Las Vegas Tourism Board Approves Nearly Half a Billion in Marketing Contracts
Posted on: May 13, 2026, 01:15h.
Last updated on: May 13, 2026, 01:17h.
- The LVCVA authorized $464 million in marketing contracts, with potential extensions pushing the total investment past $815 million
- Longtime partner R&R Partners secured the largest share ($309M) to continue managing the city’s global brand and creative strategy
- The spending plan diversifies efforts across social media, influencer marketing, and cinematic content to help make Las Vegas more competitive for tourism
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) on Tuesday approved five long‑term contracts — for global advertising, social-media strategy, influencer partnerships, content production, and visitor research — with allocated spending caps totaling nearly $464 million in committed spending over the next several years. Optional extensions provide the potential for more than $350 million more.
The five contracts were signed with:
- R&R Partners ($309 million): The LVCVA approved a three‑year extension of its existing contract for advertising, marketing, and communications with its longtime creative and strategic agency. R&R — which in 2003 came up with the most iconic slogan in Vegas history, “What Happens Here, Stays Here” — will remain responsible for the destination’s broadest brand and promotional work, including major campaigns and global messaging. This $309 million agreement includes a two‑year optional extension worth an additional $221 million.
- Grey Group ($122 million): The second-largest contract is a three‑year agreement with this global advertising and marketing agency known for brand strategy, creative campaigns, digital work, and large-scale integrated marketing. The Grey Group’s $122 million contract tasks it with managing the LVCVA’s social‑media strategy, advertising support, special events, and other marketing services. Grey’s contract also includes a two‑year optional extension valued at $106 million.
- YKONE ($18.5 million): This Paris‑founded global influencer‑marketing agency, which established its U.S. headquarters in Las Vegas in 2022, will oversee influencer marketing for three years. Its agreement includes a two-year optional extension worth $14 million.
- Frequency Pictures ($12 million): This Las Vegas-based production and experiential company snagged a new three-year contract to provide the LVCVA with cinematic commercial content and large-scale event execution. Founded in 2011, Frequency has earned 15 Emmy Awards and become a go-to partner for destination campaigns, sports activations, and high-visibility Las Vegas moments. Its agreement includes an optional two-year extension valued at $10.5 million.
- Heart+Mind Strategies ($2.55 million): Rounding out the approvals was a 30‑month contract with this Virginia-based research and consulting film for ongoing market-research support. Heart+Mind — which specializes in public‑opinion insights, brand strategy, and behavioral decision science — has worked with the LVCVA for more than a decade through the Las Vegas Monitor Tracking project, which measures advertising awareness, brand perception, and traveler sentiment. The LVCVA conducts annual surveys for Las Vegas and alternating‑year surveys for Laughlin and Mesquite, using the data to guide marketing decisions and evaluate campaign effectiveness.
In total, the LVCVA approved spending caps totaling $464 million across the five contracts. If all optional extensions were exercised in future years, the combined value would rise to more than $815 million, though none of those extensions were authorized Tuesday.
The approvals represent one of the LVCVA’s most significant multi‑year marketing commitments in recent years, reinforcing the agency’s strategy to make Las Vegas more competitive in a shifting global tourism landscape.
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