Big name soccer matches to draw thousands of visitors to Vegas

Two weekends of big-ticket, international soccer matches kick off Saturday, along with the tourism and economic boost that comes with them.

Research from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority found that the first match, taking place between Chelsea FC and Club América, could bring 46,000 out-of-town visitors to Southern Nevada this weekend. It’s expected to have a $69 million impact.

That’s for one game. July 22 and 23 mark the start of the Soccer Champions Tour, a four-city set of exhibition games put on by live event promoter AEG, with the first two held at Allegiant Stadium.

The July 22 event consists of one of the largest soccer events globally: the match between international giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. ‘El Clásico,’ as the matchup is known, was last held in North America in 2017 at South Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium.

The convention authority estimates that the two Soccer Champions Tour games will bring 90,000 out-of-town visitors and generate at least $137 million in economic impact.

“Events like what’s happening at Allegiant Stadium this weekend truly reinforces Vegas’ evolution into becoming ‘The Greatest Arena on Earth,’ ” said Lori Nelson-Kraft, senior vice president of communications for the LVCVA. “These events are key to driving additional visitation at times. We really want to ensure we’re filling up the hotel rooms and the destination.”

Las Vegas the ‘obvious’ choice

Promoters for live events are more drawn to Las Vegas than ever before. Tom Braun, AEG senior vice president of soccer, business operations and business development, said the city was a natural choice for an event of this scale. Allegiant has what’s needed for an international match: capacity, amenities, broadcast opportunities and a roof for shade during the summer game.

“The attraction to the city is obvious. It’s Las Vegas,” Braun said. “It’s a wonderful city to host international soccer and it happens to have one of the nicest venues in the world.”

The convention authority spent $425,000 to sponsor Saturday’s game and $750,000 to sponsor the two AEG tour games. Nelson-Kraft said it’s an investment to drive more sports entertainment to the market — similar to the $19.5 million sponsorship agreement it made for three annual Formula One races.

“These sponsorships give us increased visibility in front of key sports audiences with advertising, marketing and hospitality opportunities we get before, during and after the event,” she said. “We’re able to amplify the Las Vegas experience both ways.”

In the last fiscal year, the 14 new sporting events sponsored by the authority drove 850,000 incremental room nights to Las Vegas, meaning a booking made specifically for the event, it said.

That’s part of why promoters are eager to take advantage of tourists’ willingness to go all-in on special events. Nick Baker, chief operating officer of AEG Global Partnerships, said there’s plenty of demand from a rapt audience seeking live experiences.

“It’s clear that the consumption for ‘live’ has never been better,” Baker said. “I think some of it comes from the fact that it was taken away from us during (the pandemic). Now the opportunity to go see El Clásico in person, people jump at that. This is an opportunity they’re not going to take for granted.”

That extends beyond Nevada or the U.S. People from across North America have bought tickets for the AEG matches.

That’s good for Las Vegas and other host cities — San Francisco, Los Angeles and Dallas, this year. Research by the LVCVA indicates that 50 percent of Las Vegas visitors are willing to add a trip or stay longer to attend a sporting event and will spend about $1,100 more while in town for the event.

“It certainly has a tourism component to it,” Baker said. “You’re gonna go for the game, but there are other activities in and around the city that are appealing to you. The vast reach of ticket buyers is going to be, really, an international appeal while we host them in domestic sites.”

Future soccer matches expected

AEG plans to host more exhibition games in Las Vegas in the next few years, including making Soccer Champions an annual tour. Encouraged by the success of the Golden Knights in the NHL, Raiders in the NFL, past soccer matches such as the Gold Cup Final in 2021 and other local teams, AEG executives expect there’s plenty of potential for more teams and special sporting events.

“It’s a professional sports town, and people want to go there — people that live there want to see professional sports, people want to travel there to see professional sports,” Braun said. “It’s a mixture of a lot of reasons but who wouldn’t want to go to Vegas to watch international soccer?”

The matches are a positive sign to Brett Lashbrook, owner of the United Soccer League’s Lights FC that plays at Cashman Field in downtown Las Vegas. He views the attention from sports fans as an opportunity for all levels of soccer — children’s teams, the Lights and USL and even a future MLS team — to grow in the region.

“It’s the world’s most popular sport in the world’s most entertaining city and the world’s most capitalistic market,” Lashbrook said. “There’s room for all of us, especially in the sport of soccer, which continues to grow year after year, decade after decade. This is just the next iteration of that growth and it’s exciting to see the sport grow here locally.”

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.