Vegas.com introduces marketing program

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001 | 12:19 p.m.

Before Howard Lefkowitz became a Las Vegas resident, he would rely on friends to come up with tickets to some of the shows he wanted to see when he visited.

"Every time I wanted to go see something, I had to call my guy," said Lefkowitz, president of the big Internet portal Vegas.com.

Now, under an initiative announced today, Vegas.com is going to be "the guy," Lefkowitz said.

Vegas.com unveiled a loyalty program that rewards customers for booking reservations and buying tickets through the site. Through the program, customers will have access to prime seats at live entertainment events.

Lefkowitz also announced in a news conference at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino that Vegas.com has affiliated with several California live-performance venues to offer the same ticket accessibility to concerts and sporting events in Southern California.

That means customers who access the Vegas.com Internet site can buy tickets to concerts and games in Southern California as well as in Las Vegas, with the portal's best customers having access to an event's best seats.

The new Vegas.com agreement is with the Staples Center in Los Angeles and with the House of Blues' large arenas and amphitheaters. Among the venues: the Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City.

Customers can already buy tickets to Staples Center events, including seats at Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers NBA games and Kings NHL games. The House of Blues concert venue events will be on line early next year.

The House of Blues club venues are not a part of the deal.

The Vegas.com site already offers Las Vegas ticket sales and reservations for rooms, entertainment, restaurants and golf tee times.

Last week the company announced a ticketing venture with Hollywood Media Corp., Boca Raton, Fla., to offer tickets to Las Vegas shows through Hollywood's Internet site.

Lefkowitz said other ticket access deals would be announced next year.

Vegas.com customers in California won't forget that they're getting their tickets from a Las Vegas company. Guests at the Staples Center already have taken advantage of an added amenity for Vegas.com guests -- access to a blackjack table at the arena. Play money with no premium value is used at the tables.

"It's just for fun," Lefkowitz said, "but it's a reminder that they can come to us if they need to make reservations in Las Vegas."

Lefkowitz said more than $10 million will be spent on the Vegas.com transformation, including $4 million in print, broadcast and online advertising next year to market the new Southern California ticket initiative.

The Greenspun family of Las Vegas owns Vegas.com and the Las Vegas Sun.

archive