LVCVA in $3 mil. deal for soccer games

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999 | 10:05 a.m.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has signed a $3 million contract with a promoter to bring eight Confederations Cup International Soccer Tournament games to Las Vegas in 2001.

Citing a $32.9 million nongaming economic impact on the city and the potential to showcase Las Vegas to a television audience of 489 million viewers in 86 countries, the LVCVA on Tuesday unanimously approved the sponsorship with Las Vegas International Soccer Inc.

Rich Rose, former president and chief operating officer of Caesars World Sports, is the promoter who heads the Las Vegas company that promises to bring the champion or leading contender from each of six recognized international soccer confederations to the city for at least half of the 16-game tournament.

Rose, who is partnering with former Gov. Bob Miller in the venture, said Las Vegas would get the championship game, the third-place game, one semifinal and five of the 12 round-robin preliminary games.

The confederations to be represented in the tournament are CONCACFF, representing North and Central America; AFC of Asia; CONMEBOL of South America; OFC of Pacific Island nations; CAF of Africa; and UEFA of Europe.

In addition, Mexico will be invited to defend its world championship and the United States would have a representative as the host country.

The tournament is sanctioned by FIFA, the world governing body of the sport.

Rose told LVCVA members that he has petitioned the United States Soccer Federation to bring the tournament to Las Vegas and that the organization has assured him that if the United States is selected as the host country for the event, Las Vegas would get the bid.

Now, it's just a matter of FIFA selecting the United States to be the host country. Rose believes that decision, to be made later this month or in January, would be a slam dunk because of the proximity of the defending champion.

Once the host country is selected, the local organization would make final arrangements for dates and fields. Rose said he already has made preliminary contact with Sam Boyd Stadium officials about scheduling games there. With temporary seating, Rose said the stadium could be configured to hold 50,000 to 60,000 fans.

Because Confederations Cup teams use professional players involved in league play in their respective countries, organizers have to work around professional league schedules. Therefore, the tournament could either be conducted in late January, early February or early June 2001.