Friday, Feb. 29, 2008 | 2 a.m.
They have a National Bowling Stadium in Reno, so when are we getting a National Rodeo Arena in Las Vegas?
Well, probably never. But that doesn’t mean the National Finals Rodeo will be going away anytime soon.
The prediction here is that although the Thomas & Mack Center isn’t exactly an OK Corral for rodeo — it’s too short for some of the roping events, for instance — Las Vegas Events and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association will continue their relationship well beyond 2014, when their current contract expires.
Maybe the Thomas & Mack is too short to keep them doggies movin’. But the prize money Las Vegas puts up and our enthusiasm for turning The World Famous Strip into The World’s Brightest Honky Tonk ain’t exactly “Rawhide.”
Las Vegas and the NFR go together like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, a notion that was reaffirmed this week when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced the total nongaming economic impact of the 2007 NFR.
The final figure was $60.6 million. As Jerry Lewis says on Labor Day, roll the timpani. You’ll never ride alone, cowboys and cowgirls. Not if you keeping spending your silver dollars at that rate.
This year’s $60 million and change brings the total nongaming economic impact of the NFR to more than $708 million during its 23-year run in Las Vegas.
Though I’m not exactly sure how they come up with those numbers — near as I can tell, they count the empty Coors bottles and multiply by two — they are impressive. They’re even bigger than the belt buckle holding up world champion Trevor Brazile’s Wranglers, as impossible as that seems.
But again, it’s a double-edged spur. The cowboys scratch our back, we scratch theirs. To wit, the purse for the first NFR in Las Vegas in 1985 was $1.8 million. The purse for the 2008 NFR is $5.625 million. The purse for the 2014 NFR will be $6.375 million. That’s a lot of empty Coors bottles.
“The NFR has enjoyed remarkable growth during its time in Las Vegas,” said Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson. “The ongoing success of the NFR is due to the tremendous support of our sponsors and hotel partners, as well as the loyalty of the rodeo fans.”
That’s what Christenson says every year, but in this case, it’s true. If it didn’t work — i.e., make huge gobs of money for the hotels and their casinos — they’d probably still be holding the NFR in Oklahoma City out back of a Motel 6 on the turnpike.
“We truly value our relationship with Las Vegas and the Thomas & Mack Center,” said Keith Martin, the PRCA’s chairman of the board. “It has been great for the sport of rodeo and great for the community. We look forward to continuing this partnership for many years to come.”
That’s what the PRCA says every year, too.
Arena or no arena.
“Not even an issue,” Christenson says about the cozy confines of the Thomas & Mack.
There are purpose-built soccer stadiums and purpose-built minor league baseball parks and purpose-built tennis complexes and, yes, since 1995, even a purpose-built bowling stadium — in Reno. As one Internet blogger put it after taking a tour, “It was all nice and clean and didn’t smell nearly as bad as your typical bowling alley.”
Neither would a purpose-built rodeo arena, because I’ve been to the NFR lots of times, and even though you have to watch your step when Bodacious and his pals come around, it still doesn’t smell as bad as the old Showboat Bowling Center after Tuesday Night Mixed Doubles.
But what do you do with a purpose-built rodeo arena after the NFR leaves town? Supercross? Maybe. But there are only a limited number of those. Ditto Brooks & Dunn concerts.
No, I think the best bet to keep them doggies movin’ here beyond 2014 is the new downtown arena. Or the one behind Bally’s.
By 2014, somebody may even be ready to put a shovel in the ground.
Ron Kantowski can be reached at 259-4088 or at [email protected].
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