Final Four, Canelo fight in Las Vegas getting a promotional boost

Las Vegas tourism officials approved spending $26.5 million tied to the city hosting the 2028 NCAA Men’s Final Four and the first-ever boxing match to be held at Allegiant Stadium.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority voted Tuesday to approve $26 million for the planning and execution of hosting the 2028 Men’s Final Four at Allegiant. Also, the board approved a $500,000 sponsorship of the scheduled Sept. 13 fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford at Allegiant.

The LVCVA will be responsible for leading and planning the efforts to host the Final Four April 1-3, 2028, including game operations, fan events, community engagement events, media and broadcast coordination, transportation, security, marketing and hospitality services.

The Final Four includes the last two rounds of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament and will crown the champion that year.

LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said the large investment will pay dividends. He said the estimated economic impact of the Final Four should be at least $250 million, similar to that of the 2027 College Football Playoff national championship game to be held at Allegiant Stadium.

“So, at least 10 times as much economic impact than we are investing in the event,” Hill said.

The Final Four will also give Las Vegas a marketing value that the LVCVA wouldn’t be able to afford, with the city being showcased during the three major college basketball games, Hill said.

“When that event takes place in Las Vegas, everybody knows it,” he said. “They telecast the skyline of our city over and over again and they talk about being here. … That kind of marketing and brand opportunity, we couldn’t afford to pay for that at all, let alone the $26 million that this costs.”

The Alvarez-Crawford bout will be the first boxing match to be held at Allegiant. To host the megafight, UNLV had to move its planned game against Idaho State for Sept. 12 at Allegiant to Aug. 23.

UNLV was compensated for moving off the date, but Hill said he wasn’t aware of the specifics.

“There’s costs associated with it (moving the date),” Hill said. “But they (UNLV) were more than happy to do it. It’s somewhat disruptive for them, and we really just appreciate their partnership and recognizing that this weekend is going to be huge.”

The event is expected to sell out and will be streamed live on Netflix and is part of the Mexican Independence Day weekend celebration in Las Vegas. With Las Vegas’ rich history with boxing, Hill said, adding the city’s largest indoor sporting venue into the mix should create an atmosphere hard to beat.

“The atmosphere that night in a venue of that size is going to be electric,” Hill said. “If you go through Las Vegas now when there’s a major boxing event in town you can feel it, you know, the excitement in the community … to do it in Allegiant Stadium is going to magnify that energy and that emotion and it’s going to be an epic weekend.”

A previous version of the story incorrectly reported when the vote occurred.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.