Team USA World Cup Celebration Taking Over Downtown Vegas

^{Los Angeles  hosted Team USA's World Cup opener and other games, while fans in Las Vegas have been left to cheer from distance at casino watch parties. (Photo: Action Plus Sports Images / Alamy)}

LAS VEGAS – Hockey season has officially ended in Sin City, with the Vegas Golden Knights falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final, while the two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces are not yet one-third through their regular season. 

Even though the city is missing out on hosting World Cup games this summer as well, casinos in Las Vegas are still finding ways to capitalize on the popular soccer tournament with watch parties, pep rallies, and full-audio broadcasts of every match.

Some of that action will be happening in downtown Vegas, where the Fremont Street Experience (FSE) and Circa Resort & Casino are set to host events this weekend for Team USA's game against Australia. 

FSE is going all out for Team USA Weekend this Friday and Saturday, combining the remote spectatorship in cheering on our country’s World Cup soccer team with the excitement of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

The weekend festivities will kick off on Friday with a 9 a.m. Match Day Pep Rally at FSE’s Main Street Stage before Team USA ‘s next game against Australia at noon.  Then on Saturday, a new nightly canopy show titled “Tribute to America” will debut in conjunction with the America 250 fireworks display at the corner of 4th and Fremont Streets.

Circa Offering Poolside Watch Parties 

Circa is showing every single match of the tournament from June 11 through July 19 at both the Stadium Swim pool and the Circa sportsbook, both with full game audio. Reservations are available for both venues through Circa's website.

Circa owner and CEO Derek Stevens has been following the viral story of popular German soccer influencer Freddy the German as he has made his way across the U.S. during his World Cup trip. Stevens took to social media on Monday to invite Freddy to Stadium Swim for Friday's Team USA Watch Party ahead of prior to his country's opening match in Houston.

As of Tuesday, Stevens told Casinos.com that Freddy had not responded to the invitation. But he said the invitation remains open regardless.

“If Freddy can’t make Friday, we hope he makes it for another game,” said Stevens, who also noted standard Stadium Swim rates apply for all watch parties. “[The] key thing is that Stadium Swim is doing a Watch Party for every single World Cup game with full audio.”

This is notable especially for those who have been to Stadium Swim before and wanted to watch a sporting event. Outside of special events, the venue typically plays music rather than broadcast audio during events. The full audio experience will up the ante for sports fans who want the complete match experience rather than just the visuals.

No World Cup Games Hosted in Vegas?

For any soccer fans wondering why Las Vegas isn't hosting any World Cup games at Allegiant Stadium, it comes down to field dimension. This was actually addressed in a previous article back in April in regards to Vegas being in the mix for a future MLS franchise.

Simply put, Allegiant’s field is too narrow to meet FIFA’s pitch regulations of 110 x 70, which is the same as what's required for an MLS team. SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles faced the same issues being built in a similar way to Allegiant, but chose to make modifications to the field in order to host World Cup games. SoFi hosted Team USA’s World Cup opener on June 12.

In Allegiant's case, there's no straightforward path to modifying it the way SoFi did, given the stadium's retractable field design. Both Allegiant and SoFi have hosted CONCACAF games and other international matchups with different field standards. But for hosting the World Cup or MLS, both had to deal with revenue consequences of how it was built.