Adam Minter, Columnist

Super Bowl Weekend’s Biggest Loser Is Allegiant Stadium

During football’s premier event, the numbers show Las Vegas businesses wouldn’t have noticed if the taxpayer-funded venue had never been built.

February 10, 2024 at 1:00 PM UTC

By Adam Minter

Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of sports. He is the author, most recently, of “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale."

Is it worth every penny?
Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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This year’s Super Bowl matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will be played in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, built in part with a $750 million public subsidy. In 2016, that was the largest for a stadium in the National Football League’s history.

During the game, it may seem worthwhile. The nation’s sporting and entertainment elite will be there, filling up hotel rooms, restaurants and tip jars. And afterward? The stadium will return to being the world’s fourth-highest-grossing stadium concert venue and home to the Raiders, the NFL’s third-highest generator of ticket revenues.