Formula 1 racecars ripped along the iconic Las Vegas Strip this past Sunday, serving as another highly visible reminder of a significant shift in the city’s economy. In under a decade’s time, the desert city long known for its casinos, food and live entertainment has become the home to four major league sports teams, six minor league teams, a major sports organization in the Ultimate Fighting Champion, and four large sports venues playing host to events such as NCAA tournament games, NFL Pro Bowls, and, in the coming February, Super Bowl LVIII. At least a half-dozen more venues are in the planning stages, and the city appears poised to be one of the top picks for an NBA expansion team and an MLS team, as well. “Ten years ago, leagues didn’t even want to look at us twice,” said Andrew Woods, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). “Now it feels like we’re the belle of the ball.” The initial economic impact estimates for Sunday’s Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix and the February 2024 Super Bowl were US$1.3 billion, and US$500 million, respectively.. That total would match the estimated US$1.8 billion contributed to the metro area by all sporting events from July 2021 to June 2022, according to an economic impact study released this summer by the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV’s Lee Business School. With bigger events, however, come bigger challenges. Construction and preparation for the F1 race gnarled traffic, agitating locals in the process. Also drawing the ire of longtime residents and visitors are the exorbitant prices and the potentially blocked views of everything from the Bellagio fountains to the Mirage volcano, due to the temporary grandstand and signage. “There are questions about do we have adequate infrastructure that can handle bigger and bigger events,” Woods said. “How do we make this beneficial for both a community that could soon have 3 million residents and have 50 million visitors a year and make that work for everyone?” Sports have been deeply engrained in Las Vegas for decades, going back to the boxing heyday of the 1950s and 1960s and the rise of sports betting. Super Bowl Sundays and March Madness tournaments typically bring packed casinos and sportsbooks. But for many decades, the NFL and other leagues opposed having sport franchises in Las Vegas, most likely due to the city’s deeply rooted gambling industry. By 2017, the sentiment had started to shift — including among league commissioners like the NFL’s Roger Goodell — as the National Hockey League as well as the Oakland Raiders had plans to set up shop there. “I think society in general has a bit of a change with respect to gambling in general,” Goodell said during a March 2017 press conference. “Vegas is not the same city it was 10 or 20 years ago. It is a much more diverse city; it has become an entertainment mecca.” He added: “They made a very compelling proposal, which the ownership obviously approved overwhelmingly.” Then came the 2018 ruling from the Supreme Court striking down a federal law that prohibited commercial sports betting in most states. As sports betting exploded into people’s living rooms, Vegas remained at the center of that digital industry — being home to the casino operators that backed those sportsbooks and online gambling companies such as FanDuel. The rise of sports betting and continued explosion in fantasy football created additional interest in sports and in Vegas, said Steve Hill, chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.(SD-Agencies) Words to Learn 相關詞匯 【引起憤怒】 yǐnqǐ fènnù draw the ire of make angry 【體育博彩】 tǐyù bócǎi sportsbook an establishment that takes bets on sporting events and pays out winnings 剛剛過去的周日，一級方程式賽車在拉斯維加斯大道上疾馳，再次提醒人們這座城市的經(jīng)濟圖景正經(jīng)歷巨變。 在不到十年的時間里，這座長期以賭場、美食和現(xiàn)場娛樂而聞名的沙漠之城已坐擁四支大聯(lián)盟球隊、六支小聯(lián)盟球隊、終極格斗冠軍賽這一頂級賽事組織以及四座大型體育館，承辦過美國大學生籃球聯(lián)賽、NFL職業(yè)碗，明年2月還將迎來第58屆超級碗賽事。 至少還有六七個場館正在籌建，拉斯維加斯似乎也將成為NBA新增球隊和MLS球隊的首選地之一。 內(nèi)華達大學拉斯維加斯分校（UNLV）商業(yè)與經(jīng)濟研究中心主任安德魯?伍茲說：“十年前，各聯(lián)盟甚至都不想多看我們一眼。現(xiàn)在，我們忽然成了最靚的仔。” 據(jù)初步估算，周日的一級方程式拉斯維加斯大獎賽和明年2月的超級碗帶來的經(jīng)濟增量分別為13億美元和5億美元。 UNLV李商學院商業(yè)與經(jīng)濟研究中心今夏發(fā)布的一項研究報告稱，這兩項賽事預計帶來18億美元的收入，相當于2021年7月至2022年6月期間所有體育賽事對該大都會地區(qū)貢獻的收入。 然而，大型賽事也帶來了更大挑戰(zhàn)。F1賽事的基建施工和籌備工作導致交通堵塞，惹惱了當?shù)鼐用瘛?/p> 此外，賽事推高了物價，臨時看臺和標識牌遮擋了視線，妨礙人們欣賞貝拉吉奧噴泉、火山噴發(fā)秀這些美景，也讓居民和游客不滿。 伍茲說：“是否有足夠的基礎設施來舉辦越來越多的大型活動，這是個問題。怎樣才能讓這個常住人口即將達到300萬、每年接待5000萬游客的社區(qū)從中受益，讓大家都滿意？” 體育在拉斯維加斯有數(shù)十年的悠久傳統(tǒng)，可以追溯到 20世紀五、六十年代的拳擊鼎盛時期和體育博彩興盛之初。超級碗星期天和瘋狂三月賽事期間，賭場和體彩公司門庭若市。 幾十年來，美國橄欖球聯(lián)盟（NFL）等賽事聯(lián)盟一直反對拉斯維加斯的球隊加盟，很可能是因為博彩業(yè)在該市根深蒂固。 直到 2017 年，包括NFL的羅杰?古德爾在內(nèi)，各聯(lián)盟委員態(tài)度開始轉變，因為拉斯維加斯將加入全國冰球聯(lián)盟；橄欖球聯(lián)盟的奧克蘭突襲者隊也計劃搬到拉斯維加斯。 古德爾2017年3月在新聞發(fā)布會上說：“我認為整個社會對博彩的態(tài)度發(fā)生了一些變化。拉斯維加斯現(xiàn)在和10年、20 年前已經(jīng)大不一樣了。這是一個更加多元化的城市，已然成為娛樂圣地。” 他補充說：“拉斯維加斯開出了讓人無法拒絕的條件，管理層以壓倒性多數(shù)票通過，接受了他們。” 隨后，美國最高法院2018年做出裁決，不再禁止大多數(shù)州的體育博彩生意。隨著網(wǎng)絡博彩的普及，體彩進入千家萬戶，而拉斯維加斯仍是這一產(chǎn)業(yè)的中心，它是眾多體育博彩公司和在線博彩公司（如FanDuel）的所在地。拉斯維加斯會展和旅游局首席執(zhí)行官史蒂夫?希爾說，體彩的興起和夢幻足球游戲的持續(xù)火爆，讓人們對體育和拉斯維加斯愈來愈感興趣。 (Translated by Debra) | 