Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
After charting the same course for five years, the Las Vegas Bowl will head in a different direction pending approval from the NCAA's Special Events Committee next month.
A new proposal was approved today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board. The plan, submitted by LVCVA vice president of marketing Rossi Ralenkotter, calls for several changes:
* Scrapping the current format of Big West champion vs. Mid-American Conference winner to the Western Athletic Conference's third-place team against the best available opponent, with no conference tie-ins.
* Increasing the guarantees per competing school from $150,000 to $800,000.
* Moving the game from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon. The optimum date would be Dec. 20.
* Maintaining the LVCVA as the game's title sponsor while getting national and local companies to join on as associate sponsors.
The plan, which took six months to formulate after the MAC decided it no longer wanted to participate, will be submitted to the NCAA by next Tuesday. The committee will meet April 28-29 in Orlando to discuss and sanction the event.
"We looked at all three options -- two open-ended, one tie-in and an open end or two tie-ins -- and we believe this is our best chance of being successful," Ralenkotter said of locking in the WAC for the next three years.
"We felt our current relationship with the WAC is strong and when you have the proximity of the WAC's schools to Las Vegas plus the WAC's quality of play, we believe you have the makings of an attractive partner."
The game has not drawn well, averaging approximately 11,000 in each of the five years. Last year's game between Nevada-Reno and Ball State drew only 10,118.
However, one caveat to the existing conditions would be retained. Because Sam Boyd Stadium officially holds only 32,000 and the NCAA insists that all bowl games maintain a minimum capacity of 50,000, the LVCVA will have to request a waiver.
With temporary seating in the north end zone, the stadium was expanded to 41,000 for last year's WAC title game. Those temporary end zone seats would be reinstalled for the Las Vegas Bowl. There is a plan to permanently expand the stadium to 55,000, although funds for the project have yet to be appropriated.
The NCAA has granted the Las Vegas Bowl a waiver the past five years because of the size of the Big West and the MAC. However, with neither conference participating, it may become an issue with the committee.
But Ralenkotter said that by raising the ante on the guarantees above the $750,000 minimum required by the NCAA, the Las Vegas Bowl might be granted a temporary reprieve on the capacity stipulation.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he was hopeful the plan would be approved by the NCAA.
"We continue to remain optimistic that the WAC will be part of the Las Vegas Bowl in 1997 and the future," he said. "We believe it's a good fit and it satisfies the needs of the WAC for more bowl games."
Last year, the WAC sent only two of its 16 schools to postseason bowls. Brigham Young, which despite a 14-1 record and a top-five ranking was shut out of the bowl alliance, defeated Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. Utah, which finished second in the Mountain Division to BYU, lost to Wisconsin in the Copper Bowl.
The increase in payouts to the competing schools is critical to keeping the game alive and giving it a chance to grow. The funding will come through television revenue, advertising, sponsorships and ticket sales. The WAC and its opponent each would agree to purchase 6,700 tickets.
ESPN (which has televised the Las Vegas Bowl since its inception in 1992) would have a conflict airing the game Dec. 20. It is locked in to televising the NCAA Division I-AA championship game.
However, there has been some interest from the Fox Network, which would either show the game through its regular network affiliates or through its sports channels, including Fox Sports West, which is on the Prime Cable menu.
There is some flexibility with the dates. If Saturday, Dec. 20 doesn't work, the game could be played either Thursday, Dec. 18 or Friday the 19th. In that case, ESPN would likely show the game in the evening.
The timing would be excellent for the LVCVA if the game is played the 20th. It would create business for local hotels coming on the heels of the National Finals Rodeo, which will have concluded Dec. 14, as well as filling rooms before Christmas, usually a dead time for the hotels.
"Anytime you can bring 25,000 people to town during a downtime makes a lot of sense," Ralenkotter said. "We're going to get some quality football teams and teams that travel well."
It would also work well with the Las Vegas Shootout basketball doubleheader at the Thomas & Mack Center on the 20th. UNLV is scheduled to play Syracuse that evening, a game that should draw well.
By playing the Las Vegas Bowl in the afternoon, it would enable the LVCVA to cross-promote the two events along with marketing it as a package deal for fans.
And it would keep the Las Vegas Bowl as the kickoff event to the bowl season, something that is important to the LVCVA from a stature standpoint.
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