LV Events caught off guard by breakup

No one was caught more off guard by the news that eight schools, including UNLV, would be leaving the WAC in June of 1999 to form their own conference than Kirk Hendrix.

Hendrix is the president of Las Vegas Events, which brought the WAC football championship game and WAC basketball tournament to Las Vegas each of the last two years. When first informed of the news, Hendrix sounded like someone who thought he might be getting put on.

"I talked with people from the WAC this morning and nothing was even mentioned," Hendrix said.

"We were just in the process of finalizing a contract extension for both the WAC football and basketball championships here. Of course, that would be contingent on the WAC remaining the way as we know it now."

Hendrix said both the WAC football championship game and WAC basketball tournament have provided Las Vegas with "excellent exposure" and "a big economic impact."

"Both of these events are nationally televised," Hendrix said. "The football game is on ABC while the basketball tournament had three games on ESPN. The TV value of that is big for this city. There is signage at these events that gets a lot of national exposure.

"But it's not just the TV exposure," Hendrix continued. "They also have a pretty dramatic economic impact on the city. The football game, for instance, is in early December and brings a good group of people in. That's usually a slow time for the city."

So if the WAC splits up, it could have a dramatic affect on Las Vegas' economy?

"It could or it could not," Hendrix said. "I'm not sure what's happening. I'm not sure the WAC knows what's going on."

It's possible the postseason events will be played under the banner of the new conference. But with only eight football teams, there wouldn't have to be a title game, per se.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the former league even could continue its postseason relationship with Las Vegas.

It's simply too early to speculate. But the breakup announcement definitely caught Las Vegas Events by surprise.

"I knew the presidents are supposed to meet in June to discuss realignment, but I didn't expect anything like this," he said.

"Our original two-year contract with the WAC was up and we were getting ready to finalize an extension. But our arrangement with the WAC is based on what the current membership is. If that changes, then maybe it's back to square one."

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