The City of Lights, once renowned for its “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” slogan, is undergoing a metamorphosis into a destination welcoming to families. This shift is expected to be further intensified with the Oakland Athletics’ imminent relocation to Las Vegas.
Family units are becoming an increasingly significant segment of Las Vegas’ visitor demographics. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA)’s most recent visitor profile reveals that more families with children are visiting the city compared to the period preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, only a small percentage of Las Vegas visitors were classified as family groups, but in 2021, this figure surged to a significant proportion as remote work and learning had taken root, facilitating easier travel for families.
The most recent visitor profile survey conducted in 2022 indicated a decline in this number to a moderate percentage as children returned to in-person learning at school. However, with the emergence of professional sports and the arrival of the Oakland Athletics, Las Vegas is positioned to continue attracting a greater number of family visitors.
The baseball team’s move will provide a catalyst for an increase in family visits.
Despite this, the quantity of family visits remains triple what it was prior to the pandemic.
The entertainment and sports hub of Las Vegas is experiencing an unparalleled surge in prosperity. The recently constructed Allegiant Stadium, a $2 billion project with a seating capacity of 65,000, has attracted a significant number of families since its full inauguration in 2021. Home to the NFL Las Vegas Raiders, the stadium also hosts football matches and world-renowned concerts, including four sold-out performances by the South Korean boy band BTS in 2022, drawing in 198,000 spectators. Furthermore, the NFL Pro Bowl and major college football games have lured numerous families to Las Vegas.
Las Vegas hosted NCAA basketball tournament games for the first time this year and will be the venue for the Final Four in 2028, highlighting its burgeoning basketball prowess. T-Mobile Arena, home to the Vegas Golden Knights, a successful NHL expansion team, has injected further vitality into the city.
Looking ahead, Las Vegas is anticipated to acquire an NBA expansion team and is planning the construction of an arena south of the Las Vegas Strip. The NBA Summer League and NASCAR have become popular events in the city, while Formula One racing will commence on the Las Vegas Strip beginning in November, further enhancing the city’s allure.
Baseball is poised to join the sports extravaganza in Las Vegas. Last week, the Oakland Athletics announced plans to construct a $1 billion baseball stadium, which will further solidify Las Vegas’s reputation as a family travel destination.
A $5 billion baseball arena is poised to emerge on the western edge of the Las Vegas Strip, showcasing a partially retractable covering, contingent upon financial authorization from Clark County, state legislators, and Governor Joe Lombardo.
The squad will compete at a minor league baseball arena in Las Vegas, potentially as early as 2025, until the new arena is finished in 2027.
The arena will be situated on the former site of the Western casino. The team has inked a binding agreement with Red Rock Resorts to acquire 49 acres of land and has an option to purchase an additional 8 acres at an undisclosed cost.
Red Rock Resorts will retain over 40 acres of land for its own prospective uses.
Baseball’s Allure for Family Viewers
While American football reigns supreme as the most popular sport in the United States, baseball remains a close contender. Furthermore, families and children constitute a substantial portion of Major League Baseball game attendees, which augurs well for Las Vegas’s endeavors to draw in family tourists. A study conducted by Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas research firm, discovered that constructing a Major League Baseball arena in the city could attract 400,000 visitors.
Las Vegas boasts minor league teams in men’s football, soccer, and basketball, but these teams are not major draws for family tourism. That could shift if the city secures a Major League Soccer franchise, which is not an impossibility.
Las Vegas tourism officials attribute the inauguration of Allegiant Stadium to aiding the city’s recovery from the pandemic and boosting visitor figures by 38%.
The year 2021 witnessed a visitor count of 2 million, a slight decrease from the 42.5 million recorded in 2019.
In 2022, Allegiant Airlines surpassed expectations, with only 27% of visitors originating from outside the city, while the actual percentage reached 40%, totaling 1.7 million. By the conclusion of the 2022 season, Raiders games drew in a sizable portion of visitors, ranging from 65% to 69%. This trend also indicated an increase in family visits.
Let’s provide you with some entertainment.
A report published by the National Family Destination Guide positioned Las Vegas as the second most popular family vacation destination in the United States, trailing only Miami. The report highlighted Las Vegas’ attractions, emphasizing its hotels’ affordability compared to Miami’s.
The study revealed that besides its numerous casinos, Las Vegas boasts a significant number of parks and recreational facilities, with a density of 29.87 family attractions per 100,000 residents.
“Las Vegas offers a plethora of shows and entertainment options suitable for children, including the King’s Tournament at the Excalibur and Circus Circus Adventureland,” the report stated. “For those with a sweet tooth, Hershey’s Chocolate World and M&M’s Chocolate World have also established a presence in Las Vegas.”
Adventureland is an indoor playground featuring rides, carnival games, circus performances, and other attractions.
Area15, an attraction situated near the Las Vegas Strip, opened its doors in 2020 and has captivated a large number of young visitors with its immersive experiences.
Global Studios, which operates Global theme parks in Los Angeles and Orlando, will likely see even more popularity once they open their rumored “terror experience” at Area15, which will surely draw in visiting families.
Las Vegas went through a period in the 1990s when themed casino resorts included attractions aimed at kids and families, before developers focused on more mature-oriented themes.
One such resort was the MGM Grand Adventure Theme Park, which opened in 1993 and shut down in 2000. It was designed to provide entertainment for children.
The city’s properties abandoned this concept after the LVCVA launched the “What Happens Here, Stays Here” adult-free marketing campaign in 2003, which has since been stopped. Now, with the announcement of the A-Team, baseball and its 81 games will be built upon Las Vegas’s growing sports scene, which is now branded by the LVCVA as the “World’s Sports and Entertainment Capital” and “The Greatest Arena on Earth.”
For families, there are plenty of other kid-friendly activities besides sports. Las Vegas has the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. at Treasure Island.
Downtown Las Vegas is very kid-friendly in terms of activities. There’s the Downtown Container Park, which has outdoor movies and activities like treehouses and playgrounds. The Fremont Street Experience has a zip line.
Sin City boasts a plethora of natural splendor, including the Springs Preserve, and attractions designed for youngsters such as the Children’s Museum, the Neon Museum, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, and a toy emporium called Toy House that peddles vintage playthings.
There are also an increasing number of gambling halls, including the Resorts World Las Vegas, which debuted in June 2021, that are specifically crafted for children and families with swimming pools. The Golden Nugget in the heart of Las Vegas features a tank pool where kids can plunge into the water through an aquarium teeming with sharks. Circus Circus has a splash zone and a pool with a 50-foot slide tower.
Spending on the rise
Steve Hill, chief executive of the LVCVA, acknowledges that Las Vegas has become a favored destination for more families because there are more activities for them, such as Area15. However, sports are playing a significant role in drawing families to the destination.
“Being able to journey to Las Vegas and witness your favorite team play, or see your favorite soccer players from Mexico or England – all of that is now occurring on a regular basis in Las Vegas,” Hill stated.
“If you desire to see BTS or Taylor Swift, that will attract a family audience. The diversity of possibilities that Las Vegas offers is appealing to nearly everyone.”
Allegiant Stadium: A new family attraction
The sporting events and activities held at Allegiant Stadium, and the families it draws to the city, are having an impact on casino profits. A new report from the LVCVA indicates that visitor spending in Las Vegas in 2022 was up 33% compared to 2019 (before the pandemic), driven by sports and entertainment.
Sin City travelers shelled out an unprecedented average of $1,156, a record high, pushing visitor expenditures to a record $44.9 billion, despite the city still having 3.7 million fewer guests than in 2019 before the pandemic struck. The average spending per visitor in 2022 was $1,156, a 33.3% jump from $867 in 2019.
**Year-round family destination**
Corey Padveen, a partner at t2 Marketing International, who has been monitoring the city’s family travel patterns, said that with baseball running from April through September, Las Vegas now has year-round sporting events to draw tourists. Baseball has 81 home games, typically with teams playing three or four-game series against opponents, or occasionally two-game series.
“Football season is only a handful of games a year, and hockey is only part of the year, but no one is going to travel to Las Vegas on a Tuesday to watch a hockey game,” Padveen said. “I believe baseball is a great chance to start attracting more family visitors.”
“People will definitely go to a [weekend] football game every year. For baseball, it’s less expensive to go to a game than football, and if you’re a fan in California or Arizona, why not make it a trip and bring the family? It’s another reason to come to Las Vegas. You can center it around baseball and enjoy more of what the city has to offer.”
Padven indicated that the financial effect of having another athletic squad would be substantial, as it would encompass all 12 months of the year.
Padven stated the financial effect of Las Vegas having another athletic squad would be substantial, as it would encompass all 12 months of the year. He believes the potential for family and non-gambling income is a significant highlight for the city and positive news for Las Vegas. “If they have afternoon matches, you can transform it into an afternoon activity and then spend the evening in the city,” Padven stated.
Nevada’s own Times Square
Padven, who was involved in a study on family entertainment activities outside of gambling, suggested that Las Vegas could become a family destination, much like Times Square. He said they didn’t concentrate on that subject then because Las Vegas lacked athletic squads, but now it’s become a significant draw, especially for tourists.
“There will be secondary components – additional non-gambling activities for families – that will come from that,” he explained. “You can now spend a whole day in the city without entering a casino and you’ll find yourself with plenty of things to do.”
A magnet for families
According to Oliver Lovett, CEO of the Danson Group, anything that encourages tourists to come to Las Vegas for the first time or to make an extra trip is beneficial.
“In the early to mid-1990s, when MGM Grand, Treasure Island and Luxor opened, there was little emphasis on families coming to Las Vegas,” Lovett said. “Those three properties helped drive the growth of visitor numbers in Las Vegas history, clearly linked to the family market.”
For many years, the percentage of hotel rooms designed for families has remained constant. As resorts search for new attractions and experiences, they must decide whether to focus on families or disregard them, Lovett stated.
“Individuals travel with their families, whether it’s sports, attractions, entertainment, or music [concerts and festivals]. When the Sphere [entertainment venue] opens later this year, many individuals will come to see their favorite performers in one of the best locations globally.”
Lovett mentioned that the tendency of families wanting to experience things together, taking vacations in Las Vegas, watching baseball and other attractions, will continue to increase.
“Las Vegas has long been considered an adult market, but the reality is that people travel with their families,” he said. “Families dine together. Families stay in rooms, families have financial resources.”
Reimagining family-friendly Las Vegas
“We have 150,000 hotel rooms in this market. We cater to everyone, whether it’s nightclubs, roulette tables, or family-friendly attractions. The market is large enough and robust enough to support everyone who visits.”
Brandon Bussman, a casino consultant and managing partner of B Global Advisors, stated that Las Vegas continues to diversify its offerings and add assets, and the baseball stadium will complement what Allegiant Stadium already provides.
Sin City is a destination that can appeal to everyone,” he remarked. “Ever since I relocated here in 2004, I’ve always believed that gridiron and baseball would be the ideal sports to introduce to the metropolis.”
The hospitality sector has gained considerable knowledge since the 1990s, and attracting families is no longer the primary objective. “It’s not about contrasting the past with the present,” he stated. “Families can come to watch baseball contests and indulge in other activities such as shopping, amusement, and unwinding by the pool. We don’t have as many amusement parks as we once did, but there are still numerous conveniences.”
For those who favor the traditional Las Vegas, he points out that the resorts are expansive and there’s ample room for everyone. “There are even accommodations that are exclusively for adults,” he mentioned.
Baseball is a traditional American pastime that unites families. “With more baseball matches, it would be simpler to draw visitors to Las Vegas,” said Josh Swetsman, founder of a strategic organization. “It would be a significant boost to tourism.”
Its unlikely you’ll witness any amusement parks emerging in the near future. We’ve observed a comparable pattern in Las Vegas, but with the baseball team’s arrival, amusement parks are primarily intended for family entertainment.
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