Until recently, the prospect of Las Vegas hosting major league sports teams was often dismissed. Now, the city is set to welcome the NFL, NHL, WNBA, and MLB. The NBA may potentially join in the future. This rapid growth raises concerns about possible market oversaturation.
Many fans view an NBA expansion franchise as a clear benefit for Las Vegas. “It’ll be more tourism, so that’ll be good for Vegas. And, it’ll have all the sports teams covered,” said Tyson Thompson, a basketball fan. Thompson also highlighted the financial benefits, stating, “More revenue for the city, so not a bad thing for Vegas.”
UNLV associate professor of hospitality Amanda Bellarmino noted that the NBA’s global reach offers advantages beyond local ticket sales. “One of the things that’s very interesting about the NBA is that they have worked, you know, very hard over the last 20 – 25, years to grow an international fan base,” Bellarmino said.
Bellarmino added that Asia is a major market for the NBA. Furthermore, the league continues to expand its presence in Europe while recruiting more international players.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Professional Sports in Vegas
This trend may benefit Las Vegas, especially as international visitation has declined since COVID. “So the idea that we could have a franchise here, you know, could bring some international travelers here,” she said. Bellarmino also noted that international visitors, as well as those who attend games during business or leisure trips, typically stay longer in Las Vegas. “So we’ve seen, I think we there’s enough in our data right now that we can indicate that’s happening with the Raiders, with the Aces to certain extent, and to the Golden Knights,” she said.id.
However, the rapid expansion of major league sports in Southern Nevada has raised questions about whether the Las Vegas metro area can support another franchise. This is especially true with Major League Baseball expected to arrive in early 2028.
A common comparison is the population size relative to the number of major league teams. With the Athletics’ arrival, Las Vegas will match Chicago in total major league teams. However, Las Vegas has only about one-third of Chicago’s population.
Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis explained that Las Vegas stands apart from traditional sports markets due to its large visitor base. “This isn’t meant to be pejorative or comparative to other markets, but Las Vegas has this competitive advantage where we’re going to have 35 40 million people coming to Las Vegas, and they want to do stuff while they’re here,” Aguero said. “Some of those folks want to go see a football game. Want to go see a hockey game. Want to go see a WNBA game. That’s really important, and it drives revenue overall.”
Eric Butler is a Contributor for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on Instagram and X via @ReportandOpine
