The worldwide spectacle that is the World Cup, with games taking place in 16 cities around North America, will kick off this week. Las Vegas is not among those getting in on the action.
That decision was made nine years ago in 2017, three years before potential Las Vegas host site, Allegiant Stadium, was completed.
Then-Raiders president Marc Badain (now president of the Athletics) and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill (before he was with the LVCVA, operating in his capacity as the chairman of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority) met with World Cup bid organizers as Allegiant Stadium was being built and found the bid requirements to be too costly and too flexible in favor of the event’s organizers.
Hill said at the time that the Las Vegas would be on the hook for over $100 million in upgrades to host preliminary-round group games in Las Vegas. The city would have also to provide adequate private practice facilities for all teams that would have been participating in the event.
Allegiant Stadium’s field is also not up to FIFA’s standards, largely because it is sitting on a tray that moves it inside and outside the facility, and modifications would’ve had to be made to meet World Cup’s governing body’s requirements.
At the time, there wasn’t an authority that would have been able to sign contracts to provide that needed funding, Hill noted in 2018. Since then, after Hill joined the LVCVA in 2018, Las Vegas’ tourism arm has been leading that charge and has since secured multiple major sporting events including multiple Super Bowls, Formula One races, WrestleManias and other major events such as the College Football Playoff national championship game next year and the men’s NCAA Final Four in 2028.
After weighing the options and knowing that the World Cup would occur during the summer when Las Vegas is already ripe with visitors, Hill and Badain turned down the chance to bid on hosting World Cup games.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
