Las Vegas Betting On High Turnout for the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft begins Thursday in Las Vegas, and two years after it was originally supposed to host, Sin City estimates it will bring in as many people as the 2019 edition in Nashville — or more.

It’s also worth noting that Nashville was the last live draft before the pandemic. 

“We are confident Las Vegas’ tourism industry will set a new standard in hosting NFL events while breaking attendance records,” said Virginia Valentine, president and CEO of the Nevada Resort Association. 

The draft is being held between The Linq Hotel and High Roller Ferris Wheel, but watch parties are taking place across the city, including at Circa Resort & Casino — the world’s largest sportsbook. 

Predominant sports figures will likely bring in even more people, as indicated by scheduled events hosted by Rob Gronkowski and Rich Paul.

Narrowing Down Numbers

The City of Las Vegas projects the number of attendees will be close to that of Nashville, which brought in an estimated 600,000 people for the weekend.

• Nashville’s economic impact from direct and indirect spending was thought to be around $223.9 million. Whether Las Vegas brings in more people or not, it has the ability to accommodate them — Nashville has more than 53,000 hotel rooms, while Las Vegas has roughly 150,000.
• Philadelphia’s economic impact from the 2017 draft was $95 million, and the next year, the Dallas area reported $125 million. Last year, Cleveland’s economic impact was $42 million.

But with no historical data from The Strip, it’s hard to know just how many people will show.