Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Officials in LV try to gauge value of Pro Bowl
How much the presence of the 2021 NFL Pro Bowl in Las Vegas will move the economic needle is unknown, but any kind of new event at Allegiant Stadium is likely to be a good thing.
While Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill, who also chairs the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, issued a statement of appreciation that the NFL chose to move its annual all-star game to the Entertainment Capital of the World in January, there’s no playbook for gauging success.
“We’re appreciative of the NFL’s leadership and commitment to bring the 2021 Pro Bowl to Las Vegas,” Hill said.
How many people will schedule a special trip to Las Vegas to take in the Pro Bowl and all the special events surrounding it? How many millions of television viewers will watch a meaningless football exhibition game the week before the Super Bowl? Both are unknown.
First-time event for Vegas
Additional wild cards exist because of the uncertainty of life in general in a COVID-19 world. Will football fans be able to attend games in person by then? What will be the impact of Las Vegas experiencing its first full season as an NFL city?
The LVCVA does not have projected economic or visitation estimates available.
It isn’t the first time that the convention authority has been asked to crack a first time-event puzzle.
The organization was the primary connection point among the NFL, the Raiders and the city’s resort community for logistical planning when the city prepared to host the NFL draft in April. When asked to project the economic impact on the community, the LVCVA could only look to results that occurred in Nashville, Tennessee, the year before.
Nashville reported a $224 million economic impact, with $130 million in direct spending calculated.
Economic experts believed Las Vegas was in line for an even greater return with its variety of entertainment and dining options available during what amounted to a four-day, full-capacity gathering.
But the Pro Bowl event will be different.
While the Pro Bowl won’t have the same cachet as the NFL draft, it’s still tabbed to be a weeklong celebration of football. It will feature various activities, including the NFL FLAG Championship games, AFC and NFC team practices and, for the fifth straight year, the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown, where the NFL’s biggest stars from each conference compete in tests of their skills. NFL FLAG is a non-contact youth flag football league.
As for the possibility that coronavirus issues are still around, the NFL has said all NFL activities during Pro Bowl week would follow the latest public safety guidelines set by medical and public health officials and operate in full compliance with all local and federal government regulations.
Measuring success
LVCVA spokeswoman Lori Kraft said the success of a special event in Las Vegas isn’t measured alone on attendance and how much visitors spend. The LVCVA also monitors media impressions — news stories that mention Las Vegas and its attractions and images on broadcasts showing the resort destination.
This year’s Pro Bowl game drew nearly 8 million viewers, according to German statistics portal Statista, and next year’s will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes, a Spanish language sports channel.
While viewership of the Pro Bowl has declined since 2018 when there were 8.6 million people watching, the NFL hopes that the glitz of Las Vegas and the new $2 billion, 65,000-seat, state-of-the-art indoor stadium will breathe new life into the game. Over the past 20 years, viewership peaked at 13.4 million in 2011.