Casino Connection Nevada

An Economic Engine

NASCAR weekend drives business at local hotel casinos, and generates millions for the Vegas Valley

by Greg Jones

SIDEBARS:
NASCAR for Numbskulls
Betting NASCAR

No one really needs any extra encouragement to come to Las Vegas. It is one of the most popular destination cities in the country—if not the world—and between the casinos, restaurants, shows and malls, there literally is something for everyone. Add to that sporting events like the National Finals Rodeo, Ultimate Fighting Championship or boxing matches and you get a city that really is the “entertainment capital of the world.”

But there is one event that, more than any of the others, really revs the city’s economic engine. The NASCAR weekend in March—with the Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday, March 10, and the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Sunday, March 11—generates millions of dollars for city coffers, packs the casino and hotels both on and off the Strip and turns the Las Vegas Motor Speedway into a sea of people that makes the Super Bowl look like a small convention.

NASCAR is the fastest growing sports in the U.S. in terms of popularity, and when the teams from the left-turn circuit descend on Las Vegas, their fans come out in force. The Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Authority estimated that the 2006 race weekend generated $197,891,200 in gaming and non-gaming revenue. That number marks an impressive 18.4 increase over the 2005 race, which generated $167,127,800.

“NASCAR weekend has proven time and again to be an economic boon to Las Vegas and to Nevada,” said Chris Powell, general manager of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “This event has become one of the most anticipated stops on the NASCAR circuit for hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world.”

“In terms of its impact on this community, the NASCAR weekend at LVMS now ranks near the top with many of the major conventions and trade shows that visit Las Vegas every year.”

World-class facilities
It’s well known that Las Vegas offers some of the finest facilities in terms of gaming and hospitality, and the word is rapidly spreading that it has one of the best racing facilities in the country, too. Completed in 1996, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the first completely new super speedway to be built in the Southwest in 20 years. In its first year, it hosted the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season finale, and the schedule of events has been growing ever since. In 1997 the track hosted its first NASCAR Busch Series race, and the next year it hosted a NASCAR Nextel Cup race, an event that set a state record for attendance at an athletic event with some 250,000 people converging on the track for what was at the time still a growing sport.

LVMS parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc. is currently spending $30 million to overhaul existing facilities at the speedway.

“We are going to make Las Vegas Motor Speedway the greatest speedway in the world,” SMI Chairman Bruton Smith said. “Las Vegas is all about glitz and glamour. This speedway will be as spectacular as anything on the Las Vegas Strip when we are finished.”

The majority of improvements are geared toward the fans, with the interactive Neon Garage near the top of the list. The Neon Garage will be located in the center of the speedway infield. Its four buildings will give Nextel Cup teams a place to prepare their cars to race, and give fans the chance to watch the teams work from ground level, or from an elevated position. The center of the Neon Garage will be open to race fans, and will feature a sports bar with big screen televisions where fans can watch the race action, and stages for ongoing live entertainment throughout the race weekend. Track officials also plan to move the Winner’s Circle into the Neon Garage as well.

“This area will offer a perspective on the sport of auto racing that never has been available to the average race fan,” Powell said. “And the fan interactive area will bring an element of entertainment that is befitting of the culture of Las Vegas. The possibilities will be limitless.”

Another major change at the track is the increased banking in the turns. The turns were originally banked 12 degrees, a compromise that was intended to accommodate the open-wheel racing leagues like IRL and CART. With open-wheel racing struggling to match the popularity of its paint-trading stock car brethren, the track has decided to cater to the more popular event, and increase banking to 20 degrees. Greater banking allows the drivers to enter and exit the turns at faster speeds, resulting in greater speeds on the straightaways and a more exciting race.

“This company raises the bar for the rest of the sport as far as speedways go,” said LVMS public relations manager John Bisci. “Las Vegas is the entertainment capitol of the world, and we need to be the best motorsports facility in the world.”

World-class racing
While the DaimlerChrysler 400 features the big names in racing, the Sam’s Town 300 is a Busch Series race, featuring the up-and-comers of stock car racing. While it is often equated to Triple A baseball, Busch Series racing is just as exciting, as the drivers are trying to prove they’re ready to race on Sundays instead of Saturdays.

Boyd Gaming has been sponsoring the Las Vegas Busch Series race since its inception in 1997. Through Sam’s Town, Boyd Gaming was the first sponsor the track ever had, putting the company on the ground floor of what would soon become the largest paid-attendance event in the state.

“The days of gaming driving everything in Las Vegas are gone,” said Boyd’s Vice President of Marketing Dan Stark. “Gaming is everywhere throughout the U.S., so we really need to have product differentiation in Las Vegas.

“With all the entertainment offerings, the NASCAR weekend is just another reason for people to come here, another reason to bring customers in for a visit.”

While the race drives customers to properties throughout the city, it also gives sponsors like Boyd Gaming, Anheuser-Busch, Coke-Cola and Jack Daniels an opportunity to generate money for the community, too. The Thursday before the race, an auction is held in which the winner gets to ride along with his or her favorite driver during the drive introduction and pre-race parade lap. Last year, the Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities NASCAR Driver Auction raised $169,000 for children-related charities in Southern Nevada.

Of course, there is nothing that compares with the excitement that comes on the race days. Events like the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby or the annual Florida—Georgia NCAA football game—dubbed the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party—pale in comparison to the excitement that comes when 180,000 people pack into the LVMS grounds.

“With people coming not only from all over the U.S., but from all over the world—people buy tickets from 18 countries including all 50 states—it really is a world-class event. The property really turns into its own self-contained city,” Bisci said. “This city has such a draw, and then, to have this speedway, they compliment each other beautifully.

“Where else would you want to watch a race? Sure, the Pocono Mountains are beautiful, but there is not much going on after the track closes for the day. Here, we have so much entertainment, so much to do, it’s the draw, the attraction of the city.”