Sands Expo Center signs Super Show to 3-year deal

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999 | 10:05 a.m.

The Super Show, sponsored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, actually is 25 individual shows conducted at one time. The 25 trade shows under the Super Show umbrella: Activewear Show; Outdoor Sports Show; Bowling, Billiards & Darts Show; Cycle Show; Fitness Show; Footwear Show; Golf Show; Imprint and Apparel Show; In-Line Skating Show; International Show; Sports Nutrition and Health Show; Licensed Sports Show; Marine and Water Sports Show; New Products Show; Team Sports Show; Tennis Show; Trading Cards and Collectible Products Show; Trophies & Awards Show; Winter Wear Show; e-sports Show; X-treme Sports Show; Casual Athletic Footwear Show; Urban Wear Show; Adventure Sports Travel Show; and Licensed Sponsor Show.

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association Super Show has signed a three-year exhibition deal with the Sands Expo Center and the Venetian hotel-casino.

But the SGMA event, which will bring nearly 100,000 people to Las Vegas beginning in 2001, will need still more convention space since the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's planned expansion isn't expected to be completed in time for the first show.

John Riddle, president of the SGMA, said his organization is pursuing other exhibition options for the event, which assembles 25 trade shows in one location for four days.

Riddle said he is considering leasing exhibit hall space in other hotel-casinos or temporary pavilions in parking lots at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The convention center has routinely erected temporary pavilions for major conventions like the Winter Consumer Electronics Show and Comdex. The LVCVA is attempting to minimize the use of temporary pavilions with expansions.

Originally, the SGMA was planning to use a planned 1.3 million-square-foot south hall expansion at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The LVCVA has put construction on hold while it fights a lawsuit from the owners of the Sands Expo Center and the Venetian.

The suit, filed in July, disputes the LVCVA's ability to use tax-free revenue bonds without a public vote to build the addition. The Venetian suit contends that the LVCVA actually is planning to use a form of general obligation bond that would require a vote and not revenue bonds.

The case is expected to be argued in District Court in early October and the LVCVA has no plans to go forward with alternative financing of the expansion.

Since it appears likely the expansion won't be complete in time for the first Super Show, the SGMA is under pressure to secure 2 million square feet for more than 3,000 expected exhibitors.

The Sands Expo Center announced Tuesday that it signed the Super Show to a three-year deal in 2001, 2002 and 2003 for 1.7 million square feet at the two-story Sands Expo and the adjacent Venetian Congress Hall. Terms of the deal were not announced, but the SGMA reportedly is paying more for the Sands space than what the organization would have paid the LVCVA.

Venetian officials have complained that the tax-subsidized Las Vegas Convention Center competes unfairly with private enterprise. The LVCVA has responded that major conventions are a boon to all Las Vegas properties because conventioneers spend money throughout the city.

It's estimated that the Super Show will bring $121 million in nongaming revenue to the city.

Rob Powers, a spokesman for the LVCVA, said that all along the SGMA had planned to split the show between the Convention Center and the Sands Expo Center. The first show, scheduled to open Jan. 21, 2001, opens on the heels of the Winter Consumer Electronics Show, another convention that annually draws about 100,000 people.

Powers said the rest of the convention center is booked, which is why the southern expansion is critical.

LVCVA President Manny Cortez, whose staff negotiated to bring the Super Show to Las Vegas from Atlanta late last year, said the LVCVA is now concerned about keeping the show beyond the three-year commitment.

LVCVA officials have been told the association is contemplating alternating the show between West Coast and East Coast locations three years at a time to maximize attendance.

Riddle said the SGMA is anxious to see how attendance at the show is affected by having it in Las Vegas.

"We've found that the location of a show has a big impact on from where you draw," Riddle said. "For example, when the Olympics were in Atlanta, people from all over the South attended because it was so close. We figure that some of our markets in the West will be more inclined to attend a show in Las Vegas.

"We're also anxious to see how we do internationally. We know interest in sporting goods is growing in Asia, so we hope to draw attendees from Asia, just as we draw people from Europe when we meet in Atlanta."

Riddle did not want to address the controversy of the LVCVA's expansion and the Venetian's lawsuit and what impact they would have on his show.

"Let's just say we're very happy with Las Vegas and we think moving the venue to the West will be a good thing for the show," Riddle said.

Venetian officials are excited about signing the show and issued a glittery press release to announce it.

"We are extremely excited to have lured one of the premier trade shows to Las Vegas," said Jeff Beckelman, vice president of sales and marketing at the Sands Expo Center, in the release. "Given the nature of the show and the type of sports personalities that typically attend, the Super Show attracts an ideal customer profile to town -- one that spends money on gaming, hotel accommodations, food, entertainment and retail.

"It seems appropriate that the world's largest sporting goods trade show is headquartered at the world's largest convention hotel complex under one roof," Beckelman said. "We all share in the success of this show and everyone, from other hotels, local businesses, taxi drivers and convention facilities, benefits from its presence."

The Super Show is Atlanta's biggest convention. The massive show has been in that city since it began in 1985. When the Super Show began outgrowing the Georgia World Congress Center, reports surfaced that it was planning to move to Orlando, Fla., in 2001 and 2002.

The GWCC facility is planning its own expansion, adding 450,000 square feet to give the convention center 1.4 million square feet of meeting space.

Atlanta, Orlando and New Orleans are being invited to bid for hosting the show in the third week of January in 2004-2006.