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FEATURE
there was no amount of money that could get in the way .
“ It created a mindset that anything could be done .”
People would have laughed at the idea of building a stadium like the Allegiant and bringing an NFL team to the city years ago . But the Raiders recently began their fourth season as a Vegas team .
Hornbuckle sees Las Vegas as a unique proposition , which makes these seemingly impossible moves possible . “ It gets 43 million visitors a year , from around the world ,” he explains . “ And the unique thing about it is every three days , 100,000 people turn over .
“ So when it comes to world-class shows , when it comes to the activities we ’ ve created over the years , the engine is pretty good . What generally happens is we don ’ t go to them , they come to us – with the exception of sports . When it comes to sports , they weren ’ t flocking here .”
“ Las Vegas is unique in many respects ; going back to the Great Recession , even in 2008 we ran at 82 % capacity as a city ”
VEGAS LOVES A WINNER
But Vegas loves a winner . The UNLV Rebels packed in 18,000-strong crowds at the Thomas & Mack Center during its 1990s heyday . Couple that with everything else the city offers and an away game becomes something much more enticing to supporters .
“ The idea that you could take a threehour football game and make it a threeday experience just struck home .”
This sporting explosion wasn ’ t from a standing start . The Ultimate Fighting Championship grew up in Vegas . The biggest boxing events all take place in town and college tournaments date back decades .
“ We had a small trial with the WNBA ’ s San Antonio Stars , which we moved to Vegas and renamed the Aces ,” he says . “ They now attract more than 10,000 spectators to their games .
“ There ’ s 2.2 million people that live in the Las Vegas Valley alone and , if you combine that with visitation , it ’ s a formula for success .
“ We ’ ve seen it with conventions ; Vegas attracts about seven million convention visitors a year and attendance will be up 15 % on any other place they go because it ’ s Las Vegas ,” he continues .
“ There ’ s something to do after 5pm beyond having a dinner and going back to your room . That same energy is carried over into the sports world .”
It ’ s not stopping . MLB owners approved the Oakland A ’ s move to Las Vegas and the team ’ s new stadium will sit at the corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard , in MGM Resorts ’ front yard . “ We ’ ll have everything but the NBA , although they are coming for a midseason tournament in the second week of December ,” he says .
THE EXPERIENTIAL EVOLUTION
Hornbuckle reckons sport heralds the next evolution in Las Vegas ’ history . “ If you go back to when I first started , these were casinos – and many of them were mob-run at the time – but back in the 1970s , they were just casinos ,” he recalls . “ Then we went through the resort evolution and the Mirage came .
“ We went through the restaurant evolution , with world-class chefs coming , and then we went through the retail evolution , building out world-class shopping experiences , and now we ’ re in the entertainment revolution .”
The likes of Adele , U2 , Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue are either performing or coming to town . Las Vegas is now where entertainers who are at the very top of their game go , rather than where they head for one final payday .
56 • ISSUE 135 • ICE LONDON 2024