Purse for WAC’s football championship game takes big hit

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1998 | 10:56 a.m.

Capitalizing on its improved bargaining position over the broken-up Western Athletic Conference, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has approved a revised financial agreement that slashes its guarantee in the football championship game from $1 million to $250,000.

"We understand their (LVCVA's) position on it," WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said Tuesday after the unanimous vote.

He said he has known about the details of the new agreement for six weeks, but had no leverage when eight schools bolted from the 16-team conference in April.

The LVCVA and the WAC were in the process of renegotiating the third year of an existing deal in January following the poorly attended 1997 WAC football championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium in December. Benson said the 1998 basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, won by UNLV, swung the momentum back to the WAC and the LVCVA was looking to lock up that event through 2000.

Then came the news of the break-up when eight core schools, including UNLV, announced plans to form their own conference after several institutions complained that the unwieldy 16-team WAC was discouraging several geographical rivalries.

"We've provided Las Vegas with four events in two years," Benson said. "We had a home run in the first football game (in which crowd favorite Brigham Young played) and the 1997 basketball tournament had moderate success. We've admitted that the 1997 football game was a disaster. But that's two home runs, one double and one strikeout. If you evaluate all four events, I'd say both the WAC and Las Vegas have benefitted."

The new agreement continues sponsorship by Las Vegas Events, which is funded by the LVCVA. Under terms of the agreement, the LVCVA improves its financial position by $1.4 million and realizes a return on investment of 257 percent, based on economic projections and anticipated national media exposure.

The biggest change -- a $750,000 reduction in the conference guarantee for the football championship, from $1 million to $250,000. The basketball tournament guarantee will remain at $1 million, but the event was assured an additional ESPN telecast, from three games to four.

The LVCVA also improved its position by adding income from WAC corporate partners and income from local sponsors for both basketball and football. Previously, the LVCVA's cut was 75 percent.

Rossi Ralenkotter, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA, said the conference break-up was behind the bid to renegotiate the deal. He added that the agency is in preliminary discussions with representatives of the break-away teams to host the new as-yet-unnamed conference's championship events.