Ron Kantowski: Dome not doomed by rodeo plans

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

THE BIGGEST question left unanswered -- or even addressed -- in the wake of the announcement that the National Finals Rodeo was extending its contract with Las Vegas and the Thomas & Mack Center is how it will affect plans for the proposed downtown domed stadium.

At the very least, most thought of the NFR as the anchor tenant for the mammoth 110,000 seat, $750 million stadium project. At most, the cowboys were perceived as the reason for building it in the first place.

So now that the NFR literally will blow the roof off the T&M and continue ridin' and ropin' there until at least 2010, what becomes of the dome? Will it evolve into a resort/casino? Will there be a shopping mall and a Hot Dog On A Stick franchise on the very spot where Super Bowl XL -- 40, not extra large (as in the size of the dome) -- was to be played?

Well, talk of the Super Bowl may be a bit premature under any circumstances. But Paul Tanner, the front man for a group of stadium investors, said that while the NFR would have made an ideal anchor tenant, he's not ready to pursue J.C. Penney instead.

"We knew about it," Tanner said of the NFR's strategy to re-up with the T&M. "We're pleased they (Las Vegas) got a 10-year extension."

Tanner, speaking from his office in Texas, said he and his architects met with NFR officials in Colorado Springs, home of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, where they learned domes and rodeos aren't a good marriage.

The intimacy afforded by the T&M proved to be a bigger selling point than the dome's beaucoup seats. Provided the funding to expand the Mack to the projected 24,500 can be accrued from the State Legislature -- can you say rubber stamp? -- the NFR should be just about able to satisfy the annual demand for tickets.

"They expressed concerns to us," Tanner said about the intimacy factor. "We told them we believe we could address those concerns, where we don't have a giant stadium with one little corner devoted to (the rodeo). We can move the seating, which would give you an intimate (setup) for basketball, ice hockey, rodeo or any other event. But it's a little bit different, it's never been done."

And you can hardly blame the NFR for committing to an existing arena rather than a stadium that -- no slight intended -- remains pretty much a figment of Tanner's imagination.

But that may be about to change. Tanner said an announcement regarding the first of several major events headed for the dome could coincide with the Chamber of Commerce's Preview '97 at the Convention Center Jan. 15.

Asked if the said event(s) would be of the sports variety, Tanner all but chuckled. "That would be my guess," he said.

My guess -- or hope -- is that he has talked the Anheuser Busch people out of $200 million of their advertising dollars, which would let college football dump the bowl games and set up a playoff, culminating with a title game at the Spaghetti Bowl.

It's either that, or the world's largest Spencer Gifts store.