In the past, the NFBC used to get a lot of last minute signups for Las Vegas to fill leagues. This year, our signups for Las Vegas basically stopped over the last two weeks. There was no way to get a cheap flight or hotel room at the last minute and our numbers in Las Vegas were the lowest since 2004. I know of several folks who waited until the last minute and either drafted online with us or didn't compete at all. It was all because of the high prices in Las Vegas.
Most of that had to do with ConExpo, which is the largest show in the country. I've heard they had 150,000 people at that show, which comes to Las Vegas once every three years. They don't host that show the two other years and instead it's run just once every three years in Las Vegas. It will be back in 2014, so we'll have to plan accordingly.
We sat next to a guy on the flight back to Wisconsin who was at ConExpo and he said he took out a 10x10' booth and the cost was $3,500. He said he was booth #35,000 and something. AMAZING. That show just takes over every hotel in the city and we certainly felt the effects this year.
I doubt that Las Vegas will be this crowded next year and even if March Madness and spring break does bring out the patrons I don't think we'll see anything like this again. I have every intention of running two weekends of NFBC drafts in Las Vegas, so we'll plan accordingly going forward.
Good luck everyone and kudos to all of you troopers who made it out to Las Vegas this year. It was a GREAT, GREAT experience and one we'll remember for years to come. I'm looking forward to 2012, but oh boy 2014 is going to be tough!!
