By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl has sold 31,000 tickets in its mission to sell out at 38,500 at Sam Boyd Stadium, said John Saccenti, the bowl game’s executive director.
Saccenti also said Mitsubishi Motors would like to extend its two-year title sponsorship deal with the annual bowl game in Las Vegas and continue the business relationship into 2020 when the bowl game moves into the new domed, 65,000-seat Raiders stadium. The $1.9 billion stadium project opens in July 2020.
But there are too many unanswered questions about the bowl game at the new Raiders stadium to extend the Mitsubishi Motors sponsorship deal into 2020, Saccenti said. He chatted with LVSportsBiz.com after a ThriveHive branding panel discussion at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin Monday afternoon.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mitsubishi typically doesn’t sponsor college football. But the car maker plans to bring in 600 car dealers, customers and workers for a meeting on the Friday before the Dec. 15 game that has a 12:30 p.m. local start. Saccenti added that Mitsubishi Motors’ activation of the title sponsorship is turning out to be popular at its dealerships.
The Las Vegas game typically matches teams from the Mountain West Conference and Pac-12. But the conference affiliations could change in 2020 when the bowl game moves to the Raiders stadium. And there’s been discussion of adding a second bowl game or a college football game at the Raiders stadium, too.
*
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com publisher/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com