More Than 100 Home Games Keep Las Vegas in Play
Las Vegas does not have a sports offseason anymore. It has a handoff.
The Aviators open baseball season in March. The Aces take over the basketball spotlight in May. The Raiders bring the NFL surge in late summer and fall. Across their announced 2026 schedules, the three teams account for 107 home games, including 22 Aces regular-season games, 75 Aviators games, eight Raiders regular-season games, and two Raiders home preseason games.
That is a serious calendar. It stretches from March 27 into late December, before counting possible postseason games or other events at the same venues.
The spending story is bigger than ticket sales. A fan headed to a game may also pay for parking, a rideshare, dinner, drinks, merchandise, or a hotel room. The mix changes by team and matchup. A Tuesday night at Las Vegas Ballpark is not the same economic animal as a Raiders Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. Both, however, put people into commercial districts with money to spend.
There is no reliable official forecast assigning a specific 2026 economic-impact figure to each Aces, Aviators, or Raiders home game. The wider sports economy is unquestionably substantial. A UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research study estimated that Las Vegas sporting events generated $1.845 billion in direct output from out-of-town visitors during fiscal year 2022. That figure covers the broader sports market, not these three teams alone, but it shows the size of the playing field.
The Aces Bring Championship Basketball to the Resort Corridor
The Las Vegas Aces’ 2026 schedule features 22 home games during a 44-game regular season. The reigning champions opened at T-Mobile Arena on May 9 against the Phoenix Mercury in a rematch of the 2025 WNBA Finals. Most of the home schedule runs through Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay.
That location matters. Aces fans arrive inside one of the Strip’s largest resort campuses, where restaurants, bars, hotel rooms, gaming, shopping, and entertainment are all within walking distance. The basketball ticket is the opening tip. The rest of the night can become a full resort outing.
The team entered 2026 after selling out its regular-season ticket memberships for a third consecutive year. The Aces also said their May 21 home game against Los Angeles was expected to become the 50th consecutive sellout at Michelob ULTRA Arena. That kind of demand gives surrounding businesses something every coach loves: consistency.
The Aces Dates That Stand Out
The home calendar included visits from established rivals and the league’s newest teams. Portland was scheduled for July 28, while Toronto was set to visit on August 28. The Commissioner’s Cup window also placed additional weight on the June portion of the schedule.
One major correction to the popular chatter around town: the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game was not a Las Vegas event. The league scheduled it for July 25 at Chicago’s United Center. Las Vegas still benefits from a deep Aces home slate, but that particular tourism weekend belonged to Chicago.
The Aces’ strongest local-spending advantage is frequency during the Strip’s summer season. Twenty-two home games create repeat traffic rather than a single splash. Locals can build a night around the game, while visiting supporters can fold basketball into a broader Vegas trip. Fast break meets resort economy.
The Aviators Supply the Calendar’s Everyday Muscle
The Las Vegas Aviators scheduled 75 home games at Las Vegas Ballpark, the largest home inventory of the three teams by a mile. The Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics opened its season with a three-game series against Salt Lake from March 27 through March 29, followed by six home games against Oklahoma City.
The baseball schedule is built around six-game series, generally running Tuesday through Sunday. That creates clusters of activity in Summerlin instead of isolated dates. Fans can eat or shop in Downtown Summerlin before the first pitch, then stay in the district after the last out.
The attendance base is proven. The Aviators reported total home attendance of 491,889 across 75 dates in 2025, an average of 6,559 per date. That does not guarantee the same result in 2026, but it provides a solid recent benchmark. Half a million fans is not pocket change, especially when the schedule keeps turning over for six months.
Late-Summer Promotions Add Extra Pull
The season-long 12-game homestand from August 4 through August 16 is a prime example of how baseball can create sustained neighborhood traffic. The official Aviators promotions calendar includes an Aviators and Raiders jersey giveaway on August 14, followed by a hybrid bobblehead and baseball-card giveaway on August 15.
September brings another fireworks date and an Aviators jersey giveaway during a home series against Sacramento. Promotions do not guarantee sellouts, but they give casual fans another reason to make the trip. In Triple-A baseball, the giveaway can be part of the starting lineup.
The Raiders Deliver the Biggest Single-Game Surges
The Raiders’ official 2026 schedule gives Allegiant Stadium eight regular-season home games. Miami opens the home slate on September 13. Kansas City arrives October 4, followed by Buffalo on October 18 and the Los Angeles Rams on October 25.
The back half brings Seattle on November 15, the Los Angeles Chargers on December 13, Denver on December 20, and Tennessee on December 27. The Raiders also scheduled home preseason games against Arizona on August 13 and San Francisco on August 27.
NFL dates have a different spending profile from the longer Aces and Aviators seasons. There are fewer games, but each one can pull a large crowd into a 65,000-seat stadium near the Strip. Visiting fans may stay multiple nights, especially for matchups against Kansas City, Buffalo, the Rams, or other clubs with national followings.
That does not mean every dollar spent near Allegiant Stadium is new money for Southern Nevada. Economists distinguish visitor spending from money that locals might otherwise have spent elsewhere in the valley. Still, Raiders weekends can concentrate demand across hotels, bars, restaurants, transportation services, and sportsbooks. The wave is shorter than baseball season. It is also much bigger.
What the 2026 Calendar Means for Local Businesses
The real strength of this three-team calendar is balance. The Aviators provide volume. The Aces bring championship energy and repeat summer crowds. The Raiders create massive weekend spikes during the fall and holiday seasons.
Businesses should not treat all 107 home dates alike. Summer baseball promotions can appeal heavily to families and repeat local customers. Aces games can support pregame dining and resort-based entertainment. Raiders weekends demand heavier staffing, inventory, transportation planning, and hotel coordination.
- March through September: Aviators baseball supplies recurring traffic in Summerlin.
- May through September: Aces basketball drives arena activity along the resort corridor.
- August through December: Raiders preseason and regular-season games create major stadium weekends.
The exact economic return will depend on attendance, ticket demand, team performance, visitor mix, and postseason qualification. Those variables matter. So does the basic math. More than 100 scheduled home games give Las Vegas businesses more than 100 chances to turn sports traffic into meals, rooms, rides, drinks, and retail sales.
That is the power play. Baseball keeps the calendar moving. Basketball brings the banners. Football drops the heavyweight weekends. In 2026, Las Vegas has all three working the scoreboard.
