Las Vegas Strip adds NFL-themed slot machines
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You can't commit a violent crime — the Strip isn't "The Purge". But you can indulge in pretty much every way imaginable. Las Vegas caters to people looking for pleasure and excess.
Most of the seven deadly sins can be easily indulged on the Las Vegas Strip. Gluttony comes easy in an area that's filled with high-profile restaurants and celebrity chefs. Greed also comes into play without a lot of thought as nearly everyone visiting Vegas tries their hand at one of the city's many casinos.
Sloth may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Las Vegas, but a lot of tourists have lost days to overindulgence. And, three of the sins, pride, wrath, and glory, might not speak as obviously to the Las Vegas Strip, but spend an hour in any casino, and you will see all three exhibited.
As for the final two, well, lust is built into the model. Las Vegas is full of racy shows, not legal but readily available prostitution, and people making bad choices when they get caught up in the moment. And, of course, the final sin, sorrow, is well-represented in a city that encourages people to make bad choices.
On the Las Vegas Strip, nearly every vice is served, but until the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to make their own decisions on sports betting, the major sports leagues steered clear of the city. Before that ruling, TV announcers had to use code to talk about betting lines, and gambling — a multi-billion dollar legal and illegal industry — was rarely, if ever, fully acknowledged.
The National Football League (NFL), the pro sports league that most benefits from gambling essentially had to pretend like it did not exist. But, after the 2018 ruling, the floodgates opened and the league, as well as its TV partners, embraced talking about betting on games openly.
Now, the NFL, which for decades ignored the fact that gambling fueled its popularity, has brought its brand to casino floors in a way that once seemed impossible.
NFL slot machines come to the Las Vegas Strip
Themed slot machines have been very popular on the Las Vegas Strip and in casinos around the world. Machines themed to Wheel of Fortune have arguably been the most famous version of that, but you can play slots themed to everything from The Flintstones to Wonder Woman, as well as $100,000 Pyramid, Jeopardy, Game of Thrones, and countless other properties.
Theming a machine to the NFL, however, seemed like an impossible dream until very recently. Now, however, as attitudes about sports betting have shifted dramatically and the NFL has brought a team, the Las Vegas Raiders, to the city, NFL-themed slot machines have finally come to the Strip.
In a deal that was actually signed in 2021, new NFL-branded slot machines created by Aristocrat Gaming will roll out on casino floors across the city in time for the 2023 season. And, while six games will ultimately be part of the series, the first one has made its way to the casino floor at the Las Vegas Strip's newest casino, Resorts World Las Vegas.
"Gamblers can select their favorite team from the 32 clubs, which will serve as the theme for the game while they play. The slot is played on Aristocrat’s new King Max cabinet, with a $1 million progressive jackpot possible on the game," the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The NFL-themed games should make their way to more Strip casinos during the early days of the NFL season which starts Sept. 7.
