?? Reflecting on Super Bowl LVIII in Vegas - 3 Takeaways from a Tech Founder’s Perspective ??

Las Vegas, the city of lights, not only hosted the most successful Super Bowl but also emerged as an innovation capital. By all accounts, Las Vegas has achieved what seemed impossible just a decade ago. It became the most successful Super Bowl host city ever for the National Football League (NFL) ! So much so, the sentiment on social media from NFL fans who spent five figures, the Sponsors and Brands who spent seven and eight figures, the tens of thousands of celebrates and athletes who spent who knows what for suites at Allegiant Stadium , and even the NFL commissioner all awarded Southern Nevada's hospitality beyond 5-star reviews.

Ceasar Palace became the official Headquarters for the NFL months before the Big Game, and everything went so astoundingly right, mainly from security and a police protection viewpoint, that Roger Goodell already wants the Super Bowl back in Las Vegas. The results are too good:

• 尼尔森 showed the final audience for Super Bowl LVIII reached an average of 123.7 million, up slightly from fast national estimates of 123.4 million and reconfirming the game’s status as the largest single event in the history of U.S. television.
• The NFL announced Usher's halftime performance drew 129.3 million viewers, setting an all-time record.
• Female demographics show strong viewership growth for the NFL’s title game.
• The Taylor Swift effect likely extended to the Super Bowl with sharp ratings boosts among young women.

The big game itself was terribly underwhelming in the first half, but then it heated up to become an "epic nail-biter" with the Kansas City Chiefs edging a 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers in overtime. And, the world tuned in on 3 streaming platforms to watch Usher outperform the Apple Music Halftime show and caused #UsherBowl to trend with a biblical flood of memes to spread across every social media platform (Linkedin included) by fans adoring to document their excitement for the legendary display of undeniable showmanship!

"I basically turned Las Vegas into Atlanta. I brought that melting pot that is Atlanta in a culture to Las Vegas," said Usher in a Vanity Fair interview.

And, it worked. The energy was infectious. Everybody, who wanted to be apart of the biggest Super Bowl ever, came to Las Vegas with high expectations. As a local tech founder and Usher fan, witnessing this shift firsthand, here are my disruptive takeaways:

#1 - Vegas is Lit Lit ??

Vegas has transformed into the epicenter of innovation, a sentiment echoed not only by the NFL but also by Formula 1 and the National Basketball Association (NBA) . Riding this wave, my team at Workbnb, Inc | Techstars '22 strategically positioned ourselves, aligning with the NFL and solidifying our dominance in the prop-tech sector. Headquartered just 2 minutes east of the world-renowned convention center in Las Vegas, my team and I planned for Workbnb to be at the center of all the action the day after the NFL announced Las Vegas as the host city for 2024.

One of my other childhood heroes Deion Sanders, better known now as Coach Prime famously said, "In order to elevate, you must dominate." And since tech in Las Vegas is growing quickly, we decided to dominate the prop-tech sector with the support of a global brand, the NFL. And we followed his wisdom to the letter. We spent years raising capital, winning pitch competitions, becoming a Techstars venture-backed portfolio company, and applying for grants, and earning global media attention and tech award nominations for our startup Workbnb. We also recruited exceptional technical talent, real estate thought leaders, construction executives, and top-tier mentors, and we even enrolled some of our clients to cut angel checks into our tech company, because they believed in us and our work ethic.

Our word of the year for 2023 was "dominate" and we shocked the Las Vegas tech ecosystem when we became the first tech company accepted into the NFL's Diversity Supplier program and earned the "Proud Supplier to the NFL" designation to provide temporary housing for working traveling to Las Vegas. The news of this accomplishment made headlines and a feature story in the Wall Street Journal of Real Estate, the Commerical Observer.

"Workbnb Puts Blue-Collar Workers in a Better Place" written by Philip Russo published just days before for the Big Game.

Our pre-seed investor Techstars was so proud they posted a video (a first of its kind from a venture capital fund) congratulating us and voting for #Workbnb as the Super Bowl MVP. The sheer momentum of everything propelled us into rooms and events where we networked with captains of the sports industry, sport management mega stars, both active and retired athletes, and best of all for tech founders... Angel investors and VCs of all kinds were all in Las Vegas!?I was interviewed by LeRon Barton prior to Super Bowl for Harvard Business Review and HBR Early Career titled “What You Need to Know as a Young, Black Startup Founder” and in the article I discuss the value of building momentum!

?“Create momentum as early as possible,” Perez said. “Investors are attracted to tech companies and tech trends with momentum. It’s not enough to be scrappy and clever. Founders that can generate buzz consistently, week after week, will ultimately reach more investor circles. That equates to chances to collect checks.”

However, it's hard to ignore that the tech industry seemed to miss a golden opportunity to synergize with the NFL. Imagine the potential if Amazon Web Services (AWS) , CES , Blueprint, and other tech conferences had leveraged the 450,000 high-net-worth visitors attending the Super Bowl, creating a platform for demos, social proof, and media exposure. Even the tech media like TechCrunch , Business Insider , and more were missing even though Super Bowl LVIII was powered entirely by a Nevada solar-plus-storage project. As tech founders, we're constantly seeking the best ROI, and from Feb 5th to Feb 16th, 2024, there was no greater moment to seize.

• 4000% website traffic increase in 10 days for Workbnbapp.com
• 1920% post impressions increase for my profile on LinkedIn in 10 days
• 641 new LinkedIn connections in 10 days
• 1471 profile views for my profile on Linkedin in 7days
• High profile new customers and workforce bookings (confidential)
• Published 153 #SBLVIII-related content posts on IG, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X, and Linkedin over 7 months and generated an estimated 1.8 million impressions

It wasn't just the conferences; major brands could have capitalized on the tech ecosystem in Vegas. While traditional sectors dominated, tech moguls based in Vegas felt overlooked at mega events. However, Workbnb, with our "dominate" mindset, will continue planning our events and striving to be the tech brand that dominates the Super Bowl's return to Las Vegas, hopefully in 2028.

#2 - The Economic Impact and Media Viewership ??

Super Bowl 58 not only captivated global audiences but also injected a staggering economic impact into Vegas. The estimated $500 million spending surpassed expectations, with potential figures reaching $1.1 billion.

Amanda Belarmino , an assistant professor at UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal , “We are already seeing the ripple effects in terms of questions around our hosting future Super Bowls and (National Basketball Association Commissioner) Adam Silver saying that we are on the list for a future NBA team,” she said. “We have definitely turned the page in terms of public perception of Las Vegas as a sports destination, and while F1 is a larger international event, there is no larger domestic sporting event than Super Bowl. The impact on domestic travel is more likely to benefit regardless of the macro-economic environment.”

As a tech founder, I observed a missed chance for tech brands to shine through impactful brand activations amidst the dominance of traditional sectors like alcohol, luxury, and sports brands. The city's ripple effects are already evident, with discussions around hosting future Super Bowls and potential NBA teams. The impact on domestic travel is undeniable, making Vegas not just a sports destination but a hub for economic growth.

My team and I did a wonderful job branding and marketing throughout Las Vegas, and it was really cool when people had already heard of Workbnb, before we were introduced. But, the were very small attempts to converge tech and sports.

I wish I was invited to Roc Nation Sports "billionaire" party at the top of Fontainebleau. Gatorade, Paramount Pictures , 百事 , 耐克 , and all the usual suspects went Big for Vegas! Even Bud Light and 阿迪达斯 dominated the Sphere, but not 苹果 's headset? ??

Seriously, imagine the pandemonium if OpenAI ’s Sora had premiered at Super Bowl creating quality videos from text on the Sphere! ??

In fact, the convention center, the preferred venue of CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, was all but empty during Super Bowl LVIII.

Like I said. Big missed opportunity! ??

#3 - Pitch Competitions Lagged ??

Despite the excitement surrounding Super Bowl LVIII, tech inclusion fell short within NFL sanctioned events. When I saw that the NBA is actively promoting a sanctioned pitch competition for All-star Weekend in Indy, I saw a world class organization betting on the future. While my team participated in and supported smaller pitch competitions, the absence of a major tech pitch competition highlighted another missed opportunity. The NFL's 15 sanctioned events lacked a spotlight on tech innovation, representing a gap that could have been filled with a pitch competition offering significant funding. Looking ahead to 2028, I envision a collaboration between Techstars and Workbnb to bring Foundercon to Vegas, and working with the NFL to raise the level of importance, which could be the catalyst for seizing the next big Super Moment.

In conclusion, Super Bowl LVIII in Vegas was a spectacle, but the tech industry could have played a more substantial role. As Roger Goodell anticipates the NFL's return to Vegas, Workbnb is poised to be a key player, contributing to the city's tech landscape and dominating the future Super Bowls. Vegas, with its newfound status, beckons tech founders of all backgrounds to step into the limelight and redefine the intersection of technology and sports. Let's not miss the next grand opportunity to dominate!

?? #SuperBowl #Workbnb #TechInnovation #FutureofWork #Techstars