January 23, 2024 • 34 mins
This week on Inside The Vegas Huddle Jeremy Aguero, Treasurer of the Super Bowl LVIII Executive Committee, joins us to discuss new ways that the Las Vegas economy is benefitting from activity that the big game is bringing. Then Jack Groh, NFL Green Director & Susan Groh, NFL Green Associate Director are with us to talk about the NFL Green initiatives as a part of Super Bowl preparations in Las Vegas. Finally, Alberto Jasso, Director of Strategic Philanthropy at San Manuel Band of Mission Indians & John Dorn, Senior Manager of Sustainability at Verizon discuss their involvement with a number of Super Bowl philanthropic and sustainability initiatives.
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Episode Transcript
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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. Thisepisode, Chris, is going to be
a lot of fun, a lotof interesting stuff we're about to learn here.
Well, we've been doing this forwhat like six months now as we
count down to Super Bowl fifty eight. Inside the Vegas Huddle, we're almost
a Super Bowl fifty eight and oneof my favorite guests is here. We
talk numbers, and that's always funbecause when you talk numbers in Vegas,
it's always seems to be positive.We love it. Jeremy Aguero, Welcome
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back. We are so excited tohave you here with us today to talk,
like Chris said, all things numbers, because you were the guy in
town to go to for that stuff. Oh, thank you, appreciate it.
Glad to be here. Jeremy Agarro, Treasurer of the Super Bowl fifty
eight Executive Committee. Now, someof the things we do want to talk
about today is the long term impactof Super Bowl fifty eight right here in
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Las Vegas, so to get thingskind of started. What are you currently
seeing, even though the super Bowlhasn't happened yet, What are you currently
seeing right now in terms of changesto come for the city of Las Vegas.
Well, I think there's going tobe a few long term impacts that
are going to be really important.First and foremost, there's a lot of
capital that's gone in to prepare forthe super Bowl. A lot of improvements
the hotels and casinos have been pushedforward relative to that, and that's really
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good for us. Overall. We'vealso done we're talking before the show just
about some of the transportation that's beingdone out there. We've made a ton
of transportation improvements. Some of themwere for the super Bowl, but some
of them were really pushed forward totry and be ready for this incredible series
of events that we have, includingthe super Bowl as part of all that.
But beyond that, there's some impactsthat I think are going to be
much longer lasting. Right. Notonly that, I think there's a piece
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of just being a super Bowl city. Right. They talked about it a
lot in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteenabout having an NFL Stadium, this being
a possibility and what that meant forus, this idea of the rising tide
lifting all boats, and I thinkwe're already seeing it. The amount of
exposure that we've gotten around the superBowl is pretty terrific. And for a
community that's trying to attract forty millionvisitors every year plus, to be on
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a stage where you know one hundredmillion people plus are going to be watching
you is a pretty big deal overall. And that brings me to the sort
of this third longer term component,which is really the exposure element to it
overall. Right, the idea thatlook at the LVCVA leaning into it,
look at the resort industry leaning intoit. This is pretty great for us
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in terms from a marketing perspective,and frankly, nobody does it better than
Vegas in terms of talking about whowe are and really developing on that brand.
Beyond that, if there's a fourthelement that I would really point to,
it would be the business element that'sgoing to be left behind when the
super Bowl is gone. Those businessesthat we're able to be identified and participate
in the bus Connect program are goingto have a leg up going forward,
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right gonna have some of them aregonna have the Super Bowl on their resume,
and let's be honest that that mattersin today's world. Others are going
to be able to have gone througha system to be registered as a minority,
woman owned business, a veteran ownedbusiness. They may not have had
the opportunity to do, or maynot have had someone help them through that
process, and today they did.And when I think you, when I
think you, you you you lookat businesses like Maeshius who's running that and
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now her footprint all over the UnitedStates is a result of what we're doing
here, right, I think thatlegacy is going to carry on long after
February eleventh. I love that,you know, Jeremy, it seems like
we judge events by the cost ofthe hotel rooms during that event. Cees
and you know, the F oneand so forth. Super Bowl is run
up there with all those big ones, and that gives you an idea of
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what Las Vegas can charge and doas a whost city. I don't think
there's any doubt about it, right. I mean, let's let's be clear,
we have capacity for about three hundredand twenty thousand people to be in
Las Vegas on any given night,three hundred and twenty thousand people. The
people that will actually attend the superBowl is not that different than what Allegiance
Stadium can normally hold somewhere between fiftyfive and sixty five thousand people, depending
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kind of how it's configured. Soyou we understand that there are people that
are descending upon Las Vegas just becausethe super Bowl is here. They're not
even going to go to the superBowl, but they're coming for meetings,
They're coming to be part of theparties that are here. All of those
type of things is what makes itso magical. We we always like to
talk about the fact that the factthat even when we don't have the super
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Bowl, there are more people cominghere for the super Bowl than are going
to where the super Bowl is.We love to talk about that it's a
great Las Vegas stat But here nowwhat we've seen is that's even greater than
it was before because we've got folksand let's be honest, there's fifty five
to sixty five thousand VIPs that aregoing to be in that building during Super
Bowl, but we have all kindsof folks that are coming here because It
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is going to be the greatest partyon planet Earth during that week. It's
where the celebrities are going to bein, the players are going to be
and you know, the media isgoing to be thousands of media folks are
going to be around the city andthe number of events is just unbelievable.
When you think about things like NFLHonors and you think about the Soulful Celebration
and all those things, They're allgoing to happen here in Southern Nevada.
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And I think it's a big dealfor us, absolutely, and the momentum
obviously there right now leading up toit. But Jeremy talk to us a
little bit about the strategies that needto kind of be in place to keep
that momentum up after the super Bowlhappens. Yeah, Look, I mean
you have to sort of point tothe LVCVA in all of that, right,
I Mean, none of this happenswithout them and the resort industry making
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it happen and their ability to kindof carry that forward. As we talk
about that, right, what isthe most important thing to come out of
the Super Bowl? The best fanexperience anyone ever could have had, the
people coming to Vegas us delivering onthe promise and the possibility I think is
incredibly important. Beyond that, we'dlike to see some of the tax numbers
come out where we'd like to seethose be Obviously, there's a lot of
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events taking place that are to pumpup things like liven or dayment tax get
out to pump up things like theretail SAE and use tax and room tax
and those type of things, andthose go to fund everything from our schools
to public safety to roadways, thosetype of things. These major events are
really important to bolstering some of thosenumbers. And then I think you have
to look at the social and environmentalside. Right The NFL is so socially
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conscious relative to what it does andthe things that are important to the players
and the fans and the NFL andits owners. And I think whether it's
them planting trees or going to schoolsor going to hospitals, having the NFL
here and raising awareness about things thatwe need to do from an environmental standpoint,
water, things that we need todo from an education standpoint, and
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the schools that could really use sometime and attention. I think those things
matter to us and will last alot longer than this first super Bowl here
in southern Nevada. Yeah, andyou mentioned this first super Bowl. We
don't have the super Bowl with thatAllegiant Stadium, and here in Las Vegas
with Allegiant Stadium, it's open thedoors for all sorts of things. And
this won't be the last super Bowleither. I hope not, and I
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think that that's really the case.Do you think about Allegiance Stadium and you'd
look. You and I were therefor the whole process and what we expected
Allegiance Stadium to be. It isabout doubled what we anticipated it to be.
In terms of economic impacts. Jobs, we just salaries activity that are
happening, and in terms of thefiscal impacts, the impacts on our community,
it's been unbelievable in terms of theinvestment we made versus the return on
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that investment that we're getting as acommunity. And I'll be honest with you,
man, when we were going throughthat process, we knew we were
going to get the Raiders. Wellyou know, the super Bowl was we
really hope we can get that.But then all of these concerts that have
been there, right, You've gotBeyonce and Taylor Swift and BTS. I
mean, look, people are comingto Las Vegas just to go see those
concerts that are there. I meansome ninety percent of the folks that are
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in those stands are people to sayI would not have come to Las Vegas
but for that event. And whenwe talk about people wanting to get experiences
and you build a venue where youcan deliver unbelievable experiences to them, including
a Super Bowl, Wow, whatdoes that do for us? It means
room rates are going up. Itmeans people are spending more in our restaurants.
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It means that they're going to moreshows and doing more things in our
community. And those dollars that aregetting spent aren't just on the strip.
Right. We just saw the CulinaryUnion get the biggest set of raises that
they ever got. That is partbecause our gaming properties are doing so well.
We just saw our teachers get amongthe biggest raises they've ever seen.
That's because we just put two billiondollars into K through twelve education. And
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whether people want to draw the relationshipto it or not, what is driving
our economy today are these special eventsand the increase in spending that we've seen
as a result of those generating moretaxes and creating more opportunities not just for
our strip operators, but for smallbusinesses, big businesses, and families across
our entire community. Yeah, andI like that you said that because I
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think oftentimes, like we know whenbig events come to town, we know
what industries are automatically going to seethat economic return, that sometimes we don't
think about the smaller sectors, thesmaller industries that are also going to be
affected by the money that's coming in. I think it's so important, And
you know, we take we usethe term bisconnect in the program that's there
and what it kind of means.But you know what, I like to
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say that all economics is personal.Right for that small business that gets that
first start, that gets that firstjob, for that business that gets to
put the Super Bowl on their resume, that is a life changing, career
changing experience for that person, andthose interns and those volunteers that get to
do something along those lines. Imean, wow, I mean what an
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experience To say I was part ofthe biggest event in Las Vegas history matters,
and it matters economically to those businesses, and I think it matters to
our community on a social community pridelevel. Surely no Jeremy grew up here
in Las Vegas, so he cananswer this question. This city has such
a it's a big city at asmall town. I got your back,
you got my back. There wereso many volunteers that volunteered, that came
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forward and said, hey, Iwant to help with this event Super Bowl
fifty eight that it was so impressive. Sam Joffrey talks about that all the
time, how this community everybody justcame forward volunteering. I want to ball,
I can help, I can do, what can I do? What
can you do? That's that's thespirit of Vegas. There is no doubt,
right, And I think you haveto give some credit to the Super
Bowl host committee and all these peoplethat came together to make this happen.
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Right, I mean, think aboutwho is running our volunteer program here.
One, it's Stow Shoemaker, theformer dean and current professor, was my
professor at UNLV right, and thenPatty Charlton, right, the chancellor of
the university system, is the onewho is helping make sure that our volunteer
system works. You tell me abetter group of folks to have in our
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community helping to make those things happen. Right. We have the best minds
in marketing, we have the bestminds in hotel operations, we have the
best time minds in traffic management.All that came together. Not one person
said no, I'm not interested indoing that. Right, overseeing traffic and
traffic and transportation management is Commissioner MichaelKnaft, Right. I mean, this
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guy's got a few other things goingon. He is out there, shows
up to every meeting and says,here's what we're gonna do to make sure
that this works. Right. Thatis how a community comes together, and
that is why this community is gonnabe so successful again our first Super Bowl.
I love it, Love the momentumthat Jeremy brings to the podcast.
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Thank you so much Jeremy for stoppingbye. We appreciate you. On Mark.
One more real quick question because wedidn't ask Jeremy this last time because
he hasn't been around for a while. The halftime show, Usher, what
do you think? Look, firstof all, I am not fair because
I'm a huge Usher fan, right, So look, I can't wait for
it. I think he's just gonnahe's gonna blow it up. And I
think it's gonna be amazing and Ithink it's gonna be great for us as
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a community. But again, I'mprobably not the right guy. I don't
think that guy has ever put anythingout that I didn't think it was fantastic.
That is so true, so true. Thank you, Jeremy Guerra.
I appreciate you. Thank you all. Right now, next we are pleased
to welcome Jack Grow who is theNFL Green Director, and Susan Grow,
NFL Green Associate Director. Privileged tohave you guys here in studio today and
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to talk about NFL Green. Andyou guys have seen so many super Bowls?
Was it thirty or thirty one?What separates the Las Vegas one in
your own eyes, from what youguys are doing from all the other ones.
I think there's two really unique thingsabout Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
Well, first of all, it'sthe first time you've had a Super Bowl
in Las Vegas, so that's alwaysa big deal. There are a number
of cities who've had multiple Super Bowlsand not that it's not a big deal,
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but you know, they kind ofget used to it if you've hosted
a lot of Super Bowls. Buthaving it be here for the first time
does two things. Number One,it energizes the whole community because it's new,
it's unique. Nobody here has everseen a Super Bowl, you know,
up close in their own community.So it creates this enthusiasm and that's
really helped the projects that we workon in terms of getting people engaged.
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People want to come out as soonas they hear Super Bowl. It doesn't
matter if we're planting trees, itdoesn't matter if we're building gardens, doesn't
matter what we're doing. They hearSuper Bowl and they want to be involved.
So I think that that's one ofthe most unique things around here.
Is there anything else? I thinkThe other thing that's been really fun is
we've been here now for Pro Bowl, in the Draft, so we have
deep ties to this community already,which has been really fun engaging around Super
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Bowl. Because we already have thoserelationships. People know us, They're ready
to jump in on the community greeningproject, super kids, super sharing,
everything else we're doing. So niceto have those relationships in place and really
know who we want to be workingwith, and we know which restaurants to
eat in we do. I lovethat. Now, let's dive in a
little bit deeper into the NFL greeninitiatives. Can you provide an over view
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of you know, just I knowyou guys do so much, but a
little sample of what you're doing thisyear in years past. Oh, I
talked about the overview of the programa little bit, and then we can
focus on the green specifically. Yeah, I mean in terms of the program.
You know, Chris already mentioned it. You know, the NFL was
the first professional sports organization thirty yearsago started to look at the environmental impact
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of what happens when they go intoa community. And since then we do
a lot around recycling, around materialrecovery, around food recovery, around renewable
energy, and I think it's beenSue can talk more about this, but
we started a look at legacy,and that's what the greening is for us.
It's all about legacy. So that'sthe way we leave our kind of
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leave our mark in the community.Right, So we create a green legacy
here. So the communities that hostthese great events like Las Vegas for Super
Bowl, once we're gone, oncethe game is gone, we want to
make sure that we've done something reallypositive and we've left something really great in
the community. So we create alot of community greening projects and those are
everything from planting trees, to buildingcommunity gardens to restoring habitat and years from
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now when we come back, thosethings will still be in place. So
that's the legacy part of Super Bowland this year for Super Bowl fifty eight
in Las Vegas, we've done Bythe time Super Bowl gets here, we
will have implemented our fourteen different communitygreening projects. We've been everywhere from Warm
Springs to Henderson, City of LasVegas, everywhere in between. Clark County
has been a fantastic partner. We'vedone a lot of projects with Clark County
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Parks and some really unique ones goingback to the really to the long term
relationship we've had here just a fewyears, but our partners, we've been
able to tie some of those projectstogether. So we worked with Clark County
Wetlands Park around Pro Bowl and theDraft and we planted a bunch of trees
and plants out of the Wetlands.Next year we came back and we greened
up their new nature play corner,put in trees and pollinator plants there.
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And then this year we came backand kind of tied it all together and
planted out their trailhead loop, whichactually connects those two areas. So it's
nice to see that continuing impact andsee that we're able to continue building on
that green legacy. That's amazing.What's been the response from the community with
what you guys are trying to dothe initiatives, the sustainability initiatives as you
kind of related to Super Bowl fiftyeight, Well, like I mentioned before,
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Chris, you know, because it'sso unique and super Bowl such a
big name and such a big draw, the reaction from the community's been terrific.
We've got lots of partners here.We've worked with lots of nonprofit organizations
that have worked with us on thecommunity greening. We've we've got a big
military event, which which may soundlike it's outside of sustainability, but we're
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doing an event called Salute to Servicewhere we bring in about one hundred and
fifty active and former military folks andwe show a documentary film. And the
documentary film is about a project thatNFL did a couple of years ago with
retired combat divers to restore a coralreef off the coast of Florida, and
we brought in marine scientists, andwe brought in some funding from federal agency
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state agencies to make that project happen. It's something that was so unique to
the world of sports. So allthese kinds of things energize the community to
bring people forward and they just wantto be involved because they know that you
know, I hate to say it, but it may be a once in
a lifetime thing for some folks tohave a Super Bowl here, although a
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lot of folks are telling us superBowls coming back, but we don't know
what. I think. Also,beyond just the you know, engaging with
the county and parks and our nonprofitpartners here, it's been fun to see
the community come out and engage aroundthese things. We talked about the Warm
Springs project. We revitalized two acresof land up there to its native habitat.
People drove that hour up to WarmSprings to volunteer to come out and
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help. We've had volunteers at allof our greening events. Last I think
just yesterday, we were up atCaesarshabaz Park doing a project and some of
the volunteers told us this was theirthird or fourth time volunteering. So they've
kind of been following us and saying, oh, this was really fun.
We brought the family out to planttrees. Let's go do it again.
Oh. I love that. Wehope then the legacy from that will be
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that after we're gone, they'll stillplant trees and keep going. I was
going to ask you next, Yeah, but the long term objectives of something
like this, But like you said, people have, you know, this
shared experience, and usually together witha shared experience, is that passion,
right, They want to do moreto make their community, to make the
environment in this world just a betterplace. So you really kind of bring
energy almost to our community. Ilove that, and that's been a really
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fun part to see people come outand engage. I also think it's important
for people to know what's going onwith the environment, especially in the desert
Southwest. It's getting hotter and hotterhere. And if we're out there planting
trees and we can shine the SuperBowl spotlight on the importance of that,
people know that we need to startdoing things to cool things down a bit,
you know, create some shade andsome cooling. Look at those urban
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heat island areas. That awareness thingis Big, Sue. I'm glad you
mentioned that because everybody, everybody inthis country and worldwide too, are going
to see Super Bowl, but they'realso going to see all those feature stories
about what's going on in Nevada,in Clark County and around Super Bowl.
And I think one of the mostimportant things is they'll see what the environmental
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issues are here because they're different.They're different here than they are let's say,
in Michigan or in Massachusetts or somewhereelse, but it affects everybody in
the country. And if they don'tbegin to realize now, you know,
I mean what happens when folks inNew York are paying twelve dollars ahead for
lettuce and they say, why didthis happen? Well, you have to
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look at what the environmental issues arecountrywide and if we don't address those countrywide.
So having all this happen in theLas Vegas area in Clark County really
creates awareness about those issues too.They're not just local issues. They may
seem like it, but there areissues that are gonna affect everybody in the
country. Yeah, you know,I kind of wonder too. You guys
have been doing this for so manyyears. Have you had a chance to
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go back to some of those earlyyears or you see you planet, that's
right thing and yeah yeah, andyou plant the garden, the trees,
and now you say, wow,look what thirty years, Look what twenty
five years did We're grateful that wewere here at the beginning. Yeah,
yeah, we've done that. Yeahyeah, And it is fun to go
back and see that those little seedlings, those smaller trees you put in are
now big and kids are sitting underthose trees and they're shade you know for
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those kids. And we do targetareas that are really in need, so
we look at low income, disadvantagedareas for trees, for community gardens,
for habitat restoration. So it reallydoes have a positive impact. And it
is fun to go back and look. I think we get so busy working
project to project because we don't justdo Super Bowl, we do Draft and
you know, Kickoff and Pro Bowl. Yeah, but it's nice when you
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can step back and when you goback to those communities and you can see
how well things are doing well.You know, we prime the pump for
that too, because all the grantsthat we give out for community greening,
Yeah, have a provision in therethat part of what the organization has to
agree to is that they'll provide aminimum of two years of care and maintenance
for whatever the project is, becausewe don't want to go into a community
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and let's say, you know,plants one hundred trees in a park and
then come back a year later andsee a bunch of dead sticks in the
ground. So we haven't had anywe haven't had any issues here because the
folks here who are working with usreally do want to create legacy projects.
But it's something that we always lookat when we put the RFP out for
a grant. It's built right in, you know, it's baked right into
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that show proposal that there has tobe a plan given to us that shows
that it'll be at least two yearsof care because most of the planting projects,
whether it's landscaping projects, whether it'strees or even community guards, if
you take real good care of himfor two years, they're going to be
well established and then they should,but the first two years are the sensitive
part of it. Yeah, Imean, that's great information to know that
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you kind of set that standard upfront for community, right and for an
initiative is that maintenance right, it'sjust not okay, we're doing it now
because the spotlights on the Super Bowl. No, you guys need to make
sure that this continues for a fewyears and powerful we choose really good partners.
So we've looked broadly into the community. We rely a lot on the
host committee to kind of lead usin the right direction. We find those
partners that have a really good reputationhere and we know that they're going to
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be carrying on that good work,and we look at things beyond planning trees.
We make sure there's irrigation in placeand the writings will be maintained going
forward. Absolutely. Roger Goodell getsout to a lot of these events,
doesn't he. Yeah, what wasthe event he was had? Yeah,
Kim in North Las Vegas. Yeah, he's been a great supporter. You
know, over the years, thisprogram grew from in nineteen ninety three,
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it was just a small experimental restingproject for Super Bowl twenty eight in Atlanta,
and that's that's how we started.And it was the first recycling project
ever done in a sports facility inNorth America. Wow. You know,
nobody ever looked at the environmental impactand it's grown and to not just registrated,
but all of the top leadership atNFL over the years has been supportive
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when we've gone and said, look, maybe we should expand into this,
Maybe we should expand into this,maybe we need to look at food recovery,
material recovery, renewable energy, communitygreening. And there's always been the
support there to grow the program andto more and more get more responsible for
the impact that we have in acommunity. And that includes those legacy items
that you know, we could getby easily without those, but now that
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we've we've sort of gotten into that, gotten our fingers into that, it's
just become sort of standard operating procedure. Now we go to a community and
we want to leave it better thanwe found it. And you're right,
the commissioner has been out there,you know, pushing wheelbarrow planting trees with
us. He gets right into thiswith us, which is great. Yeah,
we put them to work. Yeahyeah, yeah, Now that is
a great information. And I loveto think about the lasting impact that NFL
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Green will have in our community righthere in Las Seguess. I think a
lot of people probably don't realize thatwhen like you were saying that the game
comes into its city, but there'sso much more that goes on bese I
mean, the small business owners thatget an opportunity to do things. It's
more than just a game, likeyou were mentioning, Jack, Oh yeah,
yeah, it's tremendous. And that'swhy, going all the way back
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to the very first thing that wetalked about about how unique it is for
a city to have Super Bowl forthe first time and to get to see
that it's not just a football game. I mean, it's a great football
game, but it's such a bigthing and such an impact for so many
folks in the community. I'm gladyou mentioned the business piece of it too,
because that is that Business connect programis just and you know it works
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hand in hand between the NFL andthe host committee to make that happen.
But what an impact that has onsmall local businesses that really need to learn
a couple of things that need tolearn how do you contract? How do
you get a contract with the bigevent that comes into town. And what
they learn around Super Bowl is goingto apply to everything. It'll apply to
Formula One, it'll apply to NBAAll Star, it will apply to the
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Major League Baseball All Star They've learnedhow to contract with big events, and
that again is another legacy project thatcontinues a little bit different from the greening
piece of it, but again it'sa legacy that you leave behind. Awesome.
Well, thank you very much foryour information today, Jack Grow,
Susan Grow, NFL Green, Thankyou so much for being a part inside
the Vegas Huddle. Thank You're welcome, Thank you. Chris all right,
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welcome back. We're excited to talksuper Bowl fifty eight inside the Vegas Huddle
continues. And you know what's reallycool, Joannie, as we have a
couple of people here that are reallyinvolved with Super Bowl fifty eight, the
initiatives, the green initiatives, andreally sponsors of this big game that's happening
here in Las Vegas. So Joanna, go ahead and introduce our two guests.
Yes, you're two special guests instudio right now. Alberto hasco director
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of Strategic Philanthropy at San Manuel Bandof Mission Indians. Well, welcome,
thank you so much for having me. Thank you. And we also have
John Dorn, Associate director of Sustainabilityat Verrise and welcome. Thanks for having
me. Well, we are veryexcited to get talking with you guys and
kind of discuss your support of theLas Vegas Super Bowl host Committee. But
I'd love to start it off byyou guys both introducing yourselves and letting us
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know what you do for your organization. Yeah, well, definitely, I'll
go ahead and get started. Myname's Alberto Hasselm, the director of Strategic
Philanthropy with the Seminal Abandoned Mission Indians. I have the honor to represent a
fairly recognized Indian tribe that's based outof southern California. We're the first tribe
to own and operate a casuno herein Las Vegas gaming history, which we're
really excited about. But with that, not only are we a business community
(25:41):
member, but we're also a communitypartner. When we were thinking about coming
to Las Vegas, we really wantedto make sure that we brought our tribal
values and principle. So I havethe opportunity to represent their philanthropy arm.
So the tribe over the past twentyyears has awarded over three hundred and fifty
million dollars in charitable investment. Wow. And with that significant investment, of
course, comes a lot of stewardshipresponsibility. It comes with a lot of
(26:04):
working with different community organizations, understandingthe needs and so forth. So myself
and my team have the opportunity torepresent Semonel and their philanthropic investments. Oh,
that's wonderful. And John, Yeah, I'm John Dorn. I'm the
associate director and the Sustainability Group atVerizon and my team is over the Sustainable
Business Integration Team, and so partof that entails the employee engagement piece,
(26:27):
which ties directly into NFL Green andour efforts to get with NFL Green for
Super Bowl. That's awesome. Letme ask both of you guys, how
fun is it? How great hasit been just to be involved in Super
Bowl fifty out of the city's justbuzzing, it's close now, a couple
of weeks away, and as wecount down to February eleventh, How great
has it been for your company tobe involved in this? Yeah? For
(26:48):
us at Semonol, it's been aunique opportunity. It's a great opportunity for
us to participate, and even forus too, it's an opportunity. One
of our values at Semonol is unity, and I think with the Super Bowl
when you think about it leading upto the big Game, all the pre
events, the post events that willhappen, and even to the long term
impact. It's an opportunity to bringpeople together. And we see this as
(27:10):
an initiative for us to again bringthe nonprofits together, bring us as Salmon
will bring Verizon, even us justhere in this room. It's a good
opportunity for us to again come together. So when we think about this,
we think about not only our shortterm wins, but also in the long
run. We're working with people thatotherwise we probably wouldn't. We're probably in
the same business, but we don'treally talk, but now we are,
so we're excited. I love that, John, Yeah, I love doing
(27:34):
this. So we've been doing thiswith the NFL Green for several years.
But the great thing about it iswe started back in October doing events and
getting to be involved with the community, seeing the efforts, sustainable efforts across
the board, and you know,fourteen or fifteen different events all of leading
up to the Super Bowl. It'sreally exciting to see that and see how
to be involved and be a partof it. And honestly, you have
(27:56):
to feel good. If you don'tfeel good about doing events like this,
there's something wrong, right, Soso no, it's really good to see
the impact on the community and thedifferent groups get to work with, how
thankful they are forwarded. They reallyappreciate, you know, the efforts to
go in and you know, it'sit's definitely an advantage for them, absolutely,
OLBERTA. I wanted to ask yourecently, sand Menuel Ban of Mission
(28:18):
Indians donated two million dollars to theLas Vegas Super Bowl host Committee programming.
Tell us about that contribution and howit came to be. Yeah, most
definitely. You know, for usat a Minola, when we think about
it philanthropy, we're always thinking aboutcollective impact. And again, as I
was sharing a little bit earlier,we saw this in an opportunity to share
our tribal values and principles and reallyfollow our our one of our models,
(28:41):
which is principal philanthropy, right,and what that means to us is again
bringing people together. But we alsosaw this as a holistic opportunity to do
a few things. Number one thanNFL Green initiatives, that's a very important
initiative for us as a tribal community, sewardship, being good sources of the
land, of the environment, theanimals, and the people. That's something
that aligns with us. The unovinternships that are also being offered to first
(29:04):
time students to work behind the scenes, the Business connect program, that's another
audience that is also captured. Andlastly too, the Grand Awards that we're
going to be able to awards adifferent community organization, both micro grants but
also long term grants. And againfor us, we see as a collective
impact opportunity and with our two milliondollar investment, we're seeing the benefits of
our investment. That has also beingleverage with the NFL Foundation, with Verizon
(29:29):
and a few other flks. Sothat's what it means to us. Jo
Let me ask you collaborating with theSuper Bowl. From Verizon standpoint, what's
the main goal? What do youguys hope to achieve. So our primary
goal at Verizon is the planning treesand that ties to urban forestry as far
as reforestation efforts as well. Soall the events that we have with NFL
Green all tied to that and allties to one of our goals. So
(29:51):
we have a goal of planning twentymillion trees by twenty thirty at Verizon,
and so all the events that wedo with NFL Green and Community all tied
to that and go towards that objective. And in addition to that, we
also get to form partnerships with alot of the different organizations we work with,
and that continues on after the SuperBowl, So it's an opportunity for
employees to get involved with volunteer events, but again to strengthen those partnerships.
(30:11):
Hopefully some of those twenty million treeswill be implanted here in Las Vegas,
because we certainly need more green here. Right. I love that. Now,
John, you mentioned earlier when youwere doing your introductionhit that Verizon and
the NFL have had a partnership fora long time. How long does that
go back? Yeah, So it'san interesting story for that. So NFL
Green was looking for another company thathad strong sustainable initiatives and goals and in
(30:34):
their research they found Verizon was oneof the companies they're interested in. They
reached out to us directly and soit's been a great partnership started back in
twenty thirteen with them. So thefirst time we met with them, we
immediately realized there was a lot ofthe same sustainable initiatives and goals on both
sides. So we knew it wasgoing to be a good, good partnership.
So again start in twenty thirteen,and it continues to be a strong
(30:56):
partnership moving forward. That's wonderful,I guess to collaborate from both. I
mean you hear from John with theplant and the trees and twenty million around
the country, and how that continues. These super Bowl cities are getting are
really benefited. One thing that I'vebeen so impressed with, and I've really
realized that this happens until the SuperBowl comes to a host city is all
the extra curricular, all the LIKEIthe green initiatives doing this, the volunteers,
(31:19):
how people like you say, cometogether in unit. That's been really
positive, isn't it? Yeah?Most deftely, And I think also too
just even just when you think aboutthis weekend. Right on Saturday, we
were at the Las Vegas Indian Center. You had tribes all throughout Nevada.
You had the Inner Tribal Council ofNevada those here. You had tribes that
came out from northern Nevada to cometo this gathering. And for us as
(31:40):
a tribal community. We also sawthis as an opportunity to uplift Indian country.
And when I talk about Indian country, I talk about all the tribal
governments that are here in Nevada,but also all throughout the United States,
and we were seeing that. Yesterdaywe were a Caesar job As Park,
another great park that we were ableto again plant the trees. Verizons was
there. But again, we're alsousing this as an opportunity to really speak
(32:01):
on behalf of the communities that wehave here in Las Vegas, and I
think that's one thing that we're reallyenjoying with this partnership. Yeah, that's
pretty incredible. And one last question, the legacy. Obviously we know how
important Super Bowl fifty eight is goingto be right here in Las Vegas,
but the legacy for your organizations,what are you guys most excited about?
(32:21):
Okay, So the legacy we liketo leave behind is the impact of the
communities from the variety of sustainability events, including the trees that are planted.
So since our partnership began with NFLback in twenty thirteen, we've had over
one hundred and fifty different community eventsand planned over two hundred and seventy four
thousand trees with NFL Green alone,So it's been amazing to do that.
And not only that, again,it enhances our partnerships with the different organizations
(32:45):
across the city for the future,and it's also something that we use as
we move forward with NFL Green andother host cities as well. Definitely,
yeah, And I think for usthat's em and I think the legacy we
want to leave is that, inaddition to the economic and social fact that
the Las Vegas Super Bowl that willbring to the community. At Semina one,
(33:05):
we have this concept and all throughoutIndian country, it's about thinking about
the next seven generations and throughout allthese community initiatives with the NFL Green,
the Business connect program, the opportunityto intern with the Las Vegas Super Bowl
and so forth, we think aboutthe next seven generations and what is this
going to mean? Right, AndI think for a lot of folks it's
going to be the first time thatthey get to experience. For us as
the city as a region, it'sgoing to bring economic benefit that we'll hopefully
(33:29):
see in perpetuity. And we're reallythe legacy we're going to leave behind is
that we're creating a positive difference forthe next seven generations. And that's what
we want to remember from this thisbig game. I love that. Thanks
all stuff. Thank you guys somuch talking with us about the support that
your organizations have had with the LasVegas Super Bowl Host Committee and two communities
(33:50):
all over. Thank you very much, thank you, thank you, Thank
you to the Super Bowl fifty eightHouse Committee sponsors, Caesars Entertainment, Health
Howard Hughes, sand Manuel Band ofMission Indians would also like to thank our
partners MGM Rewards, Allegiant, UFC, PNC Bank, cevo iHeartMedia, Bank
(34:10):
of Nevada, Bank of America,MSG, Sphere Beachy and Southwest Gas
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
(00:23):
to Inside the Vegas Huddle. Thisepisode, Chris, is going to be
a lot of fun, a lotof interesting stuff we're about to learn here.
Well, we've been doing this forwhat like six months now as we
count down to Super Bowl fifty eight. Inside the Vegas Huddle, we're almost
a Super Bowl fifty eight and oneof my favorite guests is here. We
talk numbers, and that's always funbecause when you talk numbers in Vegas,
it's always seems to be positive.We love it. Jeremy Aguero, Welcome
(00:46):
back. We are so excited tohave you here with us today to talk,
like Chris said, all things numbers, because you were the guy in
town to go to for that stuff. Oh, thank you, appreciate it.
Glad to be here. Jeremy Agarro, Treasurer of the Super Bowl fifty
eight Executive Committee. Now, someof the things we do want to talk
about today is the long term impactof Super Bowl fifty eight right here in
(01:06):
Las Vegas, so to get thingskind of started. What are you currently
seeing, even though the super Bowlhasn't happened yet, What are you currently
seeing right now in terms of changesto come for the city of Las Vegas.
Well, I think there's going tobe a few long term impacts that
are going to be really important.First and foremost, there's a lot of
capital that's gone in to prepare forthe super Bowl. A lot of improvements
the hotels and casinos have been pushedforward relative to that, and that's really
(01:29):
good for us. Overall. We'vealso done we're talking before the show just
about some of the transportation that's beingdone out there. We've made a ton
of transportation improvements. Some of themwere for the super Bowl, but some
of them were really pushed forward totry and be ready for this incredible series
of events that we have, includingthe super Bowl as part of all that.
But beyond that, there's some impactsthat I think are going to be
much longer lasting. Right. Notonly that, I think there's a piece
(01:52):
of just being a super Bowl city. Right. They talked about it a
lot in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteenabout having an NFL Stadium, this being
a possibility and what that meant forus, this idea of the rising tide
lifting all boats, and I thinkwe're already seeing it. The amount of
exposure that we've gotten around the superBowl is pretty terrific. And for a
community that's trying to attract forty millionvisitors every year plus, to be on
(02:15):
a stage where you know one hundredmillion people plus are going to be watching
you is a pretty big deal overall. And that brings me to the sort
of this third longer term component,which is really the exposure element to it
overall. Right, the idea thatlook at the LVCVA leaning into it,
look at the resort industry leaning intoit. This is pretty great for us
(02:36):
in terms from a marketing perspective,and frankly, nobody does it better than
Vegas in terms of talking about whowe are and really developing on that brand.
Beyond that, if there's a fourthelement that I would really point to,
it would be the business element that'sgoing to be left behind when the
super Bowl is gone. Those businessesthat we're able to be identified and participate
in the bus Connect program are goingto have a leg up going forward,
(02:59):
right gonna have some of them aregonna have the Super Bowl on their resume,
and let's be honest that that mattersin today's world. Others are going
to be able to have gone througha system to be registered as a minority,
woman owned business, a veteran ownedbusiness. They may not have had
the opportunity to do, or maynot have had someone help them through that
process, and today they did.And when I think you, when I
think you, you you you lookat businesses like Maeshius who's running that and
(03:22):
now her footprint all over the UnitedStates is a result of what we're doing
here, right, I think thatlegacy is going to carry on long after
February eleventh. I love that,you know, Jeremy, it seems like
we judge events by the cost ofthe hotel rooms during that event. Cees
and you know, the F oneand so forth. Super Bowl is run
up there with all those big ones, and that gives you an idea of
(03:43):
what Las Vegas can charge and doas a whost city. I don't think
there's any doubt about it, right. I mean, let's let's be clear,
we have capacity for about three hundredand twenty thousand people to be in
Las Vegas on any given night,three hundred and twenty thousand people. The
people that will actually attend the superBowl is not that different than what Allegiance
Stadium can normally hold somewhere between fiftyfive and sixty five thousand people, depending
(04:05):
kind of how it's configured. Soyou we understand that there are people that
are descending upon Las Vegas just becausethe super Bowl is here. They're not
even going to go to the superBowl, but they're coming for meetings,
They're coming to be part of theparties that are here. All of those
type of things is what makes itso magical. We we always like to
talk about the fact that the factthat even when we don't have the super
(04:27):
Bowl, there are more people cominghere for the super Bowl than are going
to where the super Bowl is.We love to talk about that it's a
great Las Vegas stat But here nowwhat we've seen is that's even greater than
it was before because we've got folksand let's be honest, there's fifty five
to sixty five thousand VIPs that aregoing to be in that building during Super
Bowl, but we have all kindsof folks that are coming here because It
(04:48):
is going to be the greatest partyon planet Earth during that week. It's
where the celebrities are going to bein, the players are going to be
and you know, the media isgoing to be thousands of media folks are
going to be around the city andthe number of events is just unbelievable.
When you think about things like NFLHonors and you think about the Soulful Celebration
and all those things, They're allgoing to happen here in Southern Nevada.
(05:11):
And I think it's a big dealfor us, absolutely, and the momentum
obviously there right now leading up toit. But Jeremy talk to us a
little bit about the strategies that needto kind of be in place to keep
that momentum up after the super Bowlhappens. Yeah, Look, I mean
you have to sort of point tothe LVCVA in all of that, right,
I Mean, none of this happenswithout them and the resort industry making
(05:31):
it happen and their ability to kindof carry that forward. As we talk
about that, right, what isthe most important thing to come out of
the Super Bowl? The best fanexperience anyone ever could have had, the
people coming to Vegas us delivering onthe promise and the possibility I think is
incredibly important. Beyond that, we'dlike to see some of the tax numbers
come out where we'd like to seethose be Obviously, there's a lot of
(05:54):
events taking place that are to pumpup things like liven or dayment tax get
out to pump up things like theretail SAE and use tax and room tax
and those type of things, andthose go to fund everything from our schools
to public safety to roadways, thosetype of things. These major events are
really important to bolstering some of thosenumbers. And then I think you have
to look at the social and environmentalside. Right The NFL is so socially
(06:15):
conscious relative to what it does andthe things that are important to the players
and the fans and the NFL andits owners. And I think whether it's
them planting trees or going to schoolsor going to hospitals, having the NFL
here and raising awareness about things thatwe need to do from an environmental standpoint,
water, things that we need todo from an education standpoint, and
(06:35):
the schools that could really use sometime and attention. I think those things
matter to us and will last alot longer than this first super Bowl here
in southern Nevada. Yeah, andyou mentioned this first super Bowl. We
don't have the super Bowl with thatAllegiant Stadium, and here in Las Vegas
with Allegiant Stadium, it's open thedoors for all sorts of things. And
this won't be the last super Bowleither. I hope not, and I
(06:58):
think that that's really the case.Do you think about Allegiance Stadium and you'd
look. You and I were therefor the whole process and what we expected
Allegiance Stadium to be. It isabout doubled what we anticipated it to be.
In terms of economic impacts. Jobs, we just salaries activity that are
happening, and in terms of thefiscal impacts, the impacts on our community,
it's been unbelievable in terms of theinvestment we made versus the return on
(07:20):
that investment that we're getting as acommunity. And I'll be honest with you,
man, when we were going throughthat process, we knew we were
going to get the Raiders. Wellyou know, the super Bowl was we
really hope we can get that.But then all of these concerts that have
been there, right, You've gotBeyonce and Taylor Swift and BTS. I
mean, look, people are comingto Las Vegas just to go see those
concerts that are there. I meansome ninety percent of the folks that are
(07:42):
in those stands are people to sayI would not have come to Las Vegas
but for that event. And whenwe talk about people wanting to get experiences
and you build a venue where youcan deliver unbelievable experiences to them, including
a Super Bowl, Wow, whatdoes that do for us? It means
room rates are going up. Itmeans people are spending more in our restaurants.
(08:03):
It means that they're going to moreshows and doing more things in our
community. And those dollars that aregetting spent aren't just on the strip.
Right. We just saw the CulinaryUnion get the biggest set of raises that
they ever got. That is partbecause our gaming properties are doing so well.
We just saw our teachers get amongthe biggest raises they've ever seen.
That's because we just put two billiondollars into K through twelve education. And
(08:24):
whether people want to draw the relationshipto it or not, what is driving
our economy today are these special eventsand the increase in spending that we've seen
as a result of those generating moretaxes and creating more opportunities not just for
our strip operators, but for smallbusinesses, big businesses, and families across
our entire community. Yeah, andI like that you said that because I
(08:46):
think oftentimes, like we know whenbig events come to town, we know
what industries are automatically going to seethat economic return, that sometimes we don't
think about the smaller sectors, thesmaller industries that are also going to be
affected by the money that's coming in. I think it's so important, And
you know, we take we usethe term bisconnect in the program that's there
and what it kind of means.But you know what, I like to
(09:07):
say that all economics is personal.Right for that small business that gets that
first start, that gets that firstjob, for that business that gets to
put the Super Bowl on their resume, that is a life changing, career
changing experience for that person, andthose interns and those volunteers that get to
do something along those lines. Imean, wow, I mean what an
(09:30):
experience To say I was part ofthe biggest event in Las Vegas history matters,
and it matters economically to those businesses, and I think it matters to
our community on a social community pridelevel. Surely no Jeremy grew up here
in Las Vegas, so he cananswer this question. This city has such
a it's a big city at asmall town. I got your back,
you got my back. There wereso many volunteers that volunteered, that came
(09:52):
forward and said, hey, Iwant to help with this event Super Bowl
fifty eight that it was so impressive. Sam Joffrey talks about that all the
time, how this community everybody justcame forward volunteering. I want to ball,
I can help, I can do, what can I do? What
can you do? That's that's thespirit of Vegas. There is no doubt,
right, And I think you haveto give some credit to the Super
Bowl host committee and all these peoplethat came together to make this happen.
(10:16):
Right, I mean, think aboutwho is running our volunteer program here.
One, it's Stow Shoemaker, theformer dean and current professor, was my
professor at UNLV right, and thenPatty Charlton, right, the chancellor of
the university system, is the onewho is helping make sure that our volunteer
system works. You tell me abetter group of folks to have in our
(10:37):
community helping to make those things happen. Right. We have the best minds
in marketing, we have the bestminds in hotel operations, we have the
best time minds in traffic management.All that came together. Not one person
said no, I'm not interested indoing that. Right, overseeing traffic and
traffic and transportation management is Commissioner MichaelKnaft, Right. I mean, this
(10:58):
guy's got a few other things goingon. He is out there, shows
up to every meeting and says,here's what we're gonna do to make sure
that this works. Right. Thatis how a community comes together, and
that is why this community is gonnabe so successful again our first Super Bowl.
I love it, Love the momentumthat Jeremy brings to the podcast.
(11:18):
Thank you so much Jeremy for stoppingbye. We appreciate you. On Mark.
One more real quick question because wedidn't ask Jeremy this last time because
he hasn't been around for a while. The halftime show, Usher, what
do you think? Look, firstof all, I am not fair because
I'm a huge Usher fan, right, So look, I can't wait for
it. I think he's just gonnahe's gonna blow it up. And I
think it's gonna be amazing and Ithink it's gonna be great for us as
(11:39):
a community. But again, I'mprobably not the right guy. I don't
think that guy has ever put anythingout that I didn't think it was fantastic.
That is so true, so true. Thank you, Jeremy Guerra.
I appreciate you. Thank you all. Right now, next we are pleased
to welcome Jack Grow who is theNFL Green Director, and Susan Grow,
NFL Green Associate Director. Privileged tohave you guys here in studio today and
(12:03):
to talk about NFL Green. Andyou guys have seen so many super Bowls?
Was it thirty or thirty one?What separates the Las Vegas one in
your own eyes, from what youguys are doing from all the other ones.
I think there's two really unique thingsabout Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
Well, first of all, it'sthe first time you've had a Super Bowl
in Las Vegas, so that's alwaysa big deal. There are a number
of cities who've had multiple Super Bowlsand not that it's not a big deal,
(12:26):
but you know, they kind ofget used to it if you've hosted
a lot of Super Bowls. Buthaving it be here for the first time
does two things. Number One,it energizes the whole community because it's new,
it's unique. Nobody here has everseen a Super Bowl, you know,
up close in their own community.So it creates this enthusiasm and that's
really helped the projects that we workon in terms of getting people engaged.
(12:46):
People want to come out as soonas they hear Super Bowl. It doesn't
matter if we're planting trees, itdoesn't matter if we're building gardens, doesn't
matter what we're doing. They hearSuper Bowl and they want to be involved.
So I think that that's one ofthe most unique things around here.
Is there anything else? I thinkThe other thing that's been really fun is
we've been here now for Pro Bowl, in the Draft, so we have
deep ties to this community already,which has been really fun engaging around Super
(13:07):
Bowl. Because we already have thoserelationships. People know us, They're ready
to jump in on the community greeningproject, super kids, super sharing,
everything else we're doing. So niceto have those relationships in place and really
know who we want to be workingwith, and we know which restaurants to
eat in we do. I lovethat. Now, let's dive in a
little bit deeper into the NFL greeninitiatives. Can you provide an over view
(13:30):
of you know, just I knowyou guys do so much, but a
little sample of what you're doing thisyear in years past. Oh, I
talked about the overview of the programa little bit, and then we can
focus on the green specifically. Yeah, I mean in terms of the program.
You know, Chris already mentioned it. You know, the NFL was
the first professional sports organization thirty yearsago started to look at the environmental impact
(13:50):
of what happens when they go intoa community. And since then we do
a lot around recycling, around materialrecovery, around food recovery, around renewable
energy, and I think it's beenSue can talk more about this, but
we started a look at legacy,and that's what the greening is for us.
It's all about legacy. So that'sthe way we leave our kind of
(14:11):
leave our mark in the community.Right, So we create a green legacy
here. So the communities that hostthese great events like Las Vegas for Super
Bowl, once we're gone, oncethe game is gone, we want to
make sure that we've done something reallypositive and we've left something really great in
the community. So we create alot of community greening projects and those are
everything from planting trees, to buildingcommunity gardens to restoring habitat and years from
(14:33):
now when we come back, thosethings will still be in place. So
that's the legacy part of Super Bowland this year for Super Bowl fifty eight
in Las Vegas, we've done Bythe time Super Bowl gets here, we
will have implemented our fourteen different communitygreening projects. We've been everywhere from Warm
Springs to Henderson, City of LasVegas, everywhere in between. Clark County
has been a fantastic partner. We'vedone a lot of projects with Clark County
(14:56):
Parks and some really unique ones goingback to the really to the long term
relationship we've had here just a fewyears, but our partners, we've been
able to tie some of those projectstogether. So we worked with Clark County
Wetlands Park around Pro Bowl and theDraft and we planted a bunch of trees
and plants out of the Wetlands.Next year we came back and we greened
up their new nature play corner,put in trees and pollinator plants there.
(15:20):
And then this year we came backand kind of tied it all together and
planted out their trailhead loop, whichactually connects those two areas. So it's
nice to see that continuing impact andsee that we're able to continue building on
that green legacy. That's amazing.What's been the response from the community with
what you guys are trying to dothe initiatives, the sustainability initiatives as you
kind of related to Super Bowl fiftyeight, Well, like I mentioned before,
(15:43):
Chris, you know, because it'sso unique and super Bowl such a
big name and such a big draw, the reaction from the community's been terrific.
We've got lots of partners here.We've worked with lots of nonprofit organizations
that have worked with us on thecommunity greening. We've we've got a big
military event, which which may soundlike it's outside of sustainability, but we're
(16:04):
doing an event called Salute to Servicewhere we bring in about one hundred and
fifty active and former military folks andwe show a documentary film. And the
documentary film is about a project thatNFL did a couple of years ago with
retired combat divers to restore a coralreef off the coast of Florida, and
we brought in marine scientists, andwe brought in some funding from federal agency
(16:27):
state agencies to make that project happen. It's something that was so unique to
the world of sports. So allthese kinds of things energize the community to
bring people forward and they just wantto be involved because they know that you
know, I hate to say it, but it may be a once in
a lifetime thing for some folks tohave a Super Bowl here, although a
(16:48):
lot of folks are telling us superBowls coming back, but we don't know
what. I think. Also,beyond just the you know, engaging with
the county and parks and our nonprofitpartners here, it's been fun to see
the community come out and engage aroundthese things. We talked about the Warm
Springs project. We revitalized two acresof land up there to its native habitat.
People drove that hour up to WarmSprings to volunteer to come out and
(17:11):
help. We've had volunteers at allof our greening events. Last I think
just yesterday, we were up atCaesarshabaz Park doing a project and some of
the volunteers told us this was theirthird or fourth time volunteering. So they've
kind of been following us and saying, oh, this was really fun.
We brought the family out to planttrees. Let's go do it again.
Oh. I love that. Wehope then the legacy from that will be
(17:33):
that after we're gone, they'll stillplant trees and keep going. I was
going to ask you next, Yeah, but the long term objectives of something
like this, But like you said, people have, you know, this
shared experience, and usually together witha shared experience, is that passion,
right, They want to do moreto make their community, to make the
environment in this world just a betterplace. So you really kind of bring
energy almost to our community. Ilove that, and that's been a really
(17:57):
fun part to see people come outand engage. I also think it's important
for people to know what's going onwith the environment, especially in the desert
Southwest. It's getting hotter and hotterhere. And if we're out there planting
trees and we can shine the SuperBowl spotlight on the importance of that,
people know that we need to startdoing things to cool things down a bit,
you know, create some shade andsome cooling. Look at those urban
(18:17):
heat island areas. That awareness thingis Big, Sue. I'm glad you
mentioned that because everybody, everybody inthis country and worldwide too, are going
to see Super Bowl, but they'realso going to see all those feature stories
about what's going on in Nevada,in Clark County and around Super Bowl.
And I think one of the mostimportant things is they'll see what the environmental
(18:37):
issues are here because they're different.They're different here than they are let's say,
in Michigan or in Massachusetts or somewhereelse, but it affects everybody in
the country. And if they don'tbegin to realize now, you know,
I mean what happens when folks inNew York are paying twelve dollars ahead for
lettuce and they say, why didthis happen? Well, you have to
(19:00):
look at what the environmental issues arecountrywide and if we don't address those countrywide.
So having all this happen in theLas Vegas area in Clark County really
creates awareness about those issues too.They're not just local issues. They may
seem like it, but there areissues that are gonna affect everybody in the
country. Yeah, you know,I kind of wonder too. You guys
have been doing this for so manyyears. Have you had a chance to
(19:21):
go back to some of those earlyyears or you see you planet, that's
right thing and yeah yeah, andyou plant the garden, the trees,
and now you say, wow,look what thirty years, Look what twenty
five years did We're grateful that wewere here at the beginning. Yeah,
yeah, we've done that. Yeahyeah, And it is fun to go
back and see that those little seedlings, those smaller trees you put in are
now big and kids are sitting underthose trees and they're shade you know for
(19:45):
those kids. And we do targetareas that are really in need, so
we look at low income, disadvantagedareas for trees, for community gardens,
for habitat restoration. So it reallydoes have a positive impact. And it
is fun to go back and look. I think we get so busy working
project to project because we don't justdo Super Bowl, we do Draft and
you know, Kickoff and Pro Bowl. Yeah, but it's nice when you
(20:06):
can step back and when you goback to those communities and you can see
how well things are doing well.You know, we prime the pump for
that too, because all the grantsthat we give out for community greening,
Yeah, have a provision in therethat part of what the organization has to
agree to is that they'll provide aminimum of two years of care and maintenance
for whatever the project is, becausewe don't want to go into a community
(20:27):
and let's say, you know,plants one hundred trees in a park and
then come back a year later andsee a bunch of dead sticks in the
ground. So we haven't had anywe haven't had any issues here because the
folks here who are working with usreally do want to create legacy projects.
But it's something that we always lookat when we put the RFP out for
a grant. It's built right in, you know, it's baked right into
(20:48):
that show proposal that there has tobe a plan given to us that shows
that it'll be at least two yearsof care because most of the planting projects,
whether it's landscaping projects, whether it'strees or even community guards, if
you take real good care of himfor two years, they're going to be
well established and then they should,but the first two years are the sensitive
part of it. Yeah, Imean, that's great information to know that
(21:11):
you kind of set that standard upfront for community, right and for an
initiative is that maintenance right, it'sjust not okay, we're doing it now
because the spotlights on the Super Bowl. No, you guys need to make
sure that this continues for a fewyears and powerful we choose really good partners.
So we've looked broadly into the community. We rely a lot on the
host committee to kind of lead usin the right direction. We find those
partners that have a really good reputationhere and we know that they're going to
(21:33):
be carrying on that good work,and we look at things beyond planning trees.
We make sure there's irrigation in placeand the writings will be maintained going
forward. Absolutely. Roger Goodell getsout to a lot of these events,
doesn't he. Yeah, what wasthe event he was had? Yeah,
Kim in North Las Vegas. Yeah, he's been a great supporter. You
know, over the years, thisprogram grew from in nineteen ninety three,
(21:57):
it was just a small experimental restingproject for Super Bowl twenty eight in Atlanta,
and that's that's how we started.And it was the first recycling project
ever done in a sports facility inNorth America. Wow. You know,
nobody ever looked at the environmental impactand it's grown and to not just registrated,
but all of the top leadership atNFL over the years has been supportive
(22:19):
when we've gone and said, look, maybe we should expand into this,
Maybe we should expand into this,maybe we need to look at food recovery,
material recovery, renewable energy, communitygreening. And there's always been the
support there to grow the program andto more and more get more responsible for
the impact that we have in acommunity. And that includes those legacy items
that you know, we could getby easily without those, but now that
(22:41):
we've we've sort of gotten into that, gotten our fingers into that, it's
just become sort of standard operating procedure. Now we go to a community and
we want to leave it better thanwe found it. And you're right,
the commissioner has been out there,you know, pushing wheelbarrow planting trees with
us. He gets right into thiswith us, which is great. Yeah,
we put them to work. Yeahyeah, yeah, Now that is
a great information. And I loveto think about the lasting impact that NFL
(23:03):
Green will have in our community righthere in Las Seguess. I think a
lot of people probably don't realize thatwhen like you were saying that the game
comes into its city, but there'sso much more that goes on bese I
mean, the small business owners thatget an opportunity to do things. It's
more than just a game, likeyou were mentioning, Jack, Oh yeah,
yeah, it's tremendous. And that'swhy, going all the way back
(23:25):
to the very first thing that wetalked about about how unique it is for
a city to have Super Bowl forthe first time and to get to see
that it's not just a football game. I mean, it's a great football
game, but it's such a bigthing and such an impact for so many
folks in the community. I'm gladyou mentioned the business piece of it too,
because that is that Business connect programis just and you know it works
(23:47):
hand in hand between the NFL andthe host committee to make that happen.
But what an impact that has onsmall local businesses that really need to learn
a couple of things that need tolearn how do you contract? How do
you get a contract with the bigevent that comes into town. And what
they learn around Super Bowl is goingto apply to everything. It'll apply to
Formula One, it'll apply to NBAAll Star, it will apply to the
(24:10):
Major League Baseball All Star They've learnedhow to contract with big events, and
that again is another legacy project thatcontinues a little bit different from the greening
piece of it, but again it'sa legacy that you leave behind. Awesome.
Well, thank you very much foryour information today, Jack Grow,
Susan Grow, NFL Green, Thankyou so much for being a part inside
the Vegas Huddle. Thank You're welcome, Thank you. Chris all right,
(24:33):
welcome back. We're excited to talksuper Bowl fifty eight inside the Vegas Huddle
continues. And you know what's reallycool, Joannie, as we have a
couple of people here that are reallyinvolved with Super Bowl fifty eight, the
initiatives, the green initiatives, andreally sponsors of this big game that's happening
here in Las Vegas. So Joanna, go ahead and introduce our two guests.
Yes, you're two special guests instudio right now. Alberto hasco director
(24:56):
of Strategic Philanthropy at San Manuel Bandof Mission Indians. Well, welcome,
thank you so much for having me. Thank you. And we also have
John Dorn, Associate director of Sustainabilityat Verrise and welcome. Thanks for having
me. Well, we are veryexcited to get talking with you guys and
kind of discuss your support of theLas Vegas Super Bowl host Committee. But
I'd love to start it off byyou guys both introducing yourselves and letting us
(25:18):
know what you do for your organization. Yeah, well, definitely, I'll
go ahead and get started. Myname's Alberto Hasselm, the director of Strategic
Philanthropy with the Seminal Abandoned Mission Indians. I have the honor to represent a
fairly recognized Indian tribe that's based outof southern California. We're the first tribe
to own and operate a casuno herein Las Vegas gaming history, which we're
really excited about. But with that, not only are we a business community
(25:41):
member, but we're also a communitypartner. When we were thinking about coming
to Las Vegas, we really wantedto make sure that we brought our tribal
values and principle. So I havethe opportunity to represent their philanthropy arm.
So the tribe over the past twentyyears has awarded over three hundred and fifty
million dollars in charitable investment. Wow. And with that significant investment, of
course, comes a lot of stewardshipresponsibility. It comes with a lot of
(26:04):
working with different community organizations, understandingthe needs and so forth. So myself
and my team have the opportunity torepresent Semonel and their philanthropic investments. Oh,
that's wonderful. And John, Yeah, I'm John Dorn. I'm the
associate director and the Sustainability Group atVerizon and my team is over the Sustainable
Business Integration Team, and so partof that entails the employee engagement piece,
(26:27):
which ties directly into NFL Green andour efforts to get with NFL Green for
Super Bowl. That's awesome. Letme ask both of you guys, how
fun is it? How great hasit been just to be involved in Super
Bowl fifty out of the city's justbuzzing, it's close now, a couple
of weeks away, and as wecount down to February eleventh, How great
has it been for your company tobe involved in this? Yeah? For
(26:48):
us at Semonol, it's been aunique opportunity. It's a great opportunity for
us to participate, and even forus too, it's an opportunity. One
of our values at Semonol is unity, and I think with the Super Bowl
when you think about it leading upto the big Game, all the pre
events, the post events that willhappen, and even to the long term
impact. It's an opportunity to bringpeople together. And we see this as
(27:10):
an initiative for us to again bringthe nonprofits together, bring us as Salmon
will bring Verizon, even us justhere in this room. It's a good
opportunity for us to again come together. So when we think about this,
we think about not only our shortterm wins, but also in the long
run. We're working with people thatotherwise we probably wouldn't. We're probably in
the same business, but we don'treally talk, but now we are,
so we're excited. I love that, John, Yeah, I love doing
(27:34):
this. So we've been doing thiswith the NFL Green for several years.
But the great thing about it iswe started back in October doing events and
getting to be involved with the community, seeing the efforts, sustainable efforts across
the board, and you know,fourteen or fifteen different events all of leading
up to the Super Bowl. It'sreally exciting to see that and see how
to be involved and be a partof it. And honestly, you have
(27:56):
to feel good. If you don'tfeel good about doing events like this,
there's something wrong, right, Soso no, it's really good to see
the impact on the community and thedifferent groups get to work with, how
thankful they are forwarded. They reallyappreciate, you know, the efforts to
go in and you know, it'sit's definitely an advantage for them, absolutely,
OLBERTA. I wanted to ask yourecently, sand Menuel Ban of Mission
(28:18):
Indians donated two million dollars to theLas Vegas Super Bowl host Committee programming.
Tell us about that contribution and howit came to be. Yeah, most
definitely. You know, for usat a Minola, when we think about
it philanthropy, we're always thinking aboutcollective impact. And again, as I
was sharing a little bit earlier,we saw this in an opportunity to share
our tribal values and principles and reallyfollow our our one of our models,
(28:41):
which is principal philanthropy, right,and what that means to us is again
bringing people together. But we alsosaw this as a holistic opportunity to do
a few things. Number one thanNFL Green initiatives, that's a very important
initiative for us as a tribal community, sewardship, being good sources of the
land, of the environment, theanimals, and the people. That's something
that aligns with us. The unovinternships that are also being offered to first
(29:04):
time students to work behind the scenes, the Business connect program, that's another
audience that is also captured. Andlastly too, the Grand Awards that we're
going to be able to awards adifferent community organization, both micro grants but
also long term grants. And againfor us, we see as a collective
impact opportunity and with our two milliondollar investment, we're seeing the benefits of
our investment. That has also beingleverage with the NFL Foundation, with Verizon
(29:29):
and a few other flks. Sothat's what it means to us. Jo
Let me ask you collaborating with theSuper Bowl. From Verizon standpoint, what's
the main goal? What do youguys hope to achieve. So our primary
goal at Verizon is the planning treesand that ties to urban forestry as far
as reforestation efforts as well. Soall the events that we have with NFL
Green all tied to that and allties to one of our goals. So
(29:51):
we have a goal of planning twentymillion trees by twenty thirty at Verizon,
and so all the events that wedo with NFL Green and Community all tied
to that and go towards that objective. And in addition to that, we
also get to form partnerships with alot of the different organizations we work with,
and that continues on after the SuperBowl, So it's an opportunity for
employees to get involved with volunteer events, but again to strengthen those partnerships.
(30:11):
Hopefully some of those twenty million treeswill be implanted here in Las Vegas,
because we certainly need more green here. Right. I love that. Now,
John, you mentioned earlier when youwere doing your introductionhit that Verizon and
the NFL have had a partnership fora long time. How long does that
go back? Yeah, So it'san interesting story for that. So NFL
Green was looking for another company thathad strong sustainable initiatives and goals and in
(30:34):
their research they found Verizon was oneof the companies they're interested in. They
reached out to us directly and soit's been a great partnership started back in
twenty thirteen with them. So thefirst time we met with them, we
immediately realized there was a lot ofthe same sustainable initiatives and goals on both
sides. So we knew it wasgoing to be a good, good partnership.
So again start in twenty thirteen,and it continues to be a strong
(30:56):
partnership moving forward. That's wonderful,I guess to collaborate from both. I
mean you hear from John with theplant and the trees and twenty million around
the country, and how that continues. These super Bowl cities are getting are
really benefited. One thing that I'vebeen so impressed with, and I've really
realized that this happens until the SuperBowl comes to a host city is all
the extra curricular, all the LIKEIthe green initiatives doing this, the volunteers,
(31:19):
how people like you say, cometogether in unit. That's been really
positive, isn't it? Yeah?Most deftely, And I think also too
just even just when you think aboutthis weekend. Right on Saturday, we
were at the Las Vegas Indian Center. You had tribes all throughout Nevada.
You had the Inner Tribal Council ofNevada those here. You had tribes that
came out from northern Nevada to cometo this gathering. And for us as
(31:40):
a tribal community. We also sawthis as an opportunity to uplift Indian country.
And when I talk about Indian country, I talk about all the tribal
governments that are here in Nevada,but also all throughout the United States,
and we were seeing that. Yesterdaywe were a Caesar job As Park,
another great park that we were ableto again plant the trees. Verizons was
there. But again, we're alsousing this as an opportunity to really speak
(32:01):
on behalf of the communities that wehave here in Las Vegas, and I
think that's one thing that we're reallyenjoying with this partnership. Yeah, that's
pretty incredible. And one last question, the legacy. Obviously we know how
important Super Bowl fifty eight is goingto be right here in Las Vegas,
but the legacy for your organizations,what are you guys most excited about?
(32:21):
Okay, So the legacy we liketo leave behind is the impact of the
communities from the variety of sustainability events, including the trees that are planted.
So since our partnership began with NFLback in twenty thirteen, we've had over
one hundred and fifty different community eventsand planned over two hundred and seventy four
thousand trees with NFL Green alone,So it's been amazing to do that.
And not only that, again,it enhances our partnerships with the different organizations
(32:45):
across the city for the future,and it's also something that we use as
we move forward with NFL Green andother host cities as well. Definitely,
yeah, And I think for usthat's em and I think the legacy we
want to leave is that, inaddition to the economic and social fact that
the Las Vegas Super Bowl that willbring to the community. At Semina one,
(33:05):
we have this concept and all throughoutIndian country, it's about thinking about
the next seven generations and throughout allthese community initiatives with the NFL Green,
the Business connect program, the opportunityto intern with the Las Vegas Super Bowl
and so forth, we think aboutthe next seven generations and what is this
going to mean? Right, AndI think for a lot of folks it's
going to be the first time thatthey get to experience. For us as
the city as a region, it'sgoing to bring economic benefit that we'll hopefully
(33:29):
see in perpetuity. And we're reallythe legacy we're going to leave behind is
that we're creating a positive difference forthe next seven generations. And that's what
we want to remember from this thisbig game. I love that. Thanks
all stuff. Thank you guys somuch talking with us about the support that
your organizations have had with the LasVegas Super Bowl Host Committee and two communities
(33:50):
all over. Thank you very much, thank you, thank you, Thank
you to the Super Bowl fifty eightHouse Committee sponsors, Caesars Entertainment, Health
Howard Hughes, sand Manuel Band ofMission Indians would also like to thank our
partners MGM Rewards, Allegiant, UFC, PNC Bank, cevo iHeartMedia, Bank
(34:10):
of Nevada, Bank of America,MSG, Sphere Beachy and Southwest Gas
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