Every weekend is a party in Las Vegas. Still, the Super Bowl weekend stands out.
There are two events where the sports world and Las Vegas intertwine: the first week of March Madness and the weekend of the Super Bowl. Give many fans the choice, and they would choose to watch the games in Vegas instead of watching them in person. There is more fun in Sin City.
The Super Bowl parties that everyone is used to in Las Vegas will not be the same this year. No one knows what will happen to March Madness either.
Super Bowl Sunday will still be a good time in Las Vegas. There are endless betting possibilities at BetMGM for the Super Bowl LV, and many people will still make the trip. Nothing as usual due to the restrictions of COVID-19.
“My guess is that, especially at strip properties, social detachment will make the Super Bowl experience very different,” said Gill Alexander, host of “A Numbers Game” on the Vegas-based VSiN network. “I think the gifts will be as exuberant as ever, but with a kind of tacit recognition that this is not quite the party we know.”
This will be the coronavirus Super Bowl. In Tampa, there will be more cardboard cutouts in the stands than fans. It will be a somewhat unusual and strange broadcast, balancing the celebration of America’s biggest sporting event with the reality of a public health crisis that is still ongoing.
It will also be very different in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas during a pandemic
Visiting Las Vegas for the past 11 months has been unusual.
There are still games of chance, although with plastic dividers between the chairs at the tables. Sports betting is still showing games, although the seats are spread out with six feet between them. The restaurants are open, but with capacity restrictions. Nightclubs and big shows are dark. Masks and constant reminders to keep you indoors are a lifestyle like any other city.
The most obvious difference is the size of the crowd. This will be noticeable on the Super Bowl weekend as well.
“It’s very quiet,” said Jeff Stoneback, business director at MGM Resorts. “Probably the quietest Super Bowl I have ever encountered here.”
Hotel occupancy rates are generally above 90% in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl weekend. Wynn CEO Matt Maddox recently said he was optimistic that hotel occupancy at Wynn properties over the Super Bowl weekend would reach 50%, according to Yogonet. It hasn’t been this high since October.
There are still many parties planned, but they will be reduced.
MGM typically hosts a Super Bowl party for about 1,400 of its VIP players in a ballroom. This year, government regulations limit meetings to 50 people. MGM will have four ballrooms with 50 people each.
“The atmosphere is not the same for 50 people and 1,400 people, but it is the Super Bowl and everyone is here to have fun,” said Stoneback. “And there is still a lot to bet on.”
There will still be many bets on the Super Bowl, perhaps even a record amount. Sports betting is one of the few things in Las Vegas that has not been affected by the pandemic.
Sports betting still had a great year
It was a difficult year for most companies, but especially in a city that thrives on merrymaking.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Las Vegas had 1.247 million visitors in December, down 64% from December 2019. In the year, there were 19 million visitors, down 55.2%. Hotel occupancy dropped from 85.1% in December 2019 to 30.9% last December. The casino’s gross revenue on the strip fell 50.7%.
But sports betting did not fall sharply when sports came back. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, sports betting made a profit of $ 238.45 million in 2020. This included a huge profit of $ 61.8 million in November, a record month. In October, sports betting handled $ 659,222,395 in betting, a record of one month, according to USBets.com.
“Even if the bodies are not in the city, money is flowing in,” said Stoneback.
There were two major reasons for the sportsbook to have a normal football season, in terms of betting and profit. The betting apps were huge. People who are uncomfortable entering a casino during a pandemic can simply bet on the phone. In addition, there are fewer options for visitors. People can’t afford to spend money on a Cirque du Soleil show or bottle service at the Hakkasan Nightclub, so they were putting on the Green Bay Packers or the Dallas Cowboys.
“It’s the only show in town,” said Stoneback.
Hopefully, this Super Bowl will be unique. Perhaps with the vaccines, MGM will return to its big VIP Super Bowl party next year and visitors will pass through Las Vegas all weekend. But it may take a while for Las Vegas to return to normal.
“I hope that in March of Madness things will be different,” said Alexander, “but only time will tell if it is too early too.”
More from Yahoo Sports: