Las Vegas Sun NewsMake UNLV Now happen
If the goal is to bring tourists to Southern Nevada, this stadium fits the bill
Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleMonday
28 January 2013
1:55 a.m.
Richard N. Velotta
Related content
- Ray Brewer: Answering questions about the proposed UNLV Now stadium project (01-19-2013)
- Ray Brewer: New stadium would be major score for city, instant program changer for UNLV football (01-12-2013)
- Planned stadium will be state’s ‘next big thing,’ UNLV official says (01-12-2013)
- County commission OKs land deal for proposed UNLV stadium (11-20-2012)
- More stories by Richard N. Velotta
- More stories on tourism
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s mission is to put heads in beds.
It therefore should become an industry advocate for the proposed $800 million, 60,000-seat UNLV Now stadium — and direct room-tax money toward it.
Many critics have whined about dedicating so much money and seating to one of the weakest college football programs in the country. But they’re not seeing the big picture.
Officials say the stadium would host other large-scale events that don’t fit in existing Las Vegas venues. It is being marketed as an “indoor mega-event center.” The building would sit on the UNLV campus, be the home of Rebels football and be a tool to recruit better athletes, but it also could host special events and secure the city’s grip on being the premier conventions and meetings destination in the country.
The fact that the stadium will have a roof makes it extremely versatile.
The LVCVA gets thousands of requests a year to host meetings. It distributes the requests to local resorts, whose parent companies pursue negotiations. Some events work best in the Las Vegas Convention Center, which the LVCVA operates.
Sometimes, planners have to juggle calendars to work out the logistics of moving a major show in while another is moving out. Sometimes, dates get changed because an organization wants to stage an event here but all the venues are booked. And sometimes, a group that wants to come to Las Vegas ends up going somewhere else.
My colleague Paul Takahashi recently reported that a University of Michigan study found that 15 new events could result in $393.2 million in new spending in Southern Nevada.
What kind of events could the stadium draw? Think music festivals and mega-concerts. There’s a good list of performers who could fill a 60,000-seat venue. A bigger facility might even reduce ticket prices.
After seeing the success of the Electric Daisy Carnival, Las Vegas Events, the private nonprofit company that works with the LVCVA on special events, hopes to book similar festivals.
Backers of the stadium have suggested it would allow a new college football bowl game or a Mountain West Conference football championship game to be added to the calendar. With the UFC’s popularity soaring, the venue could host major fights.
Circuses. Marching band competitions. Car shows. Maybe another college basketball tournament to go along with the four already on the calendar?
Some have suggested Las Vegas could host NFL exhibition games or NCAA Regional or Final Four tournament games. Of course, there would have to be a change in philosophy for the NFL or NCAA to play here since their executives object to Nevada’s sports books taking bets on games. (Didn’t anybody tell the NFL that they have sports books in London?)
But there are plenty of other events that would keep the building busy.
There’s precedence for room-tax money to be spent on highway improvements. The LVCVA already doles out some of its budget to venue construction and upkeep.
Leading the charge in devoting a portion of its funds to UNLV Now makes sense. And it would certainly help put heads in beds.
Share
Join the Discussion:
Previous Discussion:
Discussion 2 comments
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
Most Popular
- It’s back! New Wet ‘n’ Wild wins over frolickers thirsty for Vegas water park
- Deadline strikes: A look at major legislation that made, missed cut
- New Firefly location welcomes customers, begins task of regaining their trust
- Las Vegas resort beaches offer oasis in middle of the desert
- Seeing red: Protesters call attention to genetically modified food
The problem is not with devoting a portion of room tax to subsidize yet another tourist venue; it's with establishing a special tax district that diverts revenue away from general government. The last we heard, this project would require about $300m in sales and property tax revenue. Another subsidy to tourism and sports won't diversify our economy.
This is such a no-brainer if people just look at the big picture. This is a project that benefits a lot of different people. It will provide jobs in the construction phase and draw huge events in the years to come. The Thomas & Mack isn't one of the busiest arenas in the country because the Runnin' Rebels are the only event there, it would be the same concept with UNLV Now with over 3 times the capacity.
I certainly hope the powers that be do not develop narrow vision and kill this plan.
With all of these new events - do you think that the Speedway is going to let an event like Electronic Daisy leave? NO
They propose other events - well there needs to be other organizers coming in to bring these events to town and all of them will be going to the LVCVA for funding. Where hotel room growth has not been up, even with room rates moving up - the same numbers of people coming to town remain the same.
There will be push back from the venues in town - especially those connected to hotels - when it comes to bringing something like this to town. Which is a shame, UNLV football needs a new stadium - even while the stadium is one of the best to watch a game from. There just is a laundry list of events - that just are not coming if this is built or need alot of help if they are to come.
As far as student housing, making UNLV a true university - where is the Greek Row? Something that has been promised for well over 20 years now.
Richard, very nice piece. But here's what I see going on here. First, the Strip, the gaming, the hotels, the LVCVA and their relationship with the City of Las Vegas, have a huge conflict of interest. There are tons of places to go to and spend money on in City limits - but the casino chains make their big bucks OUT of the City limits in Clark County. They could give a rat's behind about the rest of the City. This stadium should be pursued WITHOUT LVCVA involvement. The LVCVA will ALWAYS do what's best for the casino operators - NOT the people who actually live here. And the casino chains are so huge internationally that Las Vegas is one of several venues for their enterprises - and yet they are treated like royalty above people here who do things NOT casino or gaming related.
I understand the tourism angle - and it should be a non-gaming/resort tourism angle. Once you start allowing the LVCVA to get involved they will always look out for the gaming people first and THEIR venues for performers, conventions, etc. Even a decade ago I can see where the gaming giants would help get this passed if it meant bringing more people here to gamble - but now they have China, Europe, soon Spain, the developments in Viet Nam and other MAJOR developments in other parts of the country. They don't care what's good for the local economy - just their economy which is bigger than Las Vegas. Thank you.
Las Vegas is already a premier destination for meetings and conventions without this stadium.
A room tax to pay for a stadium only hurts Las Vegas compete for those same events and others.
If the state of Nevada wishes to invest $800M in UNLV, it could do much better by using that money to attract academic talent, fund research, and invest in campus infrastructure that benefits all students year round, not just for a handful of games tangentially related to the value of a degree.
Wrong Mr. Velotta. The only place on this planet, where a stadium of this size had been built, without the presence of a professional sports team, was in Pjongjang, North Korea. This stadium ONLY makes sense, if the builders can sign a team from the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLS. My best bet is the MLS. But this huge arena definitely needs a pro team, that occupies the arena for at least 20 times a year. Then you can also put the (quiet unsuccessful) UNLV Rebels team in and fill the gaps with all the events, you mentioned. But if you don't have regular pro sports in it, it will be all taxpayers money to fill this financial hole.