Question of the Day - 26 January 2024

The second question leads into the first. 

In general from what we can gather, NFL teams go first-class all the way on road trips, staying at places like Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, and the highest-echelon Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott properties. The hotels have to meet exacting criteria that include room size, meeting spaces, food service, state-of-the-art gyms, proximity to the stadium, security, and privacy. 

The hotels have to satisfy plenty of different people as well. That starts with the NFL, which must approve the brands and branches. Once that happens, the individual teams conduct their due diligence, starting with advance teams that scout the locations, the general manager and operations department that ensure location, quality, and budget, the travel-logistics department that makes the transportation and accommodations arrangements, and finance for negotiating long-term contracts and setting up accounts. Players, coaches, and owners also have input based on personal preference and experience, plus feedback after the fact. 

The NHL, again as far as we know, is similar, but we've also heard that when they come to Las Vegas, the visiting teams are prohibited from staying in hotels that have casinos. The NHL, compared to the NFL, is fairly secretive and we've tried to answer this question specifically in the past, without success. 

As for the Super Bowl, that's been public knowledge since the NFL's senior vice president of global events and live production made a presentation to the Clark County Commission at a meeting last month. 

The AFC team will stay at the Westin Lake Las Vegas and the NFC team will stay at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas.

Buses will transport the teams to their practices, the AFC to the Raider's facility in Henderson, the NFC to UNLV. Residents of Lake Las Vegas, roughly 25 miles from Allegiant Stadium, say they're familiar with teams staying out there for big games.