The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board has signed off on a massive wave of marketing deals, approving a package of advertising, social and production contracts capped at just over $460 million. The centerpiece is a three-year, $309 million advertising and marketing agreement that could grow with an optional two-year extension. Board materials describe the spending as a way to keep Las Vegas front and center for both leisure visitors and convention planners as the city chases a softening market. For locals, it means the public tourism agency is committing a large share of its marketing budget to outside agencies for the next several years.
How the contracts break down
The authority's May 12 agenda book lists five agreements: a three-year, $309 million contract with R&R Partners, with a two-year, $221 million option; a three-year, $122 million social and special projects deal with Grey Group; a three-year social partnership with YKONE for $18.5 million; a three-year production services contract with Frequency Pictures for $12 million; and a 30-month market research agreement with Heart+Mind Strategies for roughly $2.56 million. Together, including the optional extensions, the items carry an allocated threshold of about $464 million. Those totals and terms are detailed in the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority agenda materials for the May 12 board meeting.
R&R, the city's longtime ad shop
R&R Partners, the Las Vegas firm credited with the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" campaign and founded by Sig Rogich, will remain the authority's principal advertising partner, according to company history. In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, R&R partner Michon Martin said the company was "grateful for the board's vote of confidence" and would "continue work to capture the magic of Vegas." LVCVA marketing chief Kate Wix told the paper that "Las Vegas is not the typical brand; it operates at an entirely different speed and scale."
Why the push now
Agency officials say the expanded spending is meant to defend Las Vegas' place in a crowded travel market as visitation softens and competition grows. The city saw a drop in visitors last year, roughly 7.5 percent in 2025, while conventions have remained a stabilizing force, according to previous reporting that visitor numbers fell 7.5% in 2025. Some local watchdogs and reporters pushed back on the scale and procurement path for the deals, noting concerns about transparency and the size of the commitment, as outlined by LVSportsBiz.
Board vote and next steps
Board members signed off on the agreements at the May 12 meeting, clearing the way for the CEO to execute the contracts, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The agenda had asked the board to authorize the CEO and president to execute the agreements, language that appears in the public board packet. Optional two-year extensions on several contracts mean the overall commitments could stretch across five years if the authority exercises those options.
Critics and supporters alike see the move as a high-stakes bet on advertising to help prop up hotels, restaurants and the convention pipeline that employ thousands of locals. The authority funds much of its work through hotel-room taxes and other revenues, as outlined in a MuniHub preliminary official statement tied to the agency's financing. The board's move sets a clear timetable for the LVCVA's marketing strategy and gives Las Vegas one of its largest outside ad budgets in recent memory.
