For the first time in 29 years, Las Vegas came close to losing the National Finals Rodeo, an event they produce and with which they have prospered, when Osceola County/Orlando and Dallas made financially attractive runs at the event. For a brief month, it looked like 2014 would be the finale of the Finals in Vegas.
That's when Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events, kicked it into high gear and, this week, announced a 10-year deal which keeps the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas through 2024. He was backed by a Las Vegas Events staff of 15, a $7- million operating budget of which $5 million is generally used to secure events; and a convention authority and hotel industry that had no intention of losing an event that brings Christmas to Vegas businesses for two weeks in December. The cost: $16.5 million and a lot of hustle. Venues Today interviewed Christenson about that journey and the meaning of the National Finals Rodeo to Las Vegas.
How does the new 10-year deal (2015-2024) with the PRCA break down?
We guaranteed $16.5 million total. We increased $6.3 million in prize money in 2014 to $10 million. That’s for the contestants. Since we moved it here from Oklahoma City, the stock contractors always got 30 percent of the purse of the contestants, split evenly over the animals that they brought in. That prize money for stock contractors, who bring the best stock, is $3 million, $13 million for contestants. Then we give the PRCA a million-dollar rights fee and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority stepped up and gave $2.5 million, an increase from prior years, and sponsored the smaller Circuit Series rodeo and steer roping, so the entire package is now $16.5 million.
Where does that money come from?
It’s not just the $16.5 million. We still have to produce the rodeo, so that’s additional $5- $6- million expense. We provide all the rooms, over 5,000 room nights for all contestants, production staff and stock contractors over 13-14 days. There are three areas where we will generate that money: the LVCVA, and they stepped up big time; ticket sales, and we’ll have to increase our prices; and leasing rights for Cowboy Christmas, the Western lifestyle gift show which occupies 300,000 sq. ft. and draws 350 vendors. We probably make $1 million off that. If there is anything underpriced, it would be the lower level seats for the rodeo. Right now it’s $75 downstairs and $55-$65 upstairs. We will increase the price of lower level seats up to 20 percent; the rest 4-5 percent. Ticket sales currently bring in about $11 million. And we’ll increase the leasing fee of our gift show. We really liked our ticket prices low. But, that was the compromise.
How much do you bring in through sponsorships in those categories you control?
About $1 million. The PRCA takes the lion’s share of sponsorships. In addition to the guarantee, all the sponsors on the dirt are theirs.
Is NFR a break-even for Las Vegas Events?
In the past it always broke even or made a little money. The economic impact is about $90 million. In addition, we probably have as many people in town without tickets. What we built the last 13 years, because the event sold out, is the NFR Experience. That is all the hotels creating different custom entertainment options. Besides Cowboy Christmas, there are three other gift shows at hotels. We also do Cowboy Fanfest, an interactive event. So you really have three shifts of entertainment; daytime shopping and Fanfest; then the event and 40 different hotels with viewing parties broadcast live (a dozen are standing room only); and the Awards show, parties and concerts every night.
Were you really going to produce your own rodeo if NFR left?
We know this. We’ve done this for 29 years. We had the pieces, but you can only go so far. If it had been a couple more million dollars to keep them and we had to raise ticket prices more, we would have had to look at whether it was a model we could sustain for 10 years. The compromise worked out well. We’re confident we can sustain this model, break even again and continue to grow it.
Dallas and Orlando were aggressively bidding for the NFR. Do you think they could have pulled it off?
That’s what perplexed us. The NFR doesn’t have much TV behind it so there aren’t a lot of recognizable stars. People know when they come to Vegas they are going to see the top 15 contestants vie for the world championship and now $10 million in prize money. But at the same time, they have three shifts of entertainment options. Dallas and Orlando have an arena and can have an event there. They probably compete with us on an arena level, but they don’t compete with the city. They don’t compete with the options fans have from a value perspective – room pricing; convenience, airport and the location of Thomas & Mack Center with the hotels. We keep ticket prices low, offer free shopping experiences, and lots of hotels. So what really perplexed us was how any other city would pull this off. But they forced us to step up and bid the same.
When it moved to Vegas from Oklahoma City 29 years ago, what was the scenario? Was there a vision for what it became?
I don’t think anyone could have imagined at that time it would be what it is today, nor what Vegas would be. The first 15-20 years of the NFR, the experience was all these new hotels. We weren’t doing many custom experiences, except maybe the Gold Buckle Ceremony, but what took it to another level was after the recession and hotels working harder at bringing in customers. That’s when it went from an event at Thomas & Mack Center and the Las Vegas experience to the event and the NFR Experience. The last 7-8 years, we’ve doubled the number of people we brought to town.
That’s you, not the PRCA?
We have an agreement that the PRCA World Championship is here. We built this for 29 years. What they were assuming is they could pick that up and move it to Dallas or Orlando. I’m not saying they couldn’t have done it and been successful, but from a fan’s perspective, it isn’t just about going to the NFR, it’s the whole NFR Experience.
Did you convince the PRCA it couldn’t be anywhere but Vegas?
Eventually we did. I think the PRCA always wanted to be here, but they did have an obligation to their contestants and stock contractors to get the best deal they could. If another city was going to do that, that was their priority. Hats off to them. We were forced to step up and assure that we could continue to host it here.
Do you think in 10 years this will happen all over again?
Probably. Sports is a business. It doesn’t just happen to us, it happens everywhere. Fortunately, we were in a position where we understood how we could make this work and continue to have what we’ve had the last 29 years. We knew they were considering other cities, but the bids really got much stronger in the last three or four months.
Contact: Pat Christenson, (702) 260-8605