Saturday, November 28, 2009

Las Vegas Needs Pacquiao and Mayweather to Keep Economy Alive

Las Vegas is reeling from the global economic downturn and is struggling to keep its local economy afloat. The upcoming Pacquiao-Mayweather match could keep the local economy alive as Las Vegas tries to keep next year's mega fight on the strip
Las Vegas has been hit harder by recession than most places in the west coast with a high unemployment rate of around 13 percent.
The popular gambling and entertainment city with around 150,000 hotel rooms is very much dependent on conventions and business conferences on top of its main attraction as the gambling city of the world. Most casinos are experiencing low patronage while hotels are half empty with dwindling occupancy rates.
With a sagging local economy, Las Vegas needs a major sports or entertainment event that will bring in people from across the globe to fill the empty rooms and halls of the hotels and casinos.
One of the major sports and entertainment events that is sure to bring tourists and visitors to Las Vegas is the upcoming boxing fight between Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao and America's undefeated professional boxer, Flod Mayweather, Jr.
Las Vegas business leaders must have realized the importance of keeping the fights of Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. The popular Filipino boxer has brought in thousands of people across the globe to watch his fights in the entertainment and gambling city whose survival depends on the number of visitors who spends money on hotel accommodations, food, entertainment, among other things.
The Filipino boxing superstar has fought nine of his 12 fights in Las Vegas and every time he fights, the venue is filled to the rim by boxing fans coming from different parts of the world.
This realities must have driven some Las Vegas businessmen to capitalize on the popularity of the Filipino boxer. Keevin lole of Yahoo Sports reported that Sig Rogich, a powerful political consultant in Las Vegas is leading a group that is exploring the possibility of erecting a 30,000-seat outdoor stadium on a Las Vegas Boulevard site once occupied by the New Frontier Hotel.
Rogich, who worked in the George H.W. Bush administration, said Las Vegas officials are discussing a plan with El-Ad Properties, which purchased the New Frontier Hotel and the 36 acres of Strip-front property it sits on for $1.2 billion from Phil Ruffin in 2007, to have the site serve as the location for the lucrative fight. The plan would be to have the fight sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, with a consortium of Las Vegas casinos contributing money toward the cost, the report added.
Being a tourist destination, Las Vegas is suffering from low visitor arrival. Airline companies have made adjustments on their flight schedules to Las Vegas. US Airways has in fact announced last month that it was cutting its arrivals by half.
Casinos are losing. Sands, one of the oldest in Las Vegas lost $123 million for the quarter ending September 30 while MGM Mirage recorded a net loss of $750 million and Harrah's had more than $1 billion in accumulated loses.
In September, for the first time since May 2008, the number of visitors to Las Vegas went up year over year — 4.3 percent. But the average daily room rate was down nearly 25 percent, to just over $92 a night. Gambling revenue was down 3.6 percent, the 21st straight monthly decline, according to figures released last week by the city's convention authority, monterryherald.com reports
With the negative outlook on the economy of Las Vegas, a Pacquiao-Mayweather match may just be what the sin city needs to jump start its local economy.

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