The economic impact of the Vegas sports boom has been a fast-moving phenomenon, so specific and intriguing that the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER)and Sports Innovation Institute have created a tracking tool, the Southern Nevada Sports Economy Data Dashboard, to serve as an evolving research document.

“I think we predicted it and expected it within the traditional drivers of the economy, leisure and hospitality,” says CBER director Andrew Woods of the sports economy surge. “Where we’ve been surprised is the spillover effect into other industries or amateur sports. For example, the number of small businesses in sports instruction, those establishments alone increased 160% over the last 10 years.

“It spills over to members of the community who want to pick up those sports. You see that

at the [school] level where some of the most popular sports are girls flag football and amateur youth hockey.”

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International visitation to Las Vegas had already dropped 12 percent in February. But was that the result of rhetoric from the Trump Administration, which was critical of both Canada and Mexico?

Canadians are the number one international visitor to Las Vegas, said Andrew Woods, director of UNLV’s Center for Economic Research, with Mexico second or third. Was the drop in their numbers because Las Vegas had the Super Bowl in 2024 but not in 2025?

Andrew Woods said it’s too early to decipher the February numbers. For this summer, though, he said surveys say people still want to travel.

“Consumers are just trying to find ways that they can control their costs, pay down debt, control debt with all the uncertainty out there,” he said. “As economists … we’re concerned about: where does this start to drag on purchases? Do they come to Vegas? Or do they come to Vegas and spend one night? Do they not go to a show? Not eat out as much?”

Woods said he’ll be watching carefully, as roughly one in three Las Vegas jobs are tied to the hospitality industry, directly and indirectly.

“We certainly think this year is going to be slower than it was the last couple years,” he said. “And we watching these jobs numbers in the employment market closely to kind of get a sense of what’s this going to look like six months from now.”

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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The construction of Allegiant Stadium, a $2 billion project partially funded by $750 million in public bonds, has ignited a debate over the use of taxpayer money for sports arenas.

While some view the investment as a boost for job creation and tax revenue, others criticize it as a handout to wealthy team owners.

Andrew Woods from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said, “We don’t have a position on should you give them public money or not, that’s not our goal, but we do see an economic impact, there is a benefit to the economy that is different than other places in the country.”

The center’s analysis shows significant growth in employment and wages in the area surrounding Allegiant Stadium. “We’ve seen a lot of growth in terms of the number of employees and their wages, the number of employees is double what it was before Allegiant was built, as well as their wages have grown faster than the county average since the stadium was built,” Woods said.

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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Stock markets are rebounding Tuesday after a few days of confusion over the White House’s tariff plan.

Dr. Stephen Miller, research director for UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research, joined us to talk more about how and why markets are reacting to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Watch the interview here.

With Las Vegas expected to reach a population of 3 million by 2042, health care in an already underserved community and attracting medical professionals will become more important than ever.

Today, health care is No. 3 in employment in the region and is forecast to be No. 2 in the next three years, second only to the casino and hospitality industry, according to Andrew Woods, director of UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Health care can help drive economic diversification in the future, according to Woods who recently hosted a panel discussion on the topic.

“In almost every other metropolitan area in the country, health care is their largest sector for employment with a few rare exceptions,” Woods said. “It can play a much larger role in our economy. It’s one of the fastest-growing industries in Southern Nevada. We’re forecasting another 25,947 workers in health care in the next 10 years. That means we need another 55,000 jobs if we want to catch up with the national average. What we see is investing in this industry is investing in economic diversification. That’s why it’s important we’re investing in health care as much as we are in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing and other great industries that we have here.”

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UNLV Professor and Research Director for the Center for Business and Economic Research, tells me he expected Powell to stay the course.

“He’s keeping his options open because of high uncertainty and he wants to see what’s happening in the economy first and then they’ll decide on what to do with interest rates,” said Miller.

At a press conference in Washington D.C. Wednesday, Powell was still promising two rate cuts this year.

He said that could push interest rates down to 3.9%, which is down from the current 4.25%-4.5% rates.

Powell also expects inflation to drop to 2% in the next 2 years as of now, regardless of the actions made by the Trump Administration.

“It may give people more confidence in the fed, but the fed is not the only one running the train at the moment,” said Miller.

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While Reno and northern Nevada have experienced notable investments in tech and manufacturing, a study by the UNLV Brookings Mountain West Center for Business and Economic Research and Transportation Research Center noted that most of the development in the southern part of the state has been in “lower-productivity and power-wage concentrations.” A Southern Nevada Infrastructure Working Group is striving to address long-term sustainability and resilience through some of the study’s recommendations. It noted potential in warehousing and logistics due to proximity to Southern California ports, Mexico and I-15, as well as in pursuing industries that align with federal funding streams and the regional export economy, such as supply chains supporting elective batteries and clean energy. Other parts of the state are already experiencing growth in electric vehicle batteries. Battery manufacturer Lyten announced in October 2024 that it will build a $1 billion lithium-sulfur battery factory and create 1,000 jobs near Reno.

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Since the Raiders arrived in 2020, Allegiant Stadium in Vegas has become a magnet for massive events, including the Super Bowl and the College Football National Championship Game (in 2027). UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research did a research study in 2023 and found sports tourism generated $1.845 billion in economic activity from out-of-town visitors during the 2022 fiscal year alone.

USA Today cited the study last year when writing a story about how Las Vegas, which used to simply be known as the gambling capital of America, is now billing itself as the “Sports Capital of the World.”

Wrote USA Today:

“UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research found the city’s major sports teams have boosted the economy by drawing in more visitors and creating ‘new valuable jobs’ in sports education and other sports-related sectors. While it’s not necessarily helping diversify Nevada’s tourism-dependent economy, UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research director Andrew Woods said it has helped develop that sector.

“It’s clear to us that it’s been good for the economy,” Woods said. “We are still dependent on leisure and hospitality’s success, but (sports) continues to make leisure and hospitality successful.”

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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Wednesday marks President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day,” when reciprocal tariffs will take effect for imported goods.

Dr. Stephen Miller, research director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV, joined us to talk more about how tariffs could affect people living in Las Vegas.

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“We’re going to need a lot more lithium, especially with the current administration’s policies around protectionism,” said Andrew Woods, director of UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “If we’re going to have tariffs and this ever-increasing trade war … It means the supply has to come from somewhere, and that that supply, at least in the next four years, could come from the United States.”

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