Getty UFC boss Dana White in Phoenix in 2022.
UFC boss Dana White says he told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that he should bring the Super Bowl back to Las Vegas again and again.
“This shouldn’t go anywhere else,” White said he told Goodell.
The 2024 Super Bowl game takes place Sunday, February 11 at the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium — home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Heavy has been in Vegas all week and noticed significant foot traffic on the Strip, and numerous activations throughout various properties as the NFL, and the major casino resorts, get ready for the season finale between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
“I’m super proud as a Las Vegan,” White told Heavy and other reporters on February 9 after the Power Slap 6 event that took place inside the off-strip Durango Casino.
“If any of you follow me on Instagram, I love this city so much — almost every night that I drive home, I film this scene from the freeway to my house and I’m like, ‘I [expletive] love this city so much.'”
White said that he moved to Las Vegas from Boston in 1977 — the year the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels made the Final Four.
The men’s basketball side “was the biggest thing,” he said, and “everybody in this city” loved them which showed to him “what a big sports town this had the capability to be.”
Dana White: Las Vegas Is ‘The Greatest City on Earth’
Having not just one Super Bowl, but a succession of Super Bowl events, in Vegas makes sense, according to White.
He even pitched Goodell the idea of putting Vegas into the rotation so that the city frequently hosts the NFL’s championship game.
“I talked to Roger Goodell today,” said White.
“I was with Roger Goodell this afternoon and I said to him: ‘You know this is where the Super Bowl should be every year, right’?”
He continued: “The Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, and whatever else, should be here every single year.
“There is no other city that can compete with this city. It’s the greatest city on Earth.”
Since 2017 and the formation of the NHL side Golden Knights, there has been a boon for sports in Las Vegas as the city has added the Raiders, LIV Golf, and Formula 1, amongst other events, like the forthcoming MLB team A’s.
It is also of course home to White’s UFC, big boxing bouts like Spence-Crawford and Tank-Garcia, and the WNBA side Aces.
“All the big sporting leagues are coming here now,” White said. “They’re going to have a [expletive] ping pong league here pretty soon.
“Everybody is coming here — baseball, basketball, soccer. And they can’t get here fast enough. Why? Because this is the greatest city in the world.
“We have the best hotels in the world, best restaurants, the best entertainment, the best shopping.”
Roger Goodell ‘Didn’t Disagree,’ Says Dana White
It begs the question of whether Goodell agreed with White.
“I don’t know how he took it, but he definitely didn’t disagree,” White said.
“It’s the greatest city on Earth and the best sports town on the planet — and I’m from Boston. So, what’s that tell you?”
The 2024 Super Bowl airs on CBS and Paramount+ from 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on February 11.