Reno casino executives concerned about end of bowling tournament

Monday, June 29, 1998 | 9:50 a.m.

The American Bowling Congress men's tournament drew 83,025 bowlers from across the country to the National Bowling Stadium and generated millions of dollars for Reno's tourism-dependent economy.

"It's been a boon for this property and I think for all of Reno this winter," said Ferenc Szony, president and chief executive officer at The Sands Regency Hotel Casino.

But Szony and his colleagues are worried because the tournament won't return to Reno until 2001 and four new Las Vegas megaresorts are expected to open before then.

"We're very concerned about it," Szony told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Steve Trounday, marketing director for Fitzgeralds Casino-Hotel, agreed: "My biggest fear is the loss of bowlers and we need to replace those people."

The $50 million bowling stadium was built in downtown Reno to draw a steady flow of visitors during the slower winter and spring tourist seasons.

The economic impact of this year's tournament hasn't been calculated, but the ABC's first event at the stadium in 1995 generated $230 million for the local economy.

ABC is booked at the stadium every third year through 2007. The Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority is working to extend the contract by five more tournaments - through 2022.

"It's a heck of a convention to have," said Rick Murdock, director of sales at the Eldorado Hotel Casino. "They are feeding that economic machine."

ABC's counterpart, the Women's International Bowling Congress, is booked at the stadium every third year through 2009. Its next tournament in Reno is scheduled for 2000.

John Farahi, chief executive at the Atlantis Casino Resort, said he's also concerned about a lack of huge bowling tournaments at the stadium until then.

"But on the other side of the coin, California's economy is going gangbusters" and that should draw more visitors to Reno, he said. "I do not see the doom and the gloom that some people talk about."