Super Bowl Experience, a sort of NFL theme park, opens at Mandalay Bay
Imagine testing your speed against an NFL running back, punting a football as if you’re standing at the 50-yard line in Allegiant Stadium or getting to see the Vince Lombardi Trophy in all its glory.
That is all part of the Super Bowl Experience, which opens today at the 700,000-square-foot Mandalay Bay South Convention Center. It’s a “theme park” of sorts and the hub for Super Bowl 58, which pits the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium for the NFL championship.
“This is really the home to everything football,” said Nicki Ewell, senior director of events for the NFL, describing the Super Bowl Experience. “Even if you don’t have a ticket on Super Bowl Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, this is your Super Bowl.”
The convention space is billed as a football fan’s dream, including plenty of giant, colorful signs featuring logos of the Super Bowl, Chiefs and 49ers.
There are plenty of activities for children, including Crucial Catch Two Minute Drill, where attendees can channel their inner quarterback as they attempt to pass a football into three targets before a timer runs out.
There will also be a special zone for young children, called the NFL Play 60 Zone, with a dance floor and on-field clinics led by USA Football coaches and NFL players. And there’s also an obstacle course similar to what’s used at the NFL Combine for draft hopefuls.
For those interested in the less physical experiences, there are plenty of autograph booths and photo shoots with players. Step inside a “uniformed body-cast mold” decorated with the insignia of your favorite NFL team for a picture, or see a full collection of all 57 Super Bowl rings up close and personal.
“We’ve really done an NFL and Super Bowl theme park for fans at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center,” said Peter O’reilly, the NFL’S executive vice president of club business, international and league events at a virtual news conference last week. “That is an elevated experience from any other Super Bowl experience.”
With Super Bowl tickets costing thousands, Ewell said they’re encouraging locals to join the football festivities at the Super Bowl Experience if they can’t attend the game. The experience was made with locals in mind, she added.
It’s one of many different activations and Super Bowl-themed activities that will be happening along Las Vegas Boulevard this week.
A 65,000-square-foot projection will be shown on the side of the Augustus Tower at Caesars Palace, playing a 3 1/2-minute show nightly. Photo opportunities with a large Super Bowl throne, Lombardi Trophy and the Super Bowl 58 logo are also scattered across the property.
Strip hotel marquees will be taken over from 5 to 5:30 p.m. with Super Bowl-related content all week, courtesy of the NFL, and the Sphere will be displaying Super Bowl content on its exterior.
Even the pedestrian bridges on Las Vegas Boulevard are lined with Super Bowl graphics on the outside and surprise photo opportunities on the interior of five bridges.
“Obviously, a lot of focus appropriately is on game day at Allegiant Stadium, but the real importance for us and for fans are the many accessible ways they — whether you’re a Vegas or Nevada resident or visitors from around the country and world — can participate in Super Bowl festivities,” O’reilly said.
The Super Bowl Experience will be open from 3 to 10 p.m. today through Friday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets for the Super Bowl Experience start at $25 for admission today, and $50 from Thursday through Saturday. Kids 12 and under are free. The NFL Onepass app is required for entry to the experience.
Purchase tickets on Ticketmaster atticketmaster.com/ super-bowl-experience-presented-by-toyota-tickets/artist/2705794.