Monday, December 16, 2013

NFR Leaving Las Vegas? I Doubt It

From the LVRJ: Don’t say happy trails to the National Finals Rodeo quite yet.
The chairman of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) board, which governs the popular 10-day rodeo held in Las Vegas for nearly three decades, said Monday that his board wants to make a counter offer that would keep the NFR in Las Vegas after 2014.
The board voted unanimously to approve further negotiations immediately after it voted 6-3 to reject a 10-year deal worth $15 million per year proposed by Las Vegas Events, the non-profit that promotes the rodeo.
Las Vegas tourism officials took the rejection as the final word, but PRCA Board Chairman Keith Martin on Monday said the board also voted unanimously to submit a counter-offer to Las Vegas Events in hopes of keeping the prized rodeo in Sin City — something Las Vegas Events apparently first learned from the Review-Journal on Monday.
“We want to stay in Las Vegas,” Martin said from his office at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, where he is executive director and chief executive. Martin was among the three PRCA board members who voted to accept the Las Vegas Events offer.
“If Las Vegas is saying it’s over, then I need to find that out . . . I’m confused on that, frankly,” Martin said.
Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson said he was unaware of a desire to keep negotiating.
“We didn’t know that they wanted to counter,” Christenson said Monday. “There’s not a lot of time. We’ve been negotiating for over a year and a half. It would have to be timely, in the next two weeks.”  http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/nfr/national-finals-rodeo-officials-say-theyre-not-hitched-florida-yet
If the NFR goes to Florida, that will be a huge mistake.
+There are a lot of fans, cowboys/cowgirls and suppliers that drive to Las Vegas because they live in the west and many of those will not drive/fly to Florida.
They also want to deal with the increased expenses-hotels especially, entertainment costs will be more along with other expenses like food will be so much more.
So, in the end, after 29 years in Las Vegas, I think their will be years 30, 31 and 32.  The fans and the participants will not be very happy and along same with some of their sponsors.
And if the NFR does go, it will hurt until Las Vegas brings in an alternative  rodeo to compete with the NFR and the NFR will go down from there.

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