Until now, the NFL Pro Bowl and NHL All-Star Game have never taken place in the same city during the same weekend.

They came pretty close in 2018, 85 miles or so, when both events were held in Florida—the NFL’s postseason bash in Orlando and the NHL’s midseason celebration in Tampa—on the exact same day.

But this weekend, Las Vegas will officially make history by becoming the first town to host both, one day apart. The NHL’s All-Star Weekend will culminate with the All-Star Game, February 5 at 3 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena on the Strip. Then the NFL Pro Bowl will go down February 6 at noon at Allegiant Stadium, just a few minutes away.

Like so many things these days, the pandemic is responsible for this unprecedented convergence of professional sports all-star gatherings. Las Vegas was supposed to get its first NFL Pro Bowl in 2021 before it was canceled, while the 2021 NHL All-Star Game was originally set for Sunrise, Florida, before it was called off and this year’s event was reassigned here.

Make no mistake, however: While COVID might have caused this to happen, Las Vegas is one of the only places on Earth capable of effectively accommodating both events in the same weekend.

“It’s an incredibly unique location from a logistic, operations-based standpoint, with all the hotels and everything being relatively compact and having the Strip right there,” says Matt Shapiro, the NFL’s vice president of events strategy. “For a long time, Las Vegas has existed as this powerful destination, but now with this beautiful new stadium, that’s allowing us to produce the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl [in 2024] as well as the NFL Draft [in April], which is less stadium-focused but will be another great opportunity.

“With these events, we always think about proximity from the fan perspective, making sure to create these centers of gravity where you can stay and engage with the NFL,” Shapiro continues. “The great thing there is you have that center of gravity with the Strip, but we’re being mindful of all Vegas has to offer beyond the Strip as well and using multiple properties.”

The Pro Bowl claimed the weekend first, and once the NHL lined up its dates, officials from both leagues began communicating—and collaborating with local venues and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority—to make sure plans aligned. The sports-packed weekend is an obvious win for Las Vegas, but it’s also important to note that there’s no apparent downside for either the NFL or NHL.

“We’ve been in close touch throughout the process and couldn’t see any drawbacks,” Shapiro says. “It’s an exciting opportunity for the destination and for ESPN, which is broadcasting both events.”

Shapiro’s NHL counterpart agrees. Steve Mayer, chief content officer and senior executive vice president of events and entertainment, says the NHL has been increasingly excited about bringing its marquee events to Las Vegas since the Vegas Golden Knights’ unbelievable success during the team’s inaugural season.

“We’ve proven time and again that it doesn’t necessarily need to be a traditional hockey market to be successful,” Mayer says. “One thing I’ve witnessed that blows my mind is how the fanbases love their Predators [in Nashville], their Panthers and their Lightning in Florida, which was not previously a hotbed for hockey. And of course Tampa won the Stanley Cup two years in a row.

“So the question becomes,” Mayer continues, “where’s the next place, and Vegas is one of those areas. The [Golden Knights’] success is unbelievable, and now when I go to Vegas and see how many people love hockey and the Knights and there are jerseys everywhere, it’s incredible to see.”

Fan enthusiasm is a big bonus for an all-star game destination, but state-of-the-art successful venues are essential. Consider the years of sellouts at the T-Mobile, plus the obvious success of Allegiant Stadium’s first few months of ticketed events, and the LVCVA’s new sports marketing slogan touting Las Vegas as the “Greatest Arena on Earth” seems like more than hyperbole.

At last month’s annual Preview Las Vegas economic forecasting event—held at Allegiant, not coincidentally—LVCVA CEO and President Steve Hill pointed out that the stadium attracted more than 1 million fans to football games, concerts and other events in the second half of 2021, despite pandemic circumstances that continue to limit travel and event attendance.

“If you walk through Mandalay Bay or Caesars Palace or the Bellagio prior to a game or a concert, there’s an energy,” Hill said at Preview. “It’s making a huge difference. If this stadium had not been built, it would be a different day-to-day for this community. This stadium works.”

This weekend only marks the beginning for additional pro football and hockey events in Las Vegas, not to mention other pro and college sports happenings. The NFL Draft will be held at various Strip sites April 28-30, and the Super Bowl is set for Allegiant on February 11, 2024. The NHL Awards have been held at Las Vegas casino theater venues 11 times, and the league could bring its draft, Winter Classic or Stadium Series games here at some point.

“The answer is always yes,” Mayer says. “We know there are so many other opportunities in Las Vegas including the outdoor games, and I think the definition of outdoors needs to be opened up a little. I know Allegiant has those big windows [Lanai doors], but some in the league don’t feel that would qualify for an outdoor game. We’ll definitely explore that in the future.”

In a recent radio interview with Golden Knights’ website SinBin.vegas, team owner Bill Foley said he expects Las Vegas to get the NHL outdoor game at some point. “We don’t have a handshake deal, but we should get it, and I’m pushing for it,” he said. “That would be the idea, to have it at Allegiant, [so] then we’ve got to talk to the owner of the stadium, Mr. [Mark] Davis to see if he’ll go for it. But I think an outdoor game here would be fantastic.”

No matter what the future holds, February 4-6, 2022 will go down as another in a series of major milestones for sports in Las Vegas and for the growth of the city overall.

Vegas native Jeremy Aguero, who recently left his post as principal analyst at influential firm Applied Analysis to join the Raiders’ executive team as chief operations and analytics officer, will supervise the Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium this weekend. It’s a far cry from the sports events he remembers growing up in Las Vegas.

“Sitting at a UNLV basketball game in 1989 felt like the pinnacle of sport, and in some ways, for this community, it was,” Aguero says. “It’s the same as seeing NFR [National Finals Rodeo] in town and seeing the best out there, and the incredible fights that have been held here and on to the advent of the UFC and the creation of the Speedway. Every step of the way, we’ve expanded, and now we’re talking about the Pro Bowl, the [NFL] Draft and the Super Bowl.”

And holding such events in Las Vegas makes them unique, Aguero says. “When you bring your event here, you know it’s going to be elevated. It does not escape these leagues that Las Vegas always has the potential to be incredible, and that’s not to diminish an event happening anywhere else; it’s just that this is what Las Vegas does. You go to a game here, and the entire city is activated around it. That’s really hard for any other jurisdiction in the world to replicate.”

NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND

Skills Competition: February 4, 4:30 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, ESPN

All-Star Game: February 5, noon, T-Mobile Arena, ABC (channel 13), streaming on ESPN+

Tickets: axs.com

NFL PRO BOWL

When: February 6, noon

Where: Allegiant Stadium

Watch: ESPN, streaming on ESPN+

Tickets: ticketmaster.com

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