Las Vegas is doing well at using special events to attract tourists and entertain locals, but officials still think one thing is missing: a bigger stadium.
A special tourism committee convened recently by Gov. Brian Sandoval spent much of Thursday hearing about the strengths and weaknesses of Southern Nevada’s athletic and entertainment venues. Presenters told the committee that despite all the area does well, it would do better if it had a major stadium — like so many other cities do.
To be sure, Las Vegas already has plenty of small and midsize venues, with UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium among the largest. On top of that, the Strip will soon be home to a 20,000-seat arena that will host entertainment events and, potentially, a National Hockey League team.
A tour of MGM Arena under construction behind Monte Carlo and New York-New York on Friday, May 1, 2015, in Las Vegas.
Moreover, Las Vegas has proved it can pull off big events such as the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Rock in Rio at MGM Resorts International’s new festival grounds and the Life is Beautiful festival on the streets of downtown.
That’s all fine and good, officials and event organizers say, but something larger is needed to lure events that simply can’t fit in any current venue.
“There isn’t a city in the world that has the venues, has a system in place to do events like we do events,” said Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events. “The only missing component is a stadium.”
The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, whose members include public officials and casino executives, has until July 2016 to submit a report to the governor. Its goal is to keep Las Vegas at the cutting edge of the tourism industry by thoroughly evaluating the region’s facilities and making recommendations about new or improved ones.
Entertainment events, and the facilities that host them, are a key component and an increased focus of Southern Nevada tourism.
Rick Arpin, senior vice president of entertainment and development with MGM Resorts, said such events have become critical to drawing in visitors, particularly as historical tourism catalysts — namely, the construction of major resorts — become less strong than they once were.
“It’s clear to us that growing events is key to driving visitation,” Arpin said.
In that vein, Arpin’s company has been aggressively expanding its entertainment space on the Strip. In May, MGM Resorts debuted festival grounds across from SLS Las Vegas, adding to the outdoor festival space the company already has on the south Strip across from Luxor. Additionally, MGM Resorts is partnering with AEG to build the arena that may host a hockey team. And the company said this summer that it will build a 5,000-seat theater at Monte Carlo.
2015 Rock in Rio USA Day 4 featured Bruno Mars, John Legend, Empire of the Sun, Joss Stone and more Saturday, May 16, 2015, at MGM Resorts Festival Grounds.
Arpin said MGM Resorts had no plans to build any further entertainment space, but he did agree that Las Vegas needs a larger entertainment venue, as long as it’s built to the right capacity and with the right funding model.
Money, naturally, will be one of the trickiest components of constructing any large stadium. In addition to considering possible financing of the stadium proposals themselves — and the degree to which they rely on public and private funds — the committee is also grappling with the question of events funding more broadly.
Earlier in the meeting, Rossi Ralenkotter, chief executive of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, stressed that Southern Nevada would benefit from funds dedicated solely for special events — especially if the region wants to stay competitive with other states and cities. He pointed to a Texas state events fund as an example.
Beyond the financial considerations, the committee also heard about stadium proposals for both UNLV and the city of Las Vegas.
UNLV President Len Jessup, who sits on the committee, told the other members that although the university could do “a number of things” with a 42-acre piece of land nearby, “a stadium is one very exciting opportunity on that ground for us.” He said a stadium near campus “would so incredibly enhance the student experience.”
The Ader Group, meanwhile, is pitching another soccer stadium idea for downtown Las Vegas, possibly at the site of Cashman Field. The group’s proposal to the committee said the stadium would be privately funded, but the group has asked the committee to consider transportation infrastructure improvements for the area.
Las Vegas could see some business leave if a bigger stadium doesn’t come to fruition. Ken Hudgens, chief operating officer of Feld Motor Sports, said that of the dozens of stadiums his organization uses around the country, “Sam Boyd Stadium is the worst.” He said the stadium is not big enough and did not have the amenities his organization requires.
The committee will meet again next month to focus on convention space.