The world knows Las Vegas by a number of names, ‘Sin City’ being one of the most prominent. Gambling and entertainment have long been the primary selling points for tourism here, but the city has now positioned itself as a sports mecca – the ‘Greatest Arena on Earth’.
Featuring everything from Formula 1 championship racing to the NFL’s top prize in the Super Bowl, the events signing on are getting larger and more spectacular. That’s not by mistake, and Las Vegas isn’t swinging above its weight class. This was always the way it was trending, with the seeds to sports success planted deep in the city’s past.
“Las Vegas has considered sports important from the get-go,” said UNLV history chair and professor Michael Green. “It's been something that is a tourist attraction, but also a community attraction.”
Having tourists sit in race and sportsbooks for events such as the Super Bowl and NCAA Championship games has always been a revenue generator for the hotels and casinos. But the growth had to come from beyond the Strip, and Southern Nevada has grown enormously.
“The census of 1900 showed a population of 30 people,” said Green. “The population of the Las Vegas Valley is now about 2.4 million. The area is now big enough to support sports teams. At the same time, the growth of the gaming and tourism industry has meant that there’s also a tourist market coming in for these sporting events.”
Another contributing factor to becoming and being recognized as a sports city was the gradual spread of gambling throughout the nation. Nevada legalized gambling in 1931 and, until 1978, it stood alone as the only state where you could legally gamble.
Over the years, the public sentiment toward sports betting has lightened up with further legalization and, in turn, changed the outside perception from contemptible to respectable (even encouraged!).
“In 2003, Las Vegas tried to buy ad time on the Super Bowl and was told, ‘No, we don’t want to be associated with you,’” he said. “Twenty years later, where’s the Super Bowl? It’s here — which tells you how people have changed their views and how Las Vegas, itself, has grown and changed.”
Once the reputational stigma and population hurdles were cleared, the last prong to overcome was international, global appeal. One does not become the ‘Greatest Arena on Earth’ without it. Luckily, the building blocks have long been in place – National Finals Rodeo, World Series of Poker, Ultimate Fighting Championship, NBA Summer League (and the 2007 NBA All-Star Game), and countless others. Professional soccer, tennis, and golf tournaments also continue to make stops in Las Vegas. Captivating the crowd outside of America is what sets Las Vegas apart.
“If you think about Formula 1 and a decade of upcoming races in Las Vegas – sports that some people think of as ‘minor’ are really ‘major’ to others,” said Green. “The sports we play in Las Vegas are played all around the world.”
Gradually, the American major league operators began looking at Las Vegas, with its population growth and a desire to be seen as a legitimate community from the outside. Then, a major turning point happened in 2017 with the Golden Knights. The NHL expansion was the right team at the right time.
“What happened next was a tragedy (1 October) that led to the Golden Knights getting more involved in the community,” he said. “The consequence of that was a love for the team. The Golden Knights demonstrated that Las Vegas would support a major sports franchise and has continued to do so throughout.”
The NFL Raiders, WNBA Aces, and NHL Golden Knights have all made safe bets on Las Vegas – and possibly more pro sports are looking (and likely) to cash-in, seeing it as good business. And from one sporting stepping stone to another, eventually they all paved the way to Allegiant Stadium, culminating in Super Bowl LVIII.
“There are going to be people coming in to watch the game and paying premium prices for tickets, rooms, and food,” said Green. “TV networks are going to be doing all kinds of coverage from Las Vegas. It’s going to be Las Vegas all the time. And that is ideally going to benefit all of us.”
From the first snaps of a little-known Raiders preseason game at Cashman Field in 1964 to the Super Bowl in 2024, the history of sports in Las Vegas continues to come full circle.
And the city has become what it was always destined to be: the sports capital of the world.
“Las Vegas has always been the ‘fun’ economy,” said Green. “And sports always has and always will be a big part of the fun, so it fits.”
A Brief Timeline of Sports in the Valley, as told by UNLV professor and historian Michael Green:
(1900-40s)
The 1905 railroad construction drew settlers to Las Vegas. By the 1910s, Major League Baseball exhibition games and rodeos – which eventually led to the famous Helldorado rodeo in the mid-30s — came to town.
In the 1940s, Las Vegas High School boasted an undefeated, untied, unscored-upon football team. And the Wildcats of ‘44 all talked about it until the day they died. There was also a Minor League Baseball team here called the Wranglers. You go back to those days where you wouldn’t think things were going on – they were.
(1950-70s)
In the 50s, championship boxing began to gain traction. Then, for decades into the 90s, celebrities poured in for matches featuring the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Marvin Haggler, Thomas Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard. All of these great boxing matches were big events for Las Vegas.
In the 1960s, UNLV sports began to grow in popularity. And between the football teams under Bill Ireland and Tony Knap, there was considerable success. These were good teams. Not top-notch by any means, but still good. It was a small school. The arrival of Jerry Tarkanian in 1973 is a crucial moment where UNLV becomes a national basketball powerhouse – and a source of controversy with all the fighting with the NCAA – and that has an influence. It was the outlaw program in the outlaw city. It was a long stretch of success.
Las Vegas also got a professional sports franchise in the 70s: the Quicksilvers of the North American Soccer League. It didn’t last long, but we actually had Pele playing for the New York Cosmos at Sam Boyd Stadium and drawing a crowd of about 30,000 people.
(1980-Present)
In the early 80s, the Utah Jazz of the NBA played a few games here each year. It led to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar setting his all-time scoring record at the Thomas & Mack Center right here at UNLV.
In 1983, AAA Baseball came to Las Vegas with the Stars, later the 51s, now the Aviators. And it’s been one of the most successful AAA franchises – another sign that Las Vegas would support teams, although Minor League in this case.
In ‘85, the city was able to attract the National Finals Rodeo away from Oklahoma City — and it’s been here ever since. That event arrived just after the opening of the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV, which gave the Rebels an 18,000-seat arena to play in and was the first venue capable of hosting major sporting events in Las Vegas.
One of the things that helped make Las Vegas important for sports was the success of the Runnin’ Rebels basketball team leading into the championship win in 1990. Jerry Tarkanian was the coach for 19 seasons, won the national championship, still the largest margin of victory in a national championship game at 30 points over Duke. The city loved the Rebels. It remains the case that the basketball team got so much attention, that people could look at this area as a sports area.
The next major development was 2017 with the Golden Knights beginning to play here. Then, you get the Raiders, the WNBA’s world champion Aces, the Super Bowl on the heels of Formula 1, and in 2028 the NCAA basketball championship will be played here. And somewhere, Jerry Tarkanian is smiling and shaking his head.
