Las Vegas' Super Bowl Headache

Super Bowl LVIII is right around the corner, and while some of the NFL's best athletes are busy preparing themselves for the biggest game of the year, not every Las Vegas local is happy.

The Kansas City Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers on February 11 to crown the 2023 season's champion. Fans have eagerly been awaiting the game, not just so they can hopefully cheer on their team to victory, but also so they can get a glimpse of Taylor Swift, who is expected to attend in support of her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

While Las Vegas is accustomed to being packed with tourists, officials are still expecting an additional 150,000 visitors for a total of approximately 450,000 over the Super Bowl weekend. Even though the event is bound to generate lots of money for the city, just months after the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix closures that angered Los Vegas locals, residents have experienced a variety of new disruptions.

According to KTNV, the first set of road closures started on January 3 so CBS Sports could begin work constructing their set in front of the Bellagio fountains. As well as there already being road closures, from February 12 to 16, crews will start a full load-out of all stages and platforms, which will result in the sidewalk being closed and pedestrian traffic re-routed.

These are not the only interruptions that Las Vegas residents have had to deal with in the lead-up to the big game. NFL officials announced that there would be several closures near Allegiant Stadium so that the Super Bowl could go ahead as smoothly as possible.

Newsweek contacted an NFL representative for comment via email Tuesday.

For Trudy Killman, the founder of The Compassion Initiative Las Vegas, the Super Bowl coming to the city is detrimental.

Killman has been a Las Vegas resident for 19 years and she told Newsweek that for the last eight years, her organization has been working with the unhoused. Some of Las Vegas' homeless population live in tunnels under the city and, unfortunately, she said these people are being forced to move.

During November's Las Vegas Grand Prix F1 race, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department cleared out these tunnels and didn't provide any extra services, such as buses to shelters. According to Killman, this will be happening once again.

Newsweek contacted the LVMPD via email Tuesday for comment.

"The city will be 'sweeping' these encampments as they always do when national and international events are in town or we have visitors from Washington, DC. During F1, our tunnel community came topside and lined the strip. We have 14,000 homeless and 2,000 shelter beds. Where are they supposed to go?" Killman told Newsweek.

"I have been embedded in this community for eight years. $400 million a year has been earmarked to address our crisis and no progress has been made. When our city begins these 'sweeps' before political or sporting events getting national and international attention, they come into these areas with police, dump trucks and backhoes. They literally start dumping their sleeping bags, tents, IDs, medications and clothing into trucks and it heads for the landfill."

Killman explained that these people are then forced into other areas of the community and residents often find them camping in their yards and in front of their homes and businesses.

She continued: "As a small nonprofit founder, and someone who spends hours in the streets every week with these people, I am sick of the unwillingness to prepare for these events.

"We need to provide respite areas/temporary M*A*S*H*-style encampments for this community, out of public sight to 'preserve the integrity' of our city's reputation. Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, it's laughable if you live here."

The fans attending the game are expected to boost revenue by $600 million, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has reported. However, locals have said that while events like the Super Bowl bring in money for the city's economy, that doesn't positively impact residents.

"The casinos just posted record profits! As a local, we don't care. Very little trickles into the community. The casino moguls and stockholders are always the big winners, ask any casino employee," Killman said.

Geeves Joy, an influencer and a Las Vegas local, has also been left frustrated by the city's preparation for the Super Bowl. It has negatively impacted her day-to-day and makes traveling around the city difficult.

"Increased traffic and road closures are definitely my biggest concern as a Vegas local. It's going to take longer to get places and I'm going to need to plan ahead, especially if I'm going out of my way on roads I usually don't take," she told Newsweek.

"Usually I do business and have social plans near or on the Vegas Strip which I'm going to try and avoid during the weekend of Super Bowl, as it's going to be too crowded and chaotic. Businesses prioritize tourists over residents so we will not be given first access. Also, most hotel valets have doubled their price which makes finding parking harder.

"What visitors don't realize is that the construction of these major events like Super Bowl and F1 are very disruptive to the local community and residents that have to live and work in Vegas. It takes months to set up before and take down after."

Joy agreed with Killman when she said that often the profit that the city makes during these kinds of events only benefits big businesses, not Las Vegas residents.

The influencer added: "Of course I care about boosting the Vegas economy. However, it only boosts the large businesses that are already booming, like the casinos and chain restaurants on the Vegas Strip. The traffic is so bad that nobody is going to venture off the strip to smaller businesses. There is no trickle-down effect."

Killman and Joy aren't alone in feeling like this, as people in various local Facebook groups have agreed with their sentiment.

"Locals don't benefit as funds are not allocated properly," one person wrote.

"The downside: 1) traffic is worse on highways 2) there are always other calamities with large events 3) the events encourage people to move here 4) more ppl means more building and greater stress on our grid, water, pollution, city streets and emergency services," said another.

"It doesn't benefit any locals what so ever," a different Facebook group member commented.

A fourth person added: "It's horrible!!! The rich get richer the locals stay broke and work harder!"

People have been venting their frustration in other corners of the internet too. A YouTube video uploaded by KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas discussed the fact that football fans will be able to see branding, promotions and events popping up across the Las Vegas Valley ahead of the Super Bowl. However, people took to the comments to express their anger with the event going ahead in the first place.

"This local will be COMPLETELY AVOIDING the Strip for that entire duration of the Stupidbowl," one person wrote.

"Not being anywhere near the strip that's what I'm looking for. I even changed my work routes due to F1 induced traffic," another commented.

"F1 gave us locals something alright, A big headache and empty wallets and the super bowl will bring much more out of town trouble!" a third YouTube user wrote.

"A traffic nightmare. That's about it," another person added.

Not everyone has been left upset about the upcoming Super Bowl weekend as some people believe it will help to boost the economy.

"I've never really grasped why residents of Las Vegas grumble about the city's efforts to boost revenue for its improvement. It's common knowledge that Vegas is a hub for tourists and entertainment, a fact that should be apparent to anyone choosing to make it their home," one person wrote on Facebook.

"What generates revenue for your city is a good thing," said another.

The Super Bowl is fresh on the heels of disruptions caused by F1, which left people feeling frustrated over the impact the sport had on the city's infrastructure.

This was the first F1 race to be held in Las Vegas in over 40 years, which went down the Strip in the middle of the city. Resurfacing the roads that comprised the track was one of the city's many tasks to prepare for the event, which took more than nine months. Las Vegas Boulevard traffic was reduced to a slow crawl, and there was restricted access to many locations, especially the hotels along the Strip that bordered the circuit.

Greg Maffei, the chief executive of F1's owner Liberty Media, issued an apology for the disruption brought to the city.

"I want to apologize to all the Las Vegas residents and we appreciate that they have their forbearance and their willingness to tolerate us. We're going to bring something like $1.7 billion of revenue to the area. So it's not just for the benefit of fans who want to view," he said.

"We hope this is a great economic benefit in Las Vegas. We hope this is the most difficult year with all the construction that went on and things will be easier in the future."