PBR World Finals give Las Vegas an economic boost
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You've probably noticed a few more cowboy hats around town this week. The Professional Bull Riders World Finals has taken over the Thomas and Mack. Video by ktnv.com
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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - You've probably noticed a few more cowboy hats around town this week. The Professional Bull Riders World Finals has taken over the Thomas and Mack.
Thousands of fans have come to Las Vegas to take in all the action and they're spending a lot of money here too. The PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals is the start of open shopping season for Western stores in the valley.
"Sales triple, quadruple, what they normally would," said Boot Barn Manager, Bill Grundmeyer.
Over the next three months stores like the Boot Barn, South of the Las Vegas Strip will do half of their yearly sales. Because these cowboys and cowgirls like to spend money.
And it's not just visitors who lay down the big bucks for these events.
"A local guy will want a hat just for the night. So he'll come in and buy a $60 to a $500 hat," said Grundmeyer. "We have boot prices here anywhere from $80 to $2,300, for a single pair of boots. It's nothing for a guy to come in and buy whatever he wants."
And that adds up at local businesses. The estimated 70 thousand people attending the PBR events this week will spend around $15 million here.
And we can expect them to keep coming back until at least 2015. The PBR World Finals does so well in Las Vegas, they've just announced a three year sponsorship renewal with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
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