Las Vegas Events Agency Pays One-Third Of Normal College Basketball Tournament Sponsorship Fees Because Of COVID-19, No Fans; Pandemic Forces Sports Partnership Deals To Be Renegotiated
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Usually at the West Coast Conference basketball tourney at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, it seemed like half of Spokane, Washington would pile into commercial jets and pack the arena to watch the powerhouse Gonzaga Bulldogs hoops team.
But during these pandemic times when no fans attended conference college basketball tournaments in Las Vegas two weeks ago.
The COVID-19 novel coronavirus, which has killed 540,000 Americans, prompted the organizers of the Pac-12, Mountain West and West Coast conferences to not have any fans at T-Mobile Arena, Thomas & Mack Center and Orleans Arena.
It also meant that Las Vegas Events, the non-profit promotional arm of the public Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority agency, spent only a fraction of what it typically spends on sponsorships to entice the college basketball conferences to keep coming to las Vegas every May.
During the pre-pandemic era, Las Vegas Events paid the West Coast Conference $300,000, while doling out $500,000 each to the Pac-12 and the Mountain West. The MWC uses the home arena of UNLV, but converts the venue into a neutral site by installing Mountain West branding and signage while covering up the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels references in the gym.
But this month, a whole different ballgame — Las Vegas Events negotiated one-time deals because of the lack of fans who normally would be filling hotel rooms in places like the Orleans and Mandelay Bay.
“LVE worked with each conference to pay approximately one-third of the normal sponsorship fee,’ Las Vegas Events spokesman Michael Mack told LVSportsBiz.com.
Las Vegas Events was hardly alone.
Teams, leagues and companies that have sponsorships and partnerships with sports entities had to re-negotiate agreements because of the impact of the coronavirus and the lack of fan attendance in venues across the United States.
Take Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International, which has dozens of corporate partnerships with pro teams and sports leagues.
During an in-house interview posted on the MGM Resorts International Linked-In page, MGM Resorts’ Marc Jacobson had an edition of “MGM Conversation Series,” with Stephanie Maes, MGM Resorts director of sports partnerships. Maes mentioned that MGM Resorts International had to renegotiate more than 100 contracts and sports relatiobships.
“It’s been a really tough year,” she observed.
The pandemic also forced teams to make hard decisions on opening venues to fans.
The Vegas Golden Knights plan to submit a proposal to increase capacity at T-Mobile Arena for VGK home games in April.
The Knights and the Silver Knights minor league team are currently holding home games with 20 percent fan attendance capacity.
With the Nevada positivity rate for COVID-19 decreasing to 4.6 percent as of Wednesday.
