Organizers see big future for Las Vegas Bowl

Tim Graham

Monday, Dec. 22, 1997 | 11:52 a.m.

It is routine in Las Vegas.

Once-majestic hotels and casinos are deemed obsolete, too antiquated to keep up with the major properties. They lack that certain something needed to attract their share of the tourism dollar.

They are razed and replaced by updated models that set new standards for grandeur and glitz.

Such a method obviously does not apply only to buildings. The rebuilt Las Vegas Bowl -- albeit it neither grand nor glitzy yet -- appears revitalized and headed in the right direction.

Oregon led Air Force 26-0 at halftime of Las Vegas Bowl VI Saturday, but those in charge of the event weren't too upset. All they had to do was look from their Sam Boyd Stadium suite onto a record-breaking crowd of 21,514 witnessing the best talent the bowl had ever offered.

"We said we were going to take it to the next level, and we did," said Las Vegas Bowl committee member Rossi Ralenkotter of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

"From Las Vegas Bowl I to Las Vegas Bowl VI, there has been a quantum leap in talent and atmosphere."

Oregon eventually won 41-13 in the first Las Vegas Bowl that did not match the champions from the Big West and Mid-American Conferences. The event now features a Western Athletic Conference team and an at-large.

And the beauty of an at-large quickly was realized. Oregon, although it entered the game unranked with a 6-5 record, displayed it was better than any other team in Las Vegas Bowl history.

On the Ducks' first play from scrimmage Pat Johnson streaked down the sideline and corralled a 69-yard touchdown pass from Akili Smith. Then, after stopping the 23rd-ranked Falcons' offense on three straight plays, running back Saladin McCullough ran 76 yards for a score on the Ducks' second play.

This was no Ball State, Toledo or Nevada-Reno.

And it was just another sign of the Las Vegas Bowl's growth.

"We've come a long way in six years," Ralenkotter said. "When we look back on Las Vegas Bowl X, we'll say 'Look how far we've come' all over again."

The future of the Las Vegas Bowl remains uncertain, but in a much different way than before.

Just last year, after 10,118 fans showed up to watch UNR beat Ball State 18-15, critics openly wondered if the bowl was worth having. Shortly thereafter, the MAC pulled out to establish the Motor City Bowl, leaving Las Vegas and the Big West in the lurch.

But the Las Vegas Bowl's loss would prove to be its gain. The MAC's withdrawal allowed the bowl committee to dump the Big West and start over from scratch. The 16-team WAC, desperately in need of bowl slots, quickly jumped aboard. The other side was left open to offer variety.

The purses also were increased to $800,000, making the Las Vegas Bowl more lucrative than five others and equal to the Independence Bowl. The money is expected to increase.

"The Las Vegas Bowl has the foundation to be one of the best in a very short period of time," said Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry, who has led his Falcons to nine bowls.

Added Ralenkotter: "This game has the potential to be as big as we want to make it."

But as long as Thanksgiving is followed by the National Finals Rodeo and New Year's Day falls on Jan. 1, it never will reach the magnitude of the major bowls. In a city seemingly without boundaries or restrictions, the Las Vegas Bowl is trapped.

The prospect of evolving into an electric New Year's Eve event -- maybe not to the extent of the Hacienda implosion that acted as the centerpiece of last year's Fox television festivities -- is intriguing to Las Vegas Bowl committee members. Still, they don't want to change the date.

Some say if the committee can delay the date and raise its purses to $1 million all those teams that were disinterested this year would be aggressively seeking invitations.

"One thing living in Las Vegas: You never say never. But I don't see in the near future they will consider moving this game after Christmas," said Las Vegas Bowl committee member Rob Dondero of R&R Advertising. "We have decided that it will be the last Saturday before Christmas from now until at least the next five years.

"But if the town continues to build and add rooms, on that New Year's Eve that we're usually full on, maybe we can supply fifty to sixty thousand rooms for the game."

The whole reason the Las Vegas Bowl came about was to fill a tourism void. The LVCVA moved the game from Fresno, Calif., where it was known for 11 years as the California Raisin Bowl.

"We need to be the first bowl game for several reasons," Dondero said. "This is the best time to hold it in Las Vegas. If we tried to move it with the typical bowl season, to sometime after Christmas day and before New Year's, now the town is packed. We couldn't do the things we want to do."

The weekend before Christmas traditionally ranks as one of the slowest of the year here. The weekends of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's are three of the busiest.

"We're sold out at New Year's," Ralenkotter said. "We don't need marketing at that time."

Then there is the NFR, which brings a multitude to town for several days in early December. That event made procuring flights difficult for fans interested in the WAC championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium Dec. 6. Less than 13,000 showed.

But in between the time the cowboys hit the trail and the New Year's revelers roll in, tumbleweed has been seen blowing down the Strip.

And for a while, Sam Boyd Stadium looked like it could be as desolate. The committee was quick to invite 10-2 Air Force but had early trouble procuring its at-large opponent, forcing a delay in ticket sales and promotions.

"When you're tied in with a conference you can always do some type of marketing," Dondero said. "That isn't as big a concern as the open side. If this game was between two at-large teams, I don't know what we'd be doing.

"Being first provides some problems. We have had challenges with the academic scheduling of finals."

The early date conflicted with many schools' mid-term exams, automatically eliminating them from consideration. On that list was Notre Dame and virtually every Big Ten school except Michigan State.

Michigan State practically begged for a Las Vegas Bowl invitation before its season finale against Penn State, only to be put off by an over-cautious selection committee. Of course, the Spartans shocked the Nittany Lions and accepted the Aloha Bowl's immediate offer.

"When we started this process, we found a lot of negativity," Dondero said. "As we moved further along, we received more and more calls from coaches and athletic directors who said 'Actually, this game is better for us. We don't have to keep our kids, our coaches and our families through Christmas. And we can actually continue to practice from our last game right up to the bowl game.' It also gives them more time to recruit for the next year."

The 11-member Las Vegas Bowl selection committee will be better prepared in 1998. With automatic berths for the game's first five editions, a selection committee was not needed in the past.

This year was a learning experience.

"It was an interesting process," Ralenkotter said. "About a month before the end of the season, we were all over the country, trying to see as many teams as we could. About two weeks before the end of the season teams started coming to us.

"It was a buying and selling on both sides, which was fun."

Ralenkotter claimed a more intensive plan must be instituted for Las Vegas Bowl VII.

"The first part of '98 we'll do a total critique of everything from the selection process to the final score and find out what we need to do for the future," he said.

"We need to have a 12-month marketing program in place. This year we only marketed for about six months. We didn't get as aggressive as we're going to this year."

And as Air Force's band marched off the field and Oregon's marched on -- possibly marking the first time two top-notch college bands performed on the same day at Sam Boyd Stadium -- the bowl committee remained oblivious to the halftime score.

"Everybody knows about the Las Vegas Bowl now," Ralenkotter said. "It really has gone to the next level."

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