders in this communitythat are stepping up and engaged to make
sure that Las Vegas presents itself tothe highest standard really stands out now operationally
and logistically what the NFL has todo, not only in putting on the
game, but what the destination hasto do to make sure that all the
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pieces work together. It's it's reallyexciting to watch that play out. And
you know, you think of allthe things that have gone on kind of
behind the scenes with preparing for theSuper Bowl, what the host Committee's done,
and you were recently over at UNLVand the internship programs, and I
can't even imagine how excited, howexcited these students must be to be able
to work with the Super Bowl hostCommittee helping prepare for a Super Bowl.
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But also Sam was telling us behindthe scenes. Sam Jeoffrey was telling us
behind the scenes that this city hasjust embraced its like no other. It's
it's it impresses upon all of us. I think they're and you know,
when you see what the Golden Knightshave done, what the Aces have done,
what the stadium has meant, andthe Raiders have meant, It's it's
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no secret now in the world seesit how this community is a sports community.
Now, Las Vegas and its historyhas been the pre eminent entertainment destination
and that evolution continues. But tonow see, you know this what this
city is from a sports standpoint,It deserves a Super Bowl and many more.
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Yeah, the fans want, thefans are excited. Can you tell
us a little bit about some ofthe special fan experiences, activities that are
planned for the stadium and things thatwe can expect maybe an opening night I
think you can tell us. Yeah. So the NFL, of course,
is the one who puts on thegame. Our job is to facilitate and
support and provide and deliver all thoseobligations that Las Vegas has made. But
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the opening night event on Monday,February fifth is going to be open to
the public. So it's a greatopportunity for perhaps those who won't have an
access to a ticket to the game. That's a lot of us. They'll
be well, the demand for thoseare high and the supply is low,
so that's no secret. But thefact that both teams will be at Allegiance
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Stadium that Monday afternoon. It usedto be in the old day Media Day
where the media would come and talkto the players. Now they're bringing not
only media day so to speak backto the stadium, but it's open to
the public. That's cool, andso that's really cool, and we know
that the community will come out andsupport that. The Super Bowl Experience will
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be at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centerand that'll start Wednesday before the game.
The NFL's and the process of planninga lot of little different activities for each
day to make each day special.So that's something to keep an eye on.
I would encourage everybody. The NFLhas this mobile app called one Pass,
which it's actually active now, andwhile it may not have a lot
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of information on there, it doeshave some good information about both Opening Night
and the super Bowl experience. That'sreally cool. Our tickets available right now.
They will go on sale December fourteenth, I believe it is. There
should be a pre sale opportunity forthose who are paying attention. So we'll
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all have to keep our eye outto the ground inside the huddle inside.
That's right. Bill's bringing us thatinfo. I like that, and obviously
the Super Bowl is bringing out peoplefrom all over the world are going to
be here. Can you talk tous a little bit about the safety precautions
that are being put in place.I think just safety in general at big
events like this are always top ofmind, and I know that you guys
(22:27):
obviously have to be thinking about thosethings. Well, hats off to the
NFL and the Las Vegas, whichboth organizations put or entities put safety at
the highest level of priority. Sothere's no question about that. And it's
one of the luxuries of being inan NFL city because the NFL has a
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tight network of security professionals across thecountry and across the world that are in
constant communication what Metro PD is andfor this city already is at the highest
standard. And so when you bringthose two together, it's not only comforting,
but then when you layer on topof that that the Super Bowl will
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be a Level one SEER event,which is a Homeland Security designated highest level
security event, which allows federal resourcesto be supplemented to the overall efforts.
So I think there's no higher prioritythan safety, and so's it's good to
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see that. Moving forward, Ithink one of the questions could be,
well, what does that mean forthe stadium in the overall experience, because
of the Level one National Security designation. Part of what will have to happen,
and we can't talk too much aboutit, but there will be a
secured perimeter that's built around the stadium, and so I think what people will
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see as that starts to get buildbuilt is will be a transformation of the
stadium campus sure, and so thesecurity checkpoints we're for a Raiders game or
an Allegiant Stadium event, people areused to accessing through the checkpoints that are
right up close to the stadium itself, those will all be built out.
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And so because of that three hundredfoot perimeter, the parking spaces that are
normally utilized for stadium events are nolonger available for parking, which puts tremendous
pressure on the transportation and parking planbecause there has to be access to the
streets and private lots around the stadiumthat will be used for the transportation plan
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and system. So the campus willlook different. Part of our job will
be as it gets built to makesure that we're communicating to people so that
whether you're coming to the game itself, you have an understanding of the best
way to access the stadium, butif you're if you're a resident or a
visitor, and you still have toaccess the roadways. We're going to do
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and the NFL is going to doa good job of making sure that those
plans are communicated to try to makeit as smooth an experience as possible.
Well, you know, I thinkin Las Vegas as the it was always
known as the entertainment capital of theworld. And as you mentioned, Bill,
now, we'd like to call thissports and entertainment capital the world.
Have been the entertainment capital of theworld. We've had all these residencies and
(25:32):
Usher and ACDC and Katie Perry andYouTube right now is playing. Did you
guys have any say at all orany recommendations. Did you guys look to
the NFL and say, we've donethis, We've had all these residencies,
all these superstars, do these concertshere, here's a couple of recommendations,
or do they just totally take controlof it. It's an NFL decision.
They have a partnership with Rock Nationand Apple Music, and so I think,
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of course we all gave our opinionsand maybe put hope after hope,
but we were many of us werethinking, let's have trust and confidence that
the NFL is going to do theright thing. Hopefully they'll pick somebody and
pay some homage to Las Vegas,right And look, the list of residency
artists over the years is a lotto choose from. But personally, I
(26:18):
think the fact that they've selected somebodywho knows Las Vegas, who is a
big fan of Las Vegas. Idon't know that you can pick a better
ambassador for Las Vegas than Usher.Now. I don't know his music as
well as maybe some other listeners do, but and for me anecdotally, I
didn't hear anybody complaining. Matter offact, you know that he's going to
(26:42):
bring the fun. He was sograteful to be part of this thing.
Is like a dream come true forhim to be part of the Super Bowl.
It's refreshing to see. That's reallycool. Yeah, that's like so
many little details, so many nooksand crannies, And I know, what's
the biggest thing you guys got todo? Still? Now? Is there
something you're saying, oh? Oris it just so mind boggling. That's
(27:04):
a million little things. We talkabout this all the time, and Sam
may have talked about it, oryou may have heard it before I think
without looking at data, and Jeremywill give you some more detail on numbers
and impact and stuff. But wethink there's there's two ways that the Super
Bowl are going to be successful thatare going to be really easy to judge.
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One is that those that are cominginto Las Vegas, the NFL,
all of their constituents that that comein experience the Super Bowl are wowed beyond
belief and they leave town and say, Wow, how are we going to
experience something like that anywhere else?And the answer is you can't. The
second the second way is that isthat the Las Vegas community, whether you're
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a resident of business, media,anybody that's involved with it, says,
at the end of it, that'show we do it here, and we'd
love to have you back. Andso we're working every day to try to
make sure that those two goals aredelivered upon. I can tell that.
Thank you so much, Bill McConnell'sOh I'm a Las Vegas host committee,
(28:11):
Thank you for being here with ustoday. Thanks for having me, appreciate
it. Welcome back to episode fourInside the Vegas Huddle. My name is
Joanna Bowman with iHeartRadio, and I'mChris Matthews with Channel eight KLSTV right here
in Las Vegas, and we havea special guest. I know you're gonna
love this once again. The treasurerof the super Bowl Host Committee, the
(28:34):
Executive Committee here is Jeremy Aguero.Jeremy, thank you very much for dropping
in. It's always fun to talkto you because I like numbers. I
love Las Vegas, and when wetalk about numbers, Las Vegas and super
Bowl, it all kind of tiesin. It's going to be a huge,
juge event. Well, first,thanks for having me here and the
fact that we get to talk aboutnumbers. Now you're in my zone.
So thanks. We've been looking forwardto following up with you since episode one,
(28:57):
as Jeremy was with us on episodeone, And of course you know
all about the impact of Super Bowlfifty eight here in Las Vegas and US
locals who live here in Las Vegas. We're curious about, you know,
what is the good stuff that comesand what's going to impact local businesses because
I feel like that's always top ofmind for our community. Do you know
what it's happening already right? Imean, we're talking about a super Bowl
(29:19):
is a huge level of investment.Right, probably, at least to date,
the biggest economic event in terms ofa sporting event that we've ever had
in Southern Nevada's history. Anything realquick, not to interrupt you, but
anything ever even remotely compare well tothis. Look you've been here. Yes
there are things that you know,but there are things that last a lot
longer. We have things like theNational Finals rodeo. If we add up
(29:41):
all, for example, of theUFC fights that happened in the community,
big box matches, and granted,do those get to the level of the
super Bowl? The answer that questionis no, There's no doubt this will
be the biggest one. But Imean, we do have a lot of
special events, and those special eventshave a lot of impact, particularly when
you think about many of them happeningthan our community in a single year.
(30:02):
But when you asked the question aboutwhat is the economic impact, right,
it is about jobs. It isabout wages and salaries, It's about economic
output. And from an analyst perspective, those are the things we like to
talk about, right, thousands ofjobs, people spending money in our community.
But if we think about it onthe individual level, right, already
we're seeing the Business connect program essentiallygo out and identify businesses that will be
(30:25):
able to work specifically for the NFLon the Super Bowl in the community.
Right, they have already not onlyjust identified literally hundreds of businesses that will
have an opportunity, but I thinkbeyond that, they're laying a foundation for
the future, right, teaching businessesabout how to apply, how to be
certified as a women a woman owneda better and owned a minority owned business,
(30:47):
which frankly, it was surprising manypeople didn't know that, and so
giving them the opportunity not only towork for this project, to work work
for projects going forward after the SuperBowl leaf. So I think that legacy
of impact is important. But ifyou want to talk about jobs, you
want to talk about wages, salary, you want to talk about economic output.
We are going to have literally overone hundred thousand people. We'll have
(31:08):
three hundred thousand people in town.But you know, and the majority of
them are going to be here becauseof the Super Bowl. Right. They
come here, they spend money,they eat in our restaurants, they shop
in our stores, they do allthose things that is jobs in our community,
right, And so we think aboutit along those lines. But they're
not your typical visitor either, right. These are visitors that spend more,
(31:30):
they stay longer, and so thoseimpacts are also very significant. And for
that expenditure, it is roughly onejob created in as a result of that
spending, and then another job that'screated outside of our hospitality industry. These
are folks that when I earn atip or my wage and salary and I
go back to my neighborhood and Ispend my wages and salary or my tips
(31:53):
in a restaurant or a doctor's office, or I go to a movie,
those are jobs that also been offas a result of that. This is
the reason why communities line up totry and get a Super Bowl to come
to their community, because the economicimpact is just so meaningful, not only
when the event takes place, butleading up to and following that event.
(32:15):
That trickle effect is strong. Yeah, we've always talked about this too,
Jeremy, even before the Super Bowlten fifteen years ago, if you couldn't
go to the super Bowl, thenext best place was Las Vegas. We've
always said that's true. I rememberhow they had the parties, the Super
Bowl parties all around town at thattime. Now, before the NFL got
really strict with Las Vegas, youcould bring in players, former players,
(32:36):
and they had the super Bowl Partyat the Riviera, the super Bowl Party
at the Dunes. Remember all thosethings. And then now it's even during
the Final four. You get thatnow. But well, even before Las
Vegas had a Super Bowl, therewas an impact in our community related to
the Super Bowl well, no doubt. And as a matter of fact,
I am willing to bet you forthe last twenty years we have had more
people in town in Las Vegas forSuper Bowl weekend than any market that has
(33:00):
hosted the Super Bowl. Now,let's imagine that level of excitement. We
are the only community in the UnitedStates that grew up and was designed to
host people. Now, let's bringthat energy and the Super Bowl together.
Get ready, Let's get ready.It's gonna be crazy. Could you.
Let's go back to when David Beckham. Yeah, the David Beckham visited with
Mark Davis over on their UNLB campusand they said, hey, have you
(33:22):
build this helped me build this arena. I'll put the money in and you
put the money in the state andso forth, and it gets done.
Did you ever imagine that Allegiance stateumwould have the impact that it's had on
Las Vegas. The answer that questionis no, right, I mean,
you know, I mean besides thefact that David Beckham's kind of phenomenon,
right, I mean, he maybethe most beautiful human being I've ever met
(33:43):
in my entire life. My wifeis like, what do you mean you
got to be close to David Beckham? Right, that whole thing. Right,
But even when we went through thatprocess, we had this conversation,
right, we estimated, we wentthrough this process of looking at what we
thought it would do for our community, we got about half of what actually
happened there. And you remember allthe criticism that we got. Right,
(34:05):
no stadium anywhere in the United Stateshas ever had more than five percent of
the people they came to that stadiumfrom out of town to go that in
a year, Right, last year, Allegiance Stadium did fifty three percent of
the people that attended events, footballevents and concerts and that were from out
of town. And for some ofthe big events I'm talking about like Taylor
Swift and I'm talking about BTS andI'm talking about Beyonce, ninety percent of
(34:30):
the out of town visitors said theywould not have come to Las Vegas but
for those events being here. Andthey come into town, right, they
come into town and they stay inour hotels and they eat in our restaurants,
and that economic impact is tremendous.And look, there is no doubt
we want every person in that stadiumduring a Raiders game to be a Raiders
fan. But if they can't be, if they're not going to be,
(34:52):
then we can look around and wesee those Steelers fans, and we see
those Philadelphia fans, and we maynot like them, but we like them
in our community. I look aroundand I see eight hundred dollars, eight
hundred dollars, eight hundred dollars foreach one of them. They're coming in
our town and they're spending a lotmore than that. But you go to
our steakhouses the Saturday before a footballgame and they're packed with these people that
(35:13):
are coming to our town and havinga great time. And as silly as
I am about it, we lovehaving them in our community because it's what
works, and this is what wedo, and our ability to welcome folks
and say, you know, youknow, our our favorite team is going
to be the Raiders. But welove having the other teams here in our
community to share our awesome stadium withand to share our awesome community with.
(35:36):
A super Bowl Week is going tobe phenomenal here. I M. I
can't and imagine what because, well, do people spend on average more during
Super Bowl Week? Like if I'mgonna come to a game in Las Vegas
against the Niners or I'm gonna cometo the Super Bowl, I spend the
same or a lot. Oh no, not at all. As a matter
of fact, it's probably three tofive times what you'd see for a normal
visitor. Now, also we havethings like ticket costs and those type of
(35:58):
things. But to put it in, but we're talking about hote hell rooms
and more people spend on special eventsand those type of activities. Let's not
forget that Super Bowl Week is aphenomenon, right, you have all kinds
of business that is going to bedone here because of that. Now,
Allegiant Stadium has a practical capacity,right, So it's not like a sold
out game during the regular season isgoing to have a whole lot more or
(36:19):
fewer people than a sold out gameduring the Super Bowl. But what it
is is going to be a soldout stadium full of VIPs, right,
and the activity that happens around that. And here's the magic of it.
You and I both know that duringa big fight, a big UFC fight,
a big boxing about that, peoplecome that don't even go to the
event. And we're going to havea lot of that. Probably as many
(36:43):
people as go to the super Bowlwill be in town, probably more just
based on our estimates, will actuallybe in town and never actually attend the
game because of all the other specialevents that are going to be going on
around it. That's magical for usfrom an economic standpoint, right. And
let's talk about the infrastructure improvements becauseobviously having no events like this and you're
gonna have to reroute some things,things are gonna have to be changing.
(37:04):
Can you talk to us a littlebit about some of that stuff going on?
Yeah, make it more easy forpeople to get around here, there's
no doubt, right, I mean, roads and those type of things.
We've got a lot of infrastructure goingon, right, I Mean it's almost
hard to find a road in ourcommunity that doesn't have yellow cones or infrastructure.
But so much of that is theinvestment leading up to these major events,
right, I mean, we talkabout it, and yes, it's
(37:27):
caused some pain for some community.I felt that you've all felt it,
certainly the people that work within theresort corridor have felt it legitimately. But
beyond that, right, when youstart to think about the level of investment
that places like Caesars and MGM haveput in to build out a different additional
infrastructure within their facilities, improving hotelrooms, doing some of that thing to
be able to move people. Weoften talk about it about the economic benefits
(37:52):
of the investments that happened before.Something like the Olympics always a great example
of the level of investment that comesin. I'm not saying that we're at
that level, but I'm saying we'renot that far away in terms of the
type of trend that's going into ourcommunity so that we can all benefit,
and I think the benefits of thosethings are going to last a lot longer.
Yes, we're going to have roadwayimprovements. Yes, the folks at
(38:15):
ENDT are actually making modifications to theTropicana Project, which is hugely important to
us to make sure that as muchmobility as possible during these events matter because
what we cannot have happen is haveinfrastructure be the story around the super Bowl.
What happens on the field should bethe number one story, But here
in our community, the economics behindthat should be number two, right.
(38:37):
I mean that's a great point.Jarre. Let me ask you, is
you think of all the things thatcome to Las Vegas, especially this fall
going into the winter, when youhave Formula One, the NBA Showcase,
then of course the super Bowl.Is that gonna affect the Super Bowl at
all in terms of numbers that Iknow that one's mostly international travelers, a
lot of international money coming in there. Will it affect the Super Bowl?
(38:59):
And your opinion at all? Whatkind of data you see? I don't
think that it does at all.What we've seen is that as we have
grown as a sports market, thathas been additive. And here's the other
kind of secret sauce for us,is that when you host your event here,
more people come to your event.So, whether it's an equestrian event
(39:20):
that's maybe taking place at the SouthPoint, whether it's the NBA a summer
league, or the Showcase, whetherit's a major boxing match, what we
found is that people come to LasVegas because the event is happening here more
so than anywhere else in the UnitedStates. And so not only do I
believe that it's not going to havea diminishing effect, I think it could
(39:43):
have an additive effect. Now,the asterisk next to that is we have
to perform as a community. Wehave to deliver on the promise that the
Las Vegas brand knows what it's doing. Mobility needs to be there. We
need to have volunteers that have theright attitude and have the knowledge. We
need to have these businesses show upand make sure that everybody from the players
to the fans to the owners havethe best experience here that they've ever had.
(40:07):
We have to deliver on that LasVegas brand. If we fail to
do that, there will be negativeramifications as a community. So we're not
We're not a guy that's say ifI if I'm a guy that says I
have one thousand dollars of extra money, do I want to go to the
Super Bowl? Do I want togo to F one? I want to
do both, but I can't.What are you saying there? This is
this is the beautiful thing, right, This is the beautiful thing for us,
(40:29):
is that you know there's a lotof people in this world that have
somehow if it becomes a choice,right, people make a choice, and
we're seeing it in our community allthe time. Right, people save up
to go for the Super Bowl,Like you know, they they say,
look, if my team makes it, I don't care. I'm gonna make
(40:51):
my air. I'm gonna go getit done. And so we'll see that
when we get through the championship gamesto get us to the super Bowl,
to get us there. But wehave a lot of sports fans, right,
and we also have things like UltimateSports Weekends. We've got an NFL
game and an NHL game, andwe've got NASCAR that we can and we've
got a UFC fight. And yeah, people may not come to all of
(41:12):
those things. They may not cometo every concert. That's the beauty of
Vegas. One event doesn't affect thedecisions on another bit, and we have
not seen them at all. Yeah, I think Vegas is such a big
town in terms of like first becauseif you live in Vegas or you've grown
up in Vegas, you want tosay I was a part of the first
whatever, right, And I feellike people who have been a part of
the Vegas community forever. They wantto add that to their list. Super
(41:36):
Bowl fifty eight, look at howthey line up. We open a new
hotel casino right out the door downthe street. I want to be a
part of it. And isn't thatkind of a cool thing to have in
our community? As we're sitting hereright thinking about where we were seven eight
years ago before we even had someof the sports that we have today,
and we're talking about all of thefirst that we're having and now those type
(41:57):
of things, those investments and thingslike UFC, the Golden Knights taking a
chance, come here and say talk, you will never work in the desert.
Right, you have allegiant stadium thatwas constructed and open during a pandemic.
Right, all that kind of stuff. One October and here we are
with all of these amazing first thatwe're doing here. And again, I
think this community is going to exceedevery expectation. You know, I asked
(42:20):
Jeremy this I think was in Septemberour first podcast. Yeah, let me
ask you again and tell our maybethey missed the first podcast. But is
all this sustainable? Well, look, sustainability is always a difficult thing.
My brief answer your question is goingto be yes, and why because we
have the ability. We have onehundred and fifty thousand hotel rooms with three
hundred thousand leisure and hospitality and relatedworkers. We have Harry Reid International Airport,
(42:44):
which is about three times five timesthe size it is needed for a
community like Cards. It is builtfor our tourism economy and all. This
is what we are designed to do. So from a sustainability standpoint, it
is all about our ability to deliveron the brand. We talk about the
VAGA. We have to deliver onthat Vegas brand, and I believe we'll
do it. I think we will, And there's nobody else I don't know
(43:06):
about you, Chris, I getsme more excited than this guy. Cherkey
and Aguero Charger of the Super Bowlfifty eight Executive Committee, thank you for
being here with us, Episode four. We appreciate you. We look forward
for him to come back. Dowi, Chris, I love Hey, Jeremy,
I love the numbers. We alllove Vegas and we love the numbers.
And that it's just like you weresaying, Las Vegas is special place.
If I have fifty bucks, I'mgoing to Vegas. If I have
(43:27):
five hundred Bucks. I'm going toVegas. I'm gonna do both things.
That is exactly right. Thank youso much for having me. Thank you
to the Super Bowl fifty eight HostCommittee sponsors, Caesar's Entertainment, inter Mountain
Health, Howard Hughes, and samManuel Band of Mission. Indians would also
like to thank our partners MGM Rewards, Allegiant, usc, PNC Bank,
(43:52):
fivo iHeartMedia, and Bank of Nevada
This is Inside the Vegas Huddle,your podcast connection to the events and initiatives
led by the Las Vegas Super Bowlfifty eight host Committee in advance of the
big game at Allegiance Stadium. Welcometo Inside the Vegas Huddle. Welcome back
(00:22):
to Inside the Vegas Huddle. It'sJoanna Bowman with iHeartRadio and I'm Chris Matthews
with Channel eight KLASTV here in LasVegas, and we're back for another exciting
episode, episode number four. Chris, and it's amazing how fast time's going
with the one hundred days out nowfrom the Super Bowl. It's crazy when
you think about the announcement counting down, the people coming into town, the
(00:43):
city preparing for this. So Insidethe Vegas Huddle we've kind of given folks
an idea, listeners an idea,and those who view it on all the
different platforms, and idea of what'sgoing on in Las Vegas as we prepare
for Super Bowl fifty eight. It'sgoing to be so exciting. That's right.
It's called Inside the Vegas Huddle forour reasons. So we kind of
get the behind the scenes action,a little sneak peak of what it takes
to put on a Super Bowl.So to kick off this exciting Super Bowl
(01:06):
fifty eight, you need a tremendousstadium. That's what Las Vegas has at
Allegiance Stadium. So we have thevice president of Stadium Operations, Chris Sotaoropolis
here to just talk about everything associatedwith the Allegiant Stadium. Chris, we
might be biased here in Las Vegas, but this stadium. When you hear
others around the NFL talk when theycome and visit, they've got to be
saying to themselves this is number one. I'm also a little bit biased,
(01:29):
but we feel like we designed andbuilt one of the best stadiums in the
NFL, in the world, andwe are. I'm extremely excited to showcase
do com February for the Super Bowl. Absolutely, And of course, like
Chris said, if you live herein Las Vegas, you've seen Allegiant Stadium,
you know, from start to finish, to see what it's become.
But for anybody outside of Las Vegas, dive into some of the unique features
(01:51):
of Allegiant Stadium, because, yeah, we want to brag about it a
little bit. We think it's thebest. Tell us why it's the best.
Yeah, it's a great building.I think when we started designing Allegiant
Stadium back in twenty seventeen, weobviously knew the Super Bowl was going to
be played here somedays, so tonow kind of be here and know that's
a reality and talk about what makesour venue so special. And I think
(02:12):
one of the main features, andI think what makes Allegiance Stadium so special
is when we talk about the playingsurface. We play on a natural grass
field inside of a dome stadium,and that's just something really unique, and
I think it really just highlights theimportance of player safety being able to play
on natural grass when you think ofthe history of football, I mean football
(02:35):
started being played on grass, sothat was really one of the important things
we wanted to maintain. So whenthat when the game happens in February,
it'll be on a nice grass field. You know what else is really neat
about the stadium. I think Ialways tell people that come and ask me,
Kras we're going to Allegiance Stadium.I stop and I say, Hey,
what you have to do, nomatter what is walk around the concourse.
If you can go up, maybetake a stadium tour. But you
(02:57):
gotta also see all the art,talk about the art and how that all
came to be because it's Las Vegashistory, it's writers history, and it's
really really cool, and it's alllocal artists. That's exactly what we were
trying to do. When you lookat you know, how do we you
know, the Raiders being new inVegas, you know a lot of history
with your organization, But then wealso looked at Vegas and you look at
the history of the city, somuch history. So when we looked at
(03:21):
how are we going to incorporate anart program, it's got to combine both.
So you know, when you're walkingaround and you're seeing it, you're
seeing really great moments in greater history. You're also seeing really iconic Vegas imagery.
And I think those combined really createssomething that I don't know any other
city could create, something as eclecticand cool. It really has something for
(03:44):
everyone. And that's what I kindof tell it's, you know, you
you walk around and you see,you know, a photo of you know,
Al Davis, and then you gotElvis Presley and you got really just
iconic things. And we really wereable to showcase that in the in the
art program, which you're really excitedabout. Yeah, being able to to
tour Allegiance Stadium is always something reallycool that I also tell people to make
sure they do when they come fromout of town. But super Bowl fifty
(04:06):
eight, we obviously are showing offthe best of our city and that includes
the seating options that are available atAllegiance Stadium and some of the premium options
that are available. Tell us alittle bit about that, Yeah, So
again, we wanted to design somethingthat you know, Vegas is luxury,
Vegas's first class. We had todesign seating options that really showcase that.
(04:28):
So in total, we've got overone hundred and thirty suites, so we've
got some great premium product. We'vealso got the wind Field Club, which
in our North End zone really righton the field, and that's really one
of the best spots to really feellike you're part of the action. In
addition, this past offseason, wealso added some more club suites, so
we've really enhanced that premium experience.So whether you know you're in one of
(04:53):
those club suites or Winfield Club,nine different areas that really have an elevated
experience. On our one fifty suitelevel, it's an all inclusive food menu.
We bring in celebrity chefs to reallyshowcase a lot of different culinary things
that enhance what the city really isall about. We are talking with the
vice president of Stadium Operations, ChrisSodoropolis, and Chris, I got to
(05:15):
ask you about that big torch andwhen people come to the Super Bowl,
they're going to see this and thatthey've been to again, they've seen it,
the big torch. But then also, what about those Leonio doors.
I got to ask you, whenare you going to open up those Lanni
doors. I don't think they've everbeen opened yet for a game. Have
they I don't think so we're hopingsomeday they're going to get open. I
can't. I can't. I don'tknow when that's going to be. But
we're going to keep everyone on theirtoes, so hopefully there will be the
(05:36):
perfect day where we can really showcasethat. But when we looked at,
you know the history of the Raiderssixty plus years, we've played in a
lot of different stadiums, and Ithink when you look at our days in
La at the La Memorial County Coliseum, that Lani door with the paristyle and
with the torch really just embodies kindof a little owed to that kind of
(05:58):
history where we were playing there.But really the torch very symbolic. Obviously
Al Davis his you know, legacyon this organization and you know, the
words that he spoke, the greatnessof the Raiders in its future to the
fire that burns brightest is the willto win, and I think that torch
really embodies that spirit that Al hasstill left for us. So when you're
(06:19):
in the stadium, impossible to miss. I think that's just that iconic moment
when you walk in and you're reallyenamored by it. And it's actually the
largest three D printed structure in theworld. So when you were trying to
develop that, it's like, howdo you really incorporate and get the look
of it. And that's kind ofthe methodology that we went with, you
(06:39):
know, creating that torch. Soagain, if you're in the building,
impossible to miss, that's kind ofyou know, every building has that has
that area that really just people gravitatetowards, and for us, I think
the torch really embodies that. Yeah, I think that has to be maybe
one of the most photographable things atAllegiance Stadium, and you guys are always
cutting at as well in terms ofwhat you're doing to maybe make our world
(07:02):
a better place. I know,there's a lot of really great sustainability measures
that have been recently put into playsand you've, guys, over a Legion
Stadium achieved some pretty great status.Do you want to brag about that a
little bit? Yeah, So we'vegot a few things to brag about,
and we don't do it just tobrag about it. I think, you
know, sustainability is a huge partof just giving back to the community.
(07:24):
I think, you know, wewant to be good stewards to the city
that we play in, into theyou know, constituents that really helped make
Allegiant Stadium what it is. Sowe recently received Lead Gold certification, which
is a really prestigious designation that reallyspeaks to the operational sustainability in the within
(07:44):
the stadium. So everything we dofrom waste aversion, water, resourcefulness,
those are all things that go intothat certification. That's something that just really
speaks to the volume of sustainability touches. Everything touch is the guest, the
employees, and it's a really teameffort getting everyone involved in making that a
priority, so as we get readyfor the Super Bowl, that was really
(08:07):
something important for us to get thatLead Gold certification status. In addition,
we also recently announced we are elitiant. Stadium is fully on renewable energy,
and that's a really important thing forus to talk about because again, for
the you know, elite, weplan to be here for many many years,
thirty plus years, so to beable to have that as a component
(08:31):
in our in our you know,energy supply, that's really you know,
gives back to the to the environment. So we're really happy that we're able
to do that, and Roy's lookingfor ways to get better as as it
relates sustainability, because we know wewant to you know, do things that
are right for the community and youknow, engaging those practice so we can
set the standard for what other buildingscan do here in this city. Yeah,
(08:52):
it feels like you guys have kindof set the standard from the moment
you open the doors till now.So that's really exciting. Getting ready for
Super Bowl fifty eight on February eleventh, I got to ask you about the
configuration. I know they're gonna changea little bit on that north end correct,
and then CBS was recently By theway, we brag about CBS because
the game is gonna be on ourchannel, so we're excited about that.
(09:13):
But the CBS was recently intent alsokind of a walk through prior to the
New England game to kind of goover some things talk about that and how
the configuration may change for the SuperBowl. Yeah, I don't want to
give everything away, but it's gonnalook a little bit different. I think
when you talk about, you know, the game being on a worldwide stage,
so the amount of additional media thatwe bring in, so there's things
that we have to do to youknow, create additional boosts. There's things
(09:37):
that we have to do to accommodateyou know, additional radio broadcast. And
when we talk about the CBS component, you know, this season has been
really great. We've been able totry out a lot of different technologies.
So when CBS comes in in February, you're gonna see a lot of different
cool things that they might not normallydo for normal broadcasts. But being able
to accommodate that, and I thinkit just speaks again to the technologically advanced
(10:01):
nature of the building. You know, where you go to some older buildings,
you're not able to really accomplish doingsome of the things that you know,
whether it's the broadcast or halftime,whatever these groups want to do.
But we've got the infrastructure to reallygive them a canvas to, you know,
really create some awesome moments. Sowhether you know you're gonna be in
the stadium enjoying it in person oron TV, it's really gonna make for
(10:22):
a incredible experience. So we'll seesome things that we may have never seen
in a super Bowl before. There'sprobably some things that are gonna get implemented
here that is gonna blow some peopleaway. So we're excited to showcase that.
And I think when you look atI think that speaks to really Vegas
as a whole. Vegas is acity that's always innovating, there's always such
(10:43):
there's a lot of new things.So I think when you look at you
know how we wanted to envision theSuper Bowl here. This isn't just your
average city. We wanted to makesure we go above and beyond. So
I think you're gonna see some reallyexciting stuff that gets into the into the
broadcast. I got to ask youone more thing, about the stadium itself
when you just mentioned Las Vegas andeverybody who goes, all these visitors who
come to the Super Bowl got togo down to the one wall where you
(11:05):
start with the settlers. You walkdown the wall one side on the left
side, you come back and youhave to go through the history. You
know, Frank Sinatra, Donnie Oh, it's my blah blah blah, Katie
Perried, But talk about that wallbecause that's that's that's history right there that
you got to check out. Yeah, another great element of the art program
again, just kind of shout out. Michael Goddard was the one that really
(11:26):
you know, took the vision ofwhat you know Mark thought and really brought
all local artists. You know whenwe look at you know what he did.
You know, we didn't want tooutsource anything. So it's all the
local artists. And when you talkabout that history area again, people that
aren't don't know Vegas, they thinkof, you know, certain things and
for us to be able to nowyou know, when you're walking through and
(11:48):
you know you show up early,you know you're looking something to do before
the game starts. We're gonna teachyou a little something, whether it's you
know, about Vegas or about theconstruction of the building. We really tried
to incorporate mints that really highlighted whatmakes you know, this building so unique
and special. Let's hope that gamelives up to the art super Bowl because
it is fabulous. I always tellpeople, yeah, to check out the
(12:09):
artist. I was insane, terrific. And the halftime show. I know
you've last time we talked Chris,we didn't have the artist. It wasn't
announced last podcast we did the lastepisode, so now to know that it's
usher and I'm sure Chris sees thingsbehind the scenes, are maybe hearing little
tidbits of how he's going to makethat really cool and unique too. I'm
(12:30):
hearing little things. I'm on theconversations. But from what I know about
what ushers all about, what hecan bring to the table and really what
again, what we want to showcasehere in the city, I don't think
anyone's going to be disappointed with whatthe show is going to bring in.
You know, while the day isall about football, I think, you
know, throwing a little concert inthe middle, there is also a fun
(12:52):
this a little concert, no bigdeal. Well, thank you Chris,
we appreciate you giving us kind ofa brief history of Allegian Stadium, and
people are going to be able tosee and expect from the greatest, greatest
stadium in the world right here inLas Vegas during Super Bowl fifty eight.
Yeah, we're very excited. Ithink it's you know, I mentioned it
earlier when you and I think whenthe stadium was just a pipe dream raiders
(13:15):
were, you know, deciding tocome here to think that we're now,
heck, six seven years later,we're now getting ready to talk about a
Super Bowl. I think just reallyspeaks to the volume of what the stadium
means to the community and really beingable to showcase the stadium on a worldwide
stage. So we're we're we're extremelyexcited. Still quite a bit of work
(13:37):
to do. That one hundred datecountdown, you know, still gives me
a little bit anxiety, but theteam over at the stadium, in conjunction
with everyone, we're really excited toreally showcase what makes Allegiant stadiums of special.
And we're back for another episode ofInside the Vegas Huddle. Hello,
(13:58):
my name is Joetta Baumann with iHeartRadio, and I'm Chris Matthews with Channel A
KLESTV here in Las Vegas, andwe got a special guest going on right
here and he's going to join us. That is the CEO of the Las
Vegas Host Committee, Bill McConnell.And Bill, thank you very much for
being here. It's exciting now becausewe're one hundred days counting down from one
hundred days. It makes it seemlike it is right around the corner.
(14:20):
Wake me up. Is this adream? Because the whole thing feels like
a dream. But yeah, onehundred days ago. So much to be
excited about. And thanks for havingme. Glad to be here. We
love that you are here because wehear all things NFL. You are the
guy in town to talk to.Well, I's got a lot of pressure
to put on you right away.Before I joined the Las Vegas Super Bowl
Host Committee as a chief operations officer, I spent the last ten years as
(14:46):
a general manager for the stadium inJacksonville, and prior to that, I
worked for the NFL for a twentyplus season. So I had a chance
to work from the NFL side ofthings on the Super Bowl and so now
to be on this side of itworking for Las Vegas representing the host committee.
It's just it's an honor beyond words. But when you think of the
(15:07):
NFL and what they've done through theyears and now this will be Super Bowl
fifty eight, and you mentioned youworked for a number of years with the
Super Bowl. What is the NFLsaying about that you're here and what is
the NFL saying about Las Vegas asthey now prepared it's one hundred days out.
Well, I think we almost allhave to step back because, yes,
it's Super Bowl fifty eight, butin many respects, it's Super Bowl
one because it's the first one inLas Vegas. And I think that we
(15:31):
all know, whether people are sayingit or just feeling it, that this
one is going to be special beyondall others. Yeah, and I think
that brings that brings everybody together becausewe again, we all know that when
you take the power of the NFLand what is special and fabulous about Las
(15:52):
Vegas and put them together for thebiggest event in the world, I mean,
you could just Vegas. If youcan dream it, you can do
it. And my joke about thedream was only part tongue in cheek.
But to think that we're putting ontogether the first super Bowl in Las Vegas.
Given the history of the NFL,the history of Las Vegas, I
(16:15):
mean, you can tell me storiesabout how not too many years ago,
the chances of a Super Bowl inLas Vegas were zero, and that math
just doesn't work out. There wasa long ago when the NFL did not
even like Las Vegas. You couldn'teven advertise the casinos. And how things
have just changed now. It's phenomenalwhat's going on. And this won't be
the last Super Bowl in Las Vegaseither. The NFL likes what they you
(16:37):
know, you have, they hadthe rotation. I cannot imagine the NFL
not putting Las Vegas in that rotation. Well, the fact that the NFL
has come out recently and already endorsedthe notion of multiple super Bowls in Las
Vegas, I think speaks to whatthis community, what the city, what
this Southern Nevada region. You know, where they are on the big event
(16:59):
map. And so to give usthat endorsement before we've proven ourselves in real
time says a lot. But italso challenges challenges us a lot to be
as successful as we all know itcan be, right and we know the
details that go into the preparations andthe planning. It's not easy from start
to finish. So if you coulddive into that a little bit more built
(17:21):
in terms of what really would yousay has been something that has stuck out
to you in terms of getting theSuper Bowl set up, specifically with Allegiant
Stadium and how unique that stadium is. There's so many things that stand out,
but I think what stands out tome from my background and experience again
is where we're starting from. Andif you realize that it was only a
(17:45):
few years ago when the NFL finallyreached out to Las Vegas and the conversations
happened between the LVCVA, the leadershipof Las Vegas and the NFL, and
the NFL presented a bid which isprobably this high of obligations and requirements and
(18:07):
you know, if you're to lookat it financially, fifty or sixty million
dollars worth of obligations and requirements frompublic safety, transportation, and the stadium,
which which Chris gave a great overviewin the in the last segment Community
Relations. The list goes on andon, and to see the host committee
(18:29):
and those the leaders in this communitythat are stepping up and engaged to make
sure that Las Vegas presents itself tothe highest standard really stands out now operationally
and logistically what the NFL has todo, not only in putting on the
game, but what the destination hasto do to make sure that all the
(18:51):
pieces work together. It's it's reallyexciting to watch that play out. And
you know, you think of allthe things that have gone on kind of
behind the scenes with preparing for theSuper Bowl, what the host Committee's done,
and you were recently over at UNLVand the internship programs, and I
can't even imagine how excited, howexcited these students must be to be able
to work with the Super Bowl hostCommittee helping prepare for a Super Bowl.
(19:15):
But also Sam was telling us behindthe scenes. Sam Jeoffrey was telling us
behind the scenes that this city hasjust embraced its like no other. It's
it's it impresses upon all of us. I think they're and you know,
when you see what the Golden Knightshave done, what the Aces have done,
what the stadium has meant, andthe Raiders have meant, It's it's
(19:38):
no secret now in the world seesit how this community is a sports community.
Now, Las Vegas and its historyhas been the pre eminent entertainment destination
and that evolution continues. But tonow see, you know this what this
city is from a sports standpoint,It deserves a Super Bowl and many more.
(20:03):
Yeah, the fans want, thefans are excited. Can you tell
us a little bit about some ofthe special fan experiences, activities that are
planned for the stadium and things thatwe can expect maybe an opening night I
think you can tell us. Yeah. So the NFL, of course,
is the one who puts on thegame. Our job is to facilitate and
support and provide and deliver all thoseobligations that Las Vegas has made. But
(20:29):
the opening night event on Monday,February fifth is going to be open to
the public. So it's a greatopportunity for perhaps those who won't have an
access to a ticket to the game. That's a lot of us. They'll
be well, the demand for thoseare high and the supply is low,
so that's no secret. But thefact that both teams will be at Allegiance
(20:53):
Stadium that Monday afternoon. It usedto be in the old day Media Day
where the media would come and talkto the players. Now they're bringing not
only media day so to speak backto the stadium, but it's open to
the public. That's cool, andso that's really cool, and we know
that the community will come out andsupport that. The Super Bowl Experience will
(21:18):
be at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centerand that'll start Wednesday before the game.
The NFL's and the process of planninga lot of little different activities for each
day to make each day special.So that's something to keep an eye on.
I would encourage everybody. The NFLhas this mobile app called one Pass,
which it's actually active now, andwhile it may not have a lot
(21:42):
of information on there, it doeshave some good information about both Opening Night
and the super Bowl experience. That'sreally cool. Our tickets available right now.
They will go on sale December fourteenth, I believe it is. There
should be a pre sale opportunity forthose who are paying attention. So we'll
(22:03):
all have to keep our eye outto the ground inside the huddle inside.
That's right. Bill's bringing us thatinfo. I like that, and obviously
the Super Bowl is bringing out peoplefrom all over the world are going to
be here. Can you talk tous a little bit about the safety precautions
that are being put in place.I think just safety in general at big
events like this are always top ofmind, and I know that you guys
(22:27):
obviously have to be thinking about thosethings. Well, hats off to the
NFL and the Las Vegas, whichboth organizations put or entities put safety at
the highest level of priority. Sothere's no question about that. And it's
one of the luxuries of being inan NFL city because the NFL has a
(22:48):
tight network of security professionals across thecountry and across the world that are in
constant communication what Metro PD is andfor this city already is at the highest
standard. And so when you bringthose two together, it's not only comforting,
but then when you layer on topof that that the Super Bowl will
(23:11):
be a Level one SEER event,which is a Homeland Security designated highest level
security event, which allows federal resourcesto be supplemented to the overall efforts.
So I think there's no higher prioritythan safety, and so's it's good to
(23:32):
see that. Moving forward, Ithink one of the questions could be,
well, what does that mean forthe stadium in the overall experience, because
of the Level one National Security designation. Part of what will have to happen,
and we can't talk too much aboutit, but there will be a
secured perimeter that's built around the stadium, and so I think what people will
(23:57):
see as that starts to get buildbuilt is will be a transformation of the
stadium campus sure, and so thesecurity checkpoints we're for a Raiders game or
an Allegiant Stadium event, people areused to accessing through the checkpoints that are
right up close to the stadium itself, those will all be built out.
(24:21):
And so because of that three hundredfoot perimeter, the parking spaces that are
normally utilized for stadium events are nolonger available for parking, which puts tremendous
pressure on the transportation and parking planbecause there has to be access to the
streets and private lots around the stadiumthat will be used for the transportation plan
(24:48):
and system. So the campus willlook different. Part of our job will
be as it gets built to makesure that we're communicating to people so that
whether you're coming to the game itself, you have an understanding of the best
way to access the stadium, butif you're if you're a resident or a
visitor, and you still have toaccess the roadways. We're going to do
(25:11):
and the NFL is going to doa good job of making sure that those
plans are communicated to try to makeit as smooth an experience as possible.
Well, you know, I thinkin Las Vegas as the it was always
known as the entertainment capital of theworld. And as you mentioned, Bill,
now, we'd like to call thissports and entertainment capital the world.
Have been the entertainment capital of theworld. We've had all these residencies and
(25:32):
Usher and ACDC and Katie Perry andYouTube right now is playing. Did you
guys have any say at all orany recommendations. Did you guys look to
the NFL and say, we've donethis, We've had all these residencies,
all these superstars, do these concertshere, here's a couple of recommendations,
or do they just totally take controlof it. It's an NFL decision.
They have a partnership with Rock Nationand Apple Music, and so I think,
(25:56):
of course we all gave our opinionsand maybe put hope after hope,
but we were many of us werethinking, let's have trust and confidence that
the NFL is going to do theright thing. Hopefully they'll pick somebody and
pay some homage to Las Vegas,right And look, the list of residency
artists over the years is a lotto choose from. But personally, I
(26:18):
think the fact that they've selected somebodywho knows Las Vegas, who is a
big fan of Las Vegas. Idon't know that you can pick a better
ambassador for Las Vegas than Usher.Now. I don't know his music as
well as maybe some other listeners do, but and for me anecdotally, I
didn't hear anybody complaining. Matter offact, you know that he's going to
(26:42):
bring the fun. He was sograteful to be part of this thing.
Is like a dream come true forhim to be part of the Super Bowl.
It's refreshing to see. That's reallycool. Yeah, that's like so
many little details, so many nooksand crannies, And I know, what's
the biggest thing you guys got todo? Still? Now? Is there
something you're saying, oh? Oris it just so mind boggling. That's
(27:04):
a million little things. We talkabout this all the time, and Sam
may have talked about it, oryou may have heard it before I think
without looking at data, and Jeremywill give you some more detail on numbers
and impact and stuff. But wethink there's there's two ways that the Super
Bowl are going to be successful thatare going to be really easy to judge.
(27:25):
One is that those that are cominginto Las Vegas, the NFL,
all of their constituents that that comein experience the Super Bowl are wowed beyond
belief and they leave town and say, Wow, how are we going to
experience something like that anywhere else?And the answer is you can't. The
second the second way is that isthat the Las Vegas community, whether you're
(27:49):
a resident of business, media,anybody that's involved with it, says,
at the end of it, that'show we do it here, and we'd
love to have you back. Andso we're working every day to try to
make sure that those two goals aredelivered upon. I can tell that.
Thank you so much, Bill McConnell'sOh I'm a Las Vegas host committee,
(28:11):
Thank you for being here with ustoday. Thanks for having me, appreciate
it. Welcome back to episode fourInside the Vegas Huddle. My name is
Joanna Bowman with iHeartRadio, and I'mChris Matthews with Channel eight KLSTV right here
in Las Vegas, and we havea special guest. I know you're gonna
love this once again. The treasurerof the super Bowl Host Committee, the
(28:34):
Executive Committee here is Jeremy Aguero.Jeremy, thank you very much for dropping
in. It's always fun to talkto you because I like numbers. I
love Las Vegas, and when wetalk about numbers, Las Vegas and super
Bowl, it all kind of tiesin. It's going to be a huge,
juge event. Well, first,thanks for having me here and the
fact that we get to talk aboutnumbers. Now you're in my zone.
So thanks. We've been looking forwardto following up with you since episode one,
(28:57):
as Jeremy was with us on episodeone, And of course you know
all about the impact of Super Bowlfifty eight here in Las Vegas and US
locals who live here in Las Vegas. We're curious about, you know,
what is the good stuff that comesand what's going to impact local businesses because
I feel like that's always top ofmind for our community. Do you know
what it's happening already right? Imean, we're talking about a super Bowl
(29:19):
is a huge level of investment.Right, probably, at least to date,
the biggest economic event in terms ofa sporting event that we've ever had
in Southern Nevada's history. Anything realquick, not to interrupt you, but
anything ever even remotely compare well tothis. Look you've been here. Yes
there are things that you know,but there are things that last a lot
longer. We have things like theNational Finals rodeo. If we add up
(29:41):
all, for example, of theUFC fights that happened in the community,
big box matches, and granted,do those get to the level of the
super Bowl? The answer that questionis no, There's no doubt this will
be the biggest one. But Imean, we do have a lot of
special events, and those special eventshave a lot of impact, particularly when
you think about many of them happeningthan our community in a single year.
(30:02):
But when you asked the question aboutwhat is the economic impact, right,
it is about jobs. It isabout wages and salaries, It's about economic
output. And from an analyst perspective, those are the things we like to
talk about, right, thousands ofjobs, people spending money in our community.
But if we think about it onthe individual level, right, already
we're seeing the Business connect program essentiallygo out and identify businesses that will be
(30:25):
able to work specifically for the NFLon the Super Bowl in the community.
Right, they have already not onlyjust identified literally hundreds of businesses that will
have an opportunity, but I thinkbeyond that, they're laying a foundation for
the future, right, teaching businessesabout how to apply, how to be
certified as a women a woman owneda better and owned a minority owned business,
(30:47):
which frankly, it was surprising manypeople didn't know that, and so
giving them the opportunity not only towork for this project, to work work
for projects going forward after the SuperBowl leaf. So I think that legacy
of impact is important. But ifyou want to talk about jobs, you
want to talk about wages, salary, you want to talk about economic output.
We are going to have literally overone hundred thousand people. We'll have
(31:08):
three hundred thousand people in town.But you know, and the majority of
them are going to be here becauseof the Super Bowl. Right. They
come here, they spend money,they eat in our restaurants, they shop
in our stores, they do allthose things that is jobs in our community,
right, And so we think aboutit along those lines. But they're
not your typical visitor either, right. These are visitors that spend more,
(31:30):
they stay longer, and so thoseimpacts are also very significant. And for
that expenditure, it is roughly onejob created in as a result of that
spending, and then another job that'screated outside of our hospitality industry. These
are folks that when I earn atip or my wage and salary and I
go back to my neighborhood and Ispend my wages and salary or my tips
(31:53):
in a restaurant or a doctor's office, or I go to a movie,
those are jobs that also been offas a result of that. This is
the reason why communities line up totry and get a Super Bowl to come
to their community, because the economicimpact is just so meaningful, not only
when the event takes place, butleading up to and following that event.
(32:15):
That trickle effect is strong. Yeah, we've always talked about this too,
Jeremy, even before the Super Bowlten fifteen years ago, if you couldn't
go to the super Bowl, thenext best place was Las Vegas. We've
always said that's true. I rememberhow they had the parties, the Super
Bowl parties all around town at thattime. Now, before the NFL got
really strict with Las Vegas, youcould bring in players, former players,
(32:36):
and they had the super Bowl Partyat the Riviera, the super Bowl Party
at the Dunes. Remember all thosethings. And then now it's even during
the Final four. You get thatnow. But well, even before Las
Vegas had a Super Bowl, therewas an impact in our community related to
the Super Bowl well, no doubt. And as a matter of fact,
I am willing to bet you forthe last twenty years we have had more
people in town in Las Vegas forSuper Bowl weekend than any market that has
(33:00):
hosted the Super Bowl. Now,let's imagine that level of excitement. We
are the only community in the UnitedStates that grew up and was designed to
host people. Now, let's bringthat energy and the Super Bowl together.
Get ready, Let's get ready.It's gonna be crazy. Could you.
Let's go back to when David Beckham. Yeah, the David Beckham visited with
Mark Davis over on their UNLB campusand they said, hey, have you
(33:22):
build this helped me build this arena. I'll put the money in and you
put the money in the state andso forth, and it gets done.
Did you ever imagine that Allegiance stateumwould have the impact that it's had on
Las Vegas. The answer that questionis no, right, I mean,
you know, I mean besides thefact that David Beckham's kind of phenomenon,
right, I mean, he maybethe most beautiful human being I've ever met
(33:43):
in my entire life. My wifeis like, what do you mean you
got to be close to David Beckham? Right, that whole thing. Right,
But even when we went through thatprocess, we had this conversation,
right, we estimated, we wentthrough this process of looking at what we
thought it would do for our community, we got about half of what actually
happened there. And you remember allthe criticism that we got. Right,
(34:05):
no stadium anywhere in the United Stateshas ever had more than five percent of
the people they came to that stadiumfrom out of town to go that in
a year, Right, last year, Allegiance Stadium did fifty three percent of
the people that attended events, footballevents and concerts and that were from out
of town. And for some ofthe big events I'm talking about like Taylor
Swift and I'm talking about BTS andI'm talking about Beyonce, ninety percent of
(34:30):
the out of town visitors said theywould not have come to Las Vegas but
for those events being here. Andthey come into town, right, they
come into town and they stay inour hotels and they eat in our restaurants,
and that economic impact is tremendous.And look, there is no doubt
we want every person in that stadiumduring a Raiders game to be a Raiders
fan. But if they can't be, if they're not going to be,
(34:52):
then we can look around and wesee those Steelers fans, and we see
those Philadelphia fans, and we maynot like them, but we like them
in our community. I look aroundand I see eight hundred dollars, eight
hundred dollars, eight hundred dollars foreach one of them. They're coming in
our town and they're spending a lotmore than that. But you go to
our steakhouses the Saturday before a footballgame and they're packed with these people that
(35:13):
are coming to our town and havinga great time. And as silly as
I am about it, we lovehaving them in our community because it's what
works, and this is what wedo, and our ability to welcome folks
and say, you know, youknow, our our favorite team is going
to be the Raiders. But welove having the other teams here in our
community to share our awesome stadium withand to share our awesome community with.
(35:36):
A super Bowl Week is going tobe phenomenal here. I M. I
can't and imagine what because, well, do people spend on average more during
Super Bowl Week? Like if I'mgonna come to a game in Las Vegas
against the Niners or I'm gonna cometo the Super Bowl, I spend the
same or a lot. Oh no, not at all. As a matter
of fact, it's probably three tofive times what you'd see for a normal
visitor. Now, also we havethings like ticket costs and those type of
(35:58):
things. But to put it in, but we're talking about hote hell rooms
and more people spend on special eventsand those type of activities. Let's not
forget that Super Bowl Week is aphenomenon, right, you have all kinds
of business that is going to bedone here because of that. Now,
Allegiant Stadium has a practical capacity,right, So it's not like a sold
out game during the regular season isgoing to have a whole lot more or
(36:19):
fewer people than a sold out gameduring the Super Bowl. But what it
is is going to be a soldout stadium full of VIPs, right,
and the activity that happens around that. And here's the magic of it.
You and I both know that duringa big fight, a big UFC fight,
a big boxing about that, peoplecome that don't even go to the
event. And we're going to havea lot of that. Probably as many
(36:43):
people as go to the super Bowlwill be in town, probably more just
based on our estimates, will actuallybe in town and never actually attend the
game because of all the other specialevents that are going to be going on
around it. That's magical for usfrom an economic standpoint, right. And
let's talk about the infrastructure improvements becauseobviously having no events like this and you're
gonna have to reroute some things,things are gonna have to be changing.
(37:04):
Can you talk to us a littlebit about some of that stuff going on?
Yeah, make it more easy forpeople to get around here, there's
no doubt, right, I mean, roads and those type of things.
We've got a lot of infrastructure goingon, right, I Mean it's almost
hard to find a road in ourcommunity that doesn't have yellow cones or infrastructure.
But so much of that is theinvestment leading up to these major events,
right, I mean, we talkabout it, and yes, it's
(37:27):
caused some pain for some community.I felt that you've all felt it,
certainly the people that work within theresort corridor have felt it legitimately. But
beyond that, right, when youstart to think about the level of investment
that places like Caesars and MGM haveput in to build out a different additional
infrastructure within their facilities, improving hotelrooms, doing some of that thing to
be able to move people. Weoften talk about it about the economic benefits
(37:52):
of the investments that happened before.Something like the Olympics always a great example
of the level of investment that comesin. I'm not saying that we're at
that level, but I'm saying we'renot that far away in terms of the
type of trend that's going into ourcommunity so that we can all benefit,
and I think the benefits of thosethings are going to last a lot longer.
Yes, we're going to have roadwayimprovements. Yes, the folks at
(38:15):
ENDT are actually making modifications to theTropicana Project, which is hugely important to
us to make sure that as muchmobility as possible during these events matter because
what we cannot have happen is haveinfrastructure be the story around the super Bowl.
What happens on the field should bethe number one story, But here
in our community, the economics behindthat should be number two, right.
(38:37):
I mean that's a great point.Jarre. Let me ask you, is
you think of all the things thatcome to Las Vegas, especially this fall
going into the winter, when youhave Formula One, the NBA Showcase,
then of course the super Bowl.Is that gonna affect the Super Bowl at
all in terms of numbers that Iknow that one's mostly international travelers, a
lot of international money coming in there. Will it affect the Super Bowl?
(38:59):
And your opinion at all? Whatkind of data you see? I don't
think that it does at all.What we've seen is that as we have
grown as a sports market, thathas been additive. And here's the other
kind of secret sauce for us,is that when you host your event here,
more people come to your event.So, whether it's an equestrian event
(39:20):
that's maybe taking place at the SouthPoint, whether it's the NBA a summer
league, or the Showcase, whetherit's a major boxing match, what we
found is that people come to LasVegas because the event is happening here more
so than anywhere else in the UnitedStates. And so not only do I
believe that it's not going to havea diminishing effect, I think it could
(39:43):
have an additive effect. Now,the asterisk next to that is we have
to perform as a community. Wehave to deliver on the promise that the
Las Vegas brand knows what it's doing. Mobility needs to be there. We
need to have volunteers that have theright attitude and have the knowledge. We
need to have these businesses show upand make sure that everybody from the players
to the fans to the owners havethe best experience here that they've ever had.
(40:07):
We have to deliver on that LasVegas brand. If we fail to
do that, there will be negativeramifications as a community. So we're not
We're not a guy that's say ifI if I'm a guy that says I
have one thousand dollars of extra money, do I want to go to the
Super Bowl? Do I want togo to F one? I want to
do both, but I can't.What are you saying there? This is
this is the beautiful thing, right, This is the beautiful thing for us,
(40:29):
is that you know there's a lotof people in this world that have
somehow if it becomes a choice,right, people make a choice, and
we're seeing it in our community allthe time. Right, people save up
to go for the Super Bowl,Like you know, they they say,
look, if my team makes it, I don't care. I'm gonna make
(40:51):
my air. I'm gonna go getit done. And so we'll see that
when we get through the championship gamesto get us to the super Bowl,
to get us there. But wehave a lot of sports fans, right,
and we also have things like UltimateSports Weekends. We've got an NFL
game and an NHL game, andwe've got NASCAR that we can and we've
got a UFC fight. And yeah, people may not come to all of
(41:12):
those things. They may not cometo every concert. That's the beauty of
Vegas. One event doesn't affect thedecisions on another bit, and we have
not seen them at all. Yeah, I think Vegas is such a big
town in terms of like first becauseif you live in Vegas or you've grown
up in Vegas, you want tosay I was a part of the first
whatever, right, And I feellike people who have been a part of
the Vegas community forever. They wantto add that to their list. Super
(41:36):
Bowl fifty eight, look at howthey line up. We open a new
hotel casino right out the door downthe street. I want to be a
part of it. And isn't thatkind of a cool thing to have in
our community? As we're sitting hereright thinking about where we were seven eight
years ago before we even had someof the sports that we have today,
and we're talking about all of thefirst that we're having and now those type
(41:57):
of things, those investments and thingslike UFC, the Golden Knights taking a
chance, come here and say talk, you will never work in the desert.
Right, you have allegiant stadium thatwas constructed and open during a pandemic.
Right, all that kind of stuff. One October and here we are
with all of these amazing first thatwe're doing here. And again, I
think this community is going to exceedevery expectation. You know, I asked
(42:20):
Jeremy this I think was in Septemberour first podcast. Yeah, let me
ask you again and tell our maybethey missed the first podcast. But is
all this sustainable? Well, look, sustainability is always a difficult thing.
My brief answer your question is goingto be yes, and why because we
have the ability. We have onehundred and fifty thousand hotel rooms with three
hundred thousand leisure and hospitality and relatedworkers. We have Harry Reid International Airport,
(42:44):
which is about three times five timesthe size it is needed for a
community like Cards. It is builtfor our tourism economy and all. This
is what we are designed to do. So from a sustainability standpoint, it
is all about our ability to deliveron the brand. We talk about the
VAGA. We have to deliver onthat Vegas brand, and I believe we'll
do it. I think we will, And there's nobody else I don't know
(43:06):
about you, Chris, I getsme more excited than this guy. Cherkey
and Aguero Charger of the Super Bowlfifty eight Executive Committee, thank you for
being here with us, Episode four. We appreciate you. We look forward
for him to come back. Dowi, Chris, I love Hey, Jeremy,
I love the numbers. We alllove Vegas and we love the numbers.
And that it's just like you weresaying, Las Vegas is special place.
If I have fifty bucks, I'mgoing to Vegas. If I have
(43:27):
five hundred Bucks. I'm going toVegas. I'm gonna do both things.
That is exactly right. Thank youso much for having me. Thank you
to the Super Bowl fifty eight HostCommittee sponsors, Caesar's Entertainment, inter Mountain
Health, Howard Hughes, and samManuel Band of Mission. Indians would also
like to thank our partners MGM Rewards, Allegiant, usc, PNC Bank,
(43:52):
fivo iHeartMedia, and Bank of Nevada
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