PHOENIX — The key now is to be even bigger and better.
Hey, it’s a tall order.
The Super Bowl is returning to Las Vegas as NFL owners voted unanimously at the league meetings Monday for Southern Nevada to host the game at Allegiant Stadium in 2029.
Super Bowl 63 has a tough act to follow from the first time Las Vegas held the game in 2024.
The experience then was as memorable as it was well-run. Things were done right. As only Las Vegas can.
It didn’t hurt that the game went to overtime, as Kansas City outlasted San Francisco 25-22. Didn’t hurt that those things a host committee couldn’t control went as smoothly as those they could.
“Super Bowl 58 was pretty great,” said Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “The weather was great, the game was great, it was a great matchup, Taylor Swift was in the crowd.
“We really at this point compete with ourselves. We set the bar very high in 2024. It’s not going to be easy to (improve things), but we’re going to work to make it happen.”
If any city can, it’s Las Vegas.
In the rotation
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It should signal the beginning of a long and consistent relationship between the NFL and its most lavish spectacle being staged in Southern Nevada.
Which appears to be the case.
“We don’t really have any formal rotation,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president for club business, international & league events. “We really take it a year at a time, evaluate cities and every summer send out an expression of interest to all 32 clubs. They let us know what events they’re interested in.
“We and Las Vegas are always auditioning. Every Super Bowl is that chance that if we don’t together raise that bar, then we’re not doing our job and maybe it doesn’t return. That’s the mode we’re in. We certainly feel great about Las Vegas as a Super Bowl host, which is very evident in that we’re coming back as quickly as we are.”
The NFL obviously doesn’t admit to there being a regular rotation for certain cities to host the Super Bowl every five years or so but history debates that fact.
No city comes together as well as Las Vegas when hosting such major events. None has the infrastructure and experience to do so. This is what Southern Nevada does best.
Many doubted Las Vegas could pull off such a gigantic challenge. They were convinced failure in some form or fashion would arrive. They were wrong to the ultimate degree in 2024.
“We’re not pointing at things right this minute, but harnessing the innovation and talent that Las Vegas has is really unmatched than any other place,” Hill said. “People always ask me, ‘What’s next in Las Vegas?’ I said that it’s not really our job to figure that out.
“It’s our job to create a platform with people who have great ideas and to make them real.”
It’s a tough act to follow, 2024.
Just win, Baby
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O’Reilly talked about the energy. The size. The scale. The hospitality. That owners are thrilled to run things back in Las Vegas. That the city is prepared to only enhance the experience next time around.
The NFL draft. The Pro Bowl. Super Bowl 58. And now Super Bowl 63. The Raiders might not be holding up their end of the bargain on the field yet, but Las Vegas has matured in such a short time into a thriving NFL city.
Now the local team just needs to win a lot more games.
The Super Bowl is a monster event to host. There were over 300 game-related events planned and executed in 2024. There were some slight traffic issues beforehand which can be solved the next time by spreading some of those happenings around.
Eyes were opened by the experience a few years ago.
“We’ll turn to our resort partners and all the folks who put on events and who do entertainment in Las Vegas and bring them all together,” Hill said. “We’ll get all their ideas over the next three years.
“I’m confident we’ll blow the doors off it again. It’s going to be ‘Wow, look at what they did this time.’”
Bigger and better. That’s the goal.
And there’s no better city to take on the challenge.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [egraney@reviewjournal.com.](mailto:egraney@reviewjournal.com) Follow [@edgraney](https://x.com/edgraney) on X.