Can a Vegas legend get tickets to the Super Bowl? (Calls for Carrot Top.)
On Tuesday morning, Scott Thompson, the comedian known as Carrot Top, drank tea in his dressing room at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, where he has been headlining for 18 years. Before an afternoon of performances on Radio Row, the mecca for sports talk radio stations during Super Bowl week, Mr. Thompson reflects on the game's effect on Las Vegas.
“I think this is the biggest event we've ever had,” Mr Thompson said.
How big? He wore a baseball cap with a handmade sticker that read “Need Tickets” on the front. Yes, even Carrot Top has had trouble scoring tickets for Sunday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
“Everyone says that: 'You are Carrot Top! You own this city!'” Mr. Thompson said. “But I really can't get one.”
It can be a challenge for even the most high-profile events to make an impression on Las Vegas, a tech-colored oasis in the Nevada desert epitomized by the Strip – a vast collection of hotels, casinos and restaurants that sits just outside the city limits and the manic energy radiating from a pinball machine.
But Las Vegas seems enchanted by the Super Bowl, which is making its first appearance in a place that not long ago the NFL avoided to the point of parody. Now, ahead of the big game, the league has effectively plastered its image on Las Vegas.
“We've done a lot of events outside of sports, but this is on another level,” said Vashti Cunningham, an Olympic high jumper and lifelong Las Vegas resident whose father, Randall, was an NFL quarterback. “It feels like there's a lot of momentum.”
The city's enthusiasm is embodied in a distinctly Las Vegas way by the phosphorescent topography of the Strip. The Sphere, a 110-meter-high amphitheater, has harnessed its 1.2 million LED screens by transforming itself into a huge football helmet. Caesars Palace shows one Super Bowl themed video projection on the facade every evening.
The NFL's relationship with Las Vegas has changed dramatically. Remember, in 2015, the NFL banned players from having a fantasy football convention that Tony Romo hosted in town because it was located on a casino property. The event was cancelled.
The Raiders, who moved to Las Vegas in 2020, now play their home games at Allegiant Stadium, which is within walking distance of about a billion slot machines and craps tables. The NFL has forged lucrative partnerships with sports betting companies. And on Sunday, Mr. Romo will be back in Las Vegas — this time to help broadcast the Super Bowl for CBS.
“We couldn't afford to pay for the value of media attention we will receive,” said Mary Beth Sewald, president and CEO of the Vegas Chamber.
Terry Fator, a ventriloquist whose eponymous show plays at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino, said he always got a shock when he drove past the football stadium, which opened in 2020. (Taylor Swift, a high-profile NFL fan, had a few concerts there last March.)
“The city is a different place than it was a few years ago,” Mr. Fator said. “For years, Las Vegas was, 'I'm going to gamble, and that's it.' Well, now there's so much more to do here.”
The Super Bowl, he said, is just the latest example, albeit an important one. Mr. Fator, 58, usually performs on Sundays but takes the day off so he can watch the game on his 160-inch projection screen with his wife, Angie Fiore Fator.
“It's really devastating when you have to do a show and miss the last few minutes of the Super Bowl,” Mr. Fator said. “We let the city celebrate, while we celebrate in our own home.”
When Formula 1 made its long-awaited return to Las Vegas for a race in November, it was more headache than spectacle. A months-long construction project in preparation for the course resulted in road closures, traffic jams and major losses for small businesses. Ticket prices for the race itself were exorbitantly expensive, and many hotels made the mistake of overcharging for rooms.
“The luxury properties did well, but the average customer suffered,” said Jay Kornegay, executive vice president of Race and Operations at Westgate Resorts. “Even though they are F1 fans, they were simply overpriced. And when other properties tried to lower their prices, it was too late.”
Aside from the scarcity of tickets, the NFL doesn't seem to be causing the same kind of problems for residents. The roads are open so far (most of them anyway) and the league knows how to market its big event.
“The Super Bowl is for everyone,” Mr. Kornegay said. “It's for football fans. It's for singles. It's for married couples. It is for young and old. And the locations we have around here cater to those widespread demographics.”
The Super Bowl has long been a big weekend for Las Vegas, with the city typically drawing 300,000 visitors regardless of where the game is played. And that number is more than enough to “sell out” the city's 154,000 hotel rooms every Super Bowl weekend, according to Jeremy Aguero, a director of the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee. This year's event has more buzz, more events and more logistical hurdles, but will most likely translate into only about 10 percent more attendees, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Still, more people and more excitement means more money. Jeff Benson, chief operating officer of sports betting operator Circa Sports, said he expected a “record handle,” or betting amount, to be achieved this weekend.
“The NFL is king,” he said. “And the Super Bowl is king.”
Vicki Barbolak, a comedian who appeared on “America's Got Talent,” has felt the impact of the Super Bowl. She regularly performs at Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club on the LINQ Promenade, but her shows were canceled this week due to “Super Bowl preparation,” she said. She later learned that Verizon had rented the space for a promotional event.
“The good news is they're still paying us,” said Ms. Barbolak, 66, who splits her time between Las Vegas and San Diego. “I want to go in there and pretend I left something in the storage room so I can get some free shrimp and stuff. It has to be chic.”
Ms. Barbolak's father, Pete, who died in 2006, spent a season in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Pittsburgh Steelers. She said he would have gotten a kick out of Las Vegas hosting the Super Bowl.
“He would have been there, no doubt,” she said. “He loved football and he loved gambling. Who not?”
It's Super Bowl 24/7 along the Strip. Over the top? Naturally. A nuisance? Not more than normal.
“Formula 1 was hated by the locals because it only ruined our lives,” Ms Barbolak said. “No one wanted to go anywhere near it. Servers and bartenders lost huge amounts of money for three weeks. I saw a few good-looking Italians walking around, but other than that there was nothing for all of us. But the Super Bowl? Everyone is so proud and excited.”
Ms. Barbolak plans to watch the game at the Composers Room, a vintage bar east of the Strip that hosts a special event of its own: the “Super Nacho Bowl.”
Wayne Newton, the 81-year-old entertainer known as Mr. Las Vegas, remembered the old days, when a fake businessman struggled to lure customers from the casinos a horse racing track. (It closed in 1954 shortly after opening.)
On Monday, a few showgirls escorted Mr. Newton to a stage for a news conference so he could kick off a week of Super Bowl-related festivities. Given the city's history, he never thought the game would ever take place here, he said.
“Las Vegas was pretty determined,” says Mr. Newton, who, unlike Carrot Top, knows exactly what his plans are for the weekend. “I think I have some good tickets.”