Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Full slate means empty grandstands

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4088.

In the past couple of weeks, I have been charged by a small but vocal minority with destroying Saturday's Indy Racing League event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (by reporting on slow pre-race ticket sales), the coaching future of Jerry Tarkanian's son, George (by reporting that he had recruited a point guard who has been charged with raping three women) and the long-term viability of the Las Vegas Silver Bandits (by stating that virtually nobody here is interested in minor league basketball).

It's as if what I say goes. Like I'm some fiery-tongued orator. Or Alexander Haig during a botched presidential assassination attempt.

The reality is the large but silent minority doesn't take me all that seriously. If it did, it's doubtful there would be four major sporting events to choose from on this weekend's local calendar.

Three years ago in this space I wrote that at least part of Las Vegas' reputation as a poor live sports town could be pinned on promoters who are either too arrogant or too ignorant to check said calendar before scheduling an event.

That column had so much impact that this weekend paying customers will have to choose between the Indy Racing League Vegas 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Las Vegas Senior Classic golf tournament at the TPC at Summerlin, the Show Jumping World Cup equestrian championships at the Thomas & Mack Center and the U.S. National Wrestling Championships at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Somebody call Jim McKay. You could do a whole "Wide World of Sports" episode without leaving the city limits.

Moreover, the baseball Stars remain in town through Friday night. And some whose lives don't revolve around SportsCenter may stage an Easter egg hunt or attend services at their local church or synagogue.

Granted, the kind of events on tap for this weekend generally draw from niche-type audiences, so maybe the impact isn't the same as if the Dodgers and Cubs were playing on one side of town and the Yankees and White Sox on the other.

But what do you do if you're the guy from Pennzoil? Do you go watch Arnold Palmer's buddies hit the little white ball around the golf course or Scott Goodyear drive a car bearing your sponsor decals around the speedway? And surely there are at least a few folks grappling with what to do with their race or golf tickets in the event Johnny advances through his bracket at the wrestling championships.

Let's remember, too, that we aren't Chicago or Los Angeles, which has a huge fan base capable of supporting multiple teams or events. Las Vegas still is a triple-A town in terms of population, only we've got major league competition for our entertainment dollar. Whether there's a game or not.

Promoters, too, face a dilemma in that Las Vegas is a dandy place to convene for a special event. They don't have these problems in Fresno or Newark. And if the promoters think media coverage is the best way to move tickets, they had better buy an ad instead. There simply aren't enough bodies in the sports department to get out to every press conference or practice session this week.

But mark these words. Somebody, somewhere finally will get around to perusing the local calendar, notice all there is to choose from and proclaim that it's a great weekend for sports in Las Vegas.

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