Las Vegas Proves It Is NOT A Dying City As Soccer Fans Swarm Sportsbooks For World Cup Despite Host Venue Snub

Las Vegas had a rough year for tourism but soccer fans are keeping the city alive during the World Cup. Sportsbooks were already slammed during the first day of the tournament even though Allegiant Stadium was not selected as a host venue.

Fans piled into the casinos to cheer on their teams alongside a rowdy group of supporters.

The World Cup is going to provide a huge boost to the city over the next few weeks. It would be even better if the Raiders were asked to host one or more of the games.

Is Las Vegas dying?

A place that was once known as the gambling capital of the world has seen a pretty sharp decline in tourism over the last 12-18 months. Las Vegas saw several consecutive months of year-over-year decline in 2025, with significant drops in the summer and into the fall. That trend is not typical during that time of the year. The numbers were concerning.

There are a lot of different theories about the decline of tourism— which does not only apply to Las Vegas. Reduced international travel is a big part of it. As is the current geopolitical climate. It all plays a role.

However, the biggest reason for the stark decline might be the cost. Everything in Las Vegas is expensive. (The Aria hotel charged $26 for a bottle of water from the minibar in October. $26!!!!!)

Increased prices for hotels, food, drinks, resort fees, parking, entertainment, and even for gambling has made a trip to Las Vegas a lot less attractive. Especially in a world where 32 of 50 states can legally wager on sports from their phones. The same goes for table games, which have also moved online. It is far less expensive to place a bet from your couch with a beer from the store.

With that being said, visitor volumes have largely stabilized through the first few months of 2026. Year-over-year visitation was approximately -2.2% in January, +2.1% in February, +1.9% in March, and -1.8% in April. The market is fluctuating around flat instead of experiencing sustained deterioration like it did for most of 2025. Las Vegas saw ~3.3 million visitors in April as one of the largest tourist destinations in North America.

Underlying tourism indicators are also trending up. Convention attendance increased by about 3.2% year over year. Hotel occupancy has decreased slightly but room rates have not had to tank in response to an extreme decrease in demand.

Holistically speaking, Las Vegas tourism has returned to the baseline in 2026 after a significant decline in 2025. The concerns about cost and viability remain but the hand can come off of the panic button.

Soccer fans invaded Circa sportsbook for the World Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup features 104 matches in total across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Las Vegas was not selected as a host city.

That did not stop fans from gathering on the Strip for the first game of the tournament. Circa Sportsbook is showing every game of the World Cup with full audio. It was packed to the gills for Mexico vs. South Africa.