LVCVA pledges funds to sponsor girls volleyball tourney in 2024

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s sports sponsorship goes beyond the collegiate and professional events it staged over the weekend.

The LVCVA’s board of directors on Tuesday pledged $275,000 to sponsor the USA Volleyball 2024 Girls Junior National Championships at Mandalay Bay, starting June 28 to July 7.

The volleyball tournament is expected to attract 23,000 participants and 44,000 spectators over the 10-day event with an economic impact of $90 million for the city.

Fletch Brunelle, LVCVA’s vice president of marketing, said the event also attracts college scouts and the last time it was held in Las Vegas it produced more than 60,000 room nights for the city’s hotels.

The LVCVA often considers requests to sponsor sports tournaments for youth and adult softball, baseball, soccer and other sports that draw thousands of participants and spectators.

Steve Hill, president and CEO of LVCVA, told board members the weekend was a big success for the city with the East-West Shrine Bowl college football all-star game on Friday at Allegiant Stadium, the NHL All-Star Game at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday and Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.

Hill said the city’s relationship with the NFL will continue in the weeks ahead as it prepares to host the NFL Draft in April. Hill — a Cincinnati Bengals fan — will observe Super Bowl preparations in Los Angeles this weekend, as the city prepares to host Super Bowl 58 in February 2024.

“We were super excited with this past week,” Hill said. “It really brought a great spotlight on Las Vegas and the week went really well. We did all of those things in the same week and it was as great as we anticipated it would be.”

Sports will continue to be atop the city’s future marketing plans.

In a presentation to the board, Chief Marketing Officer Kate Wik said LVCVA researchers determined 73 percent of U.S. sports fans agree that live sports in Las Vegas adds a new dimension to the destination’s experience, and 56 percent agree that having live sports in Las Vegas is a reason to add a visit or extend a trip to the city.

Those planning to visit Las Vegas and watch sports in person generally spend $1,154 more per trip than the non-sports visitor, she said.

Other marketing campaigns that have begun or are in the planning stages focus on other city attractions.

The new “Vegas ON” video series, hosted by local social media personality Terry Lashley, provides an entertainment show format featuring a review of past and upcoming events in the city.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest inexpensively promote visitation to the program.

Another feature, “Meanwhile in Vegas …” was created to remind viewers that, no matter what an individual is doing at any moment, “something way better is happening in Vegas.”

Wik explained that the program is designed to drive desirability for the destination with the social content pillars of food, entertainment, sports, celebrations, the outdoors and values.

The city’s marketers also will be working on a campaign to drive the importance of meeting in person to promote the struggling conventions and meetings industry. The campaign will be in development through the summer.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.