The NFL and Las Vegas have grown up together, an upstart sports league from the East Coast and a liberal city in the desert coming of age to emerge as icons in American culture.
During the Super Bowl era, the NFL overtook baseball, the national pastime, to become America's favorite sport. At the same time, Las Vegas was separating itself from the mob and blossoming into an "entertainment mecca" -- to use NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's words.
Even so, the NFL always maintained its distance from Las Vegas, concerned that the city's legal sports betting would tarnish the integrity of its game.