After Formula 1, also the Super Bowl: Las Vegas wants to combat its dirty image with big sport

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Las Vegas, the gambling city? Las Vegas, the sports city! The gambling metropolis has discovered the great sport itself. Now comes Formula 1. The pompous casinos have always provided a platform, especially for the big names in heavyweight boxing. Ali, Tyson, Holyfield, the Klitschkos and so on. When big money beckons in the ring, Las Vegas is involved. For UFC cage fighters, Vegas is the ultimate capital anyway.

Boxing, gambling, betting, a little bad demimonde. All this fits like a glove in Las Vegas. But because of its reputation as a sinful city and its proximity to legal and illegal sports betting, the major leagues avoided the city for decades. There were major international events in snooker and darts, the World Championships in jumping, an ATP Challenger tennis tournament, the beach volleyball world tour or the curling world championships in 2018 and 2022. But American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey? Unimaginable for a long time.

The NHL settlement breaks the spell

That is past tense. The city wants to get rid of its image as a land of milk and honey for adults and towards an entertainment city without a dirty image that should also be attractive to families and children.

In addition to concerts and shows, major sports such as F1 are part of the strategy. In 2017, the NHL became the first major American league to come to town and the Vegas Golden Knights have been playing in the new T-Mobile Arena ever since. The new hockey franchise sensationally reached the Stanley Cup final in 2018. The NHL crown will come in 2023, with the Knights winning the title for the first time in June.

After the successful ice hockey premiere, American football will also land in the city in 2020. Unlike the NHL, not as a new franchise: the Las Vegas Raiders have a colorful NFL history in Los Angeles and Oakland. The move became concrete when a mega sports arena, Allegiant Stadium, was built. There is now also basketball. The Las Vegas Aces have been playing in the women’s NBA since 2018. But superstars like Shaq O’Neill and LeBron James dream of one day starting an NBA men’s team.

Now the Super Bowl is coming

There are also concrete plans in baseball. A stadium must be built from 2024. The Oakland Athletics are considered good candidates for relocation. The plans for a football club in the MLS are less concrete.

Football is more important than football – just three months after the Formula 1 GP, a second world sporting event, the Super Bowl, takes place in Las Vegas. The first NFL championship will be played in Nevada on February 11. Sports City Las Vegas!

Source : Blick