The rest of the Sun’s Top 10 Most Influential Sports Figures in Las Vegas

Friday, Aug. 23, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.

2. Pat Christenson

OCCUPATION: President, Las Vegas Events

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1980, as UNLV assistant wrestling coach, athletic events coordinator. Went on to become manager of Sam Boyd Stadium and the Thomas & Mack Center.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Responsible for bringing sports and other entertainment, including concerts, to Las Vegas under the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority umbrella. Founded in 1981, LVE has produced, presented or supported more than 200 events, including NASCAR Winston Cup at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the National Finals Rodeo, the Las Vegas Bowl college football game and the Mountain West Conference men's and women's postseason basketball tournaments.

DID YOU KNOW? Christenson was the 1976 NCAA wrestling champion at 167 pounds while competing for the University of Wisconsin.

QUOTE: "Pat Christenson has spent more than two decades becoming one of the most influential behind the scenes sports and entertainment figures in Clark County. He has done it the old fashioned American Way, too, working his way up the ladder from UNLV assistant wrestling coach to president of Las Vegas Events today. Through the years, two of the strengths that have helped him considerably are his loyalty and integrity in dealing with some tough business issues."-- Dominic Clark, Las Vegas sports marketing executive.

3. Marc Ratner

OCCUPATION: Executive director, Nevada State Athletic Commission.>

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1957, moved to Las Vegas with his family.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Handles the day-to-day operation of a commission that is not only responsible for boxing and martial arts competition within the state, but one that annually produces several million dollars in revenue. Additionally, the NSAC is perceived as the most influential body of its type, and one that routinely sets standards and procedures in the sports it oversees.

DID YOU KNOW? Ratner also is the commissioner of officials for Clark County School District sports, plus is a head linesman for Mountain West Conference football games and the shot-clock operator at UNLV basketball games.

QUOTE: "All I have to say is that if I were president of the United States, I'd make Marc the Secretary of State. He's the most diplomatic guy in the world. Everyone respects and admires him. In the business of boxing, everyone is always fighting about something but Marc routinely arbitrates disputes and resolves them with both sides feeling as if they won. When it comes to diplomacy, I've never seen anyone like him."-- Bob Arum, boxing promoter.

4. Andre Agassi

OCCUPATION: Professional tennis player, founder Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation.

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: Born April 29, 1970 in Las Vegas

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Once the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the world, Agassi has won seven Grand Slam singles titles (53 total singles titles) during his 16-year career. In 1995, Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, dedicated to helping underprivileged, abused and at-risk Las Vegas children. The foundation has raised more than $18 million. Agassi also opened the Agassi Boys & Girls Club and the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. He is managed by best friend Perry Rogers, who doubles as Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal's agent.

DID YOU KNOW? Agassi enjoys cooking in his spare time.

QUOTE: "Andre has redefinied the way tennis is played because he is the first player to be able to succesfully take the ball on the rise. He has also redefined the way athletes get involved with their communities because he created his foundation during his peak years and did not wait until he was retired."-- Perry Rogers, manager and best friend.

5. Oscar Goodman

OCCUPATION: Mayor of Las Vegas.

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1964. Goodman eventually became one of the nation's premier criminal defense lawyers.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Since being elected mayor in 1999, Goodman has tried to make Las Vegas a "major-league city." He has met with NBA commissioner David Stern, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and various team owners in hopes of bringing a major league sports franchise to town. Goodman also has lobbied for a multi-purpose downtown sports arena.

DID YOU KNOW? Goodman spent much of his career defending organized crime figures, including Chicago mob kingpin Anthony Spilatro.

QUOTE: "The mayor has one of the more dynamic personalities in town and he is one of the biggest sports fans in town. He likes to make a wager on as many different games as he can on a regular basis. That's a big part of our community and he's a big proponent of that. He believes as many people do, that having professional sports plays a big part of a sense of community."-- Don Logan, Las Vegas 51s president and general manager.

6. Rossi Ralenkotter

OCCUPATION: Vice president of marketing, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1951. The son of a craps dealer, Ralenkotter attended Bishop Gorman High and earned a degree in business administration from Arizona State in 1969 before returning to Las Vegas to get his MBA from UNLV in 1971. Started out as a marketing representative for Central Telephone Co. in 1971 before joining the LVCVA as a research analyst in 1973.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Ralenkotter directs and administers the national and international marketing, advertising, convention, tourism, public relations and research programs for the LVCVA and oversees an annual budget of more than $83 million. He was a driving force in starting and advancing the Las Vegas Bowl football game, now broadcast on ABC. He also played instrumental roles in bringing the WAC football championship game to Las Vegas as well as the WAC basketball tournament. A longtime supporter of the Las Vegas Stars and 51s, he still attends Bishop Gorman football games.

DID YOU KNOW? The Las Vegas Bowl most valuable player trophy is named for Ralenkotter.

QUOTE: "You won't fine a finer person or one more committed to Las Vegas. Rossi has really been the person who has kept the Las Vegas Bowl alive and has really been committed to it since its inception. If it wasn't for his involvement in the game the last 11 years, I don't know if it would still be around today. He not only gave of his time but also his money. He made it happen."-- Tina Kunzer-Murphy, general manager of ESPN Regional at UNLV and director of the Las Vegas Bowl.

7. Bob Arum OCCUPATION: Promoter, Top Rank Inc.

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1986.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Widely considered one of the top boxing promoters in the world, a distinction that has followed him virtually since he promoted his first fight (George Chuvalo vs. Muhammad Ali) in 1966. Regularly pieces together several multi-million dollar fights per year, as well as hundreds of others of varying values.

DID YOU KNOW? Arum is a lawyer who worked in the early 1960s in the United States Attorney General's office, where he is credited with winning landmark cases against the likes of Con Edison, Citibank and Standard Oil.

QUOTE: "Bob is one of the greatest promoters in the history of sports. Of course we all know he can be an emotional maniac at times, but that's a result of the incredible passion he brings to his work. He's a 24/7 guy, very driven and extremely passionate about boxing. He's involved in everything we do and he's very hands on."--Bruce Trampler, Top Rank matchmaker.

8. Chris Powell

OCCUPATION: Executive vice president and general manager, Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: January 1999

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: Powell is in charge of the day-to-day operations of LVMS, which hosts the state's largest sporting event in the annual NASCAR Winston Cup race.

DID YOU KNOW? Powell began his career as a sports writer before moving into golf and auto racing promotions with RJ Reynolds' Sports Marketing Enterprises.

QUOTE: "Chris works very hard out there and he brings the one single biggest event to town every year. He gets involved in the community and he has worked hard with the Bullring (short track) and the racing out there is as good as anywhere. The sprint-car racing at the dirt track is exciting to watch and the drag racing is exciting ... everything he does out there has done well, it's just that Las Vegas is a tough sell." -- Michael Gaughan, chairman of the board, Coast Resorts, Inc.

9. Larry McKay

OCCUPATION: Director of Athletics for Clark County School District; Executive Director of Holiday Prep Classic; Tournament Director of adidas Big Time.

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1973, as a math teacher at Jim Bridger Middle School and junior varsity baseball and freshman basketball coach at Rancho High.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: McKay supervises all aspects of high school athletics in the District, from budgeting to scheduling to appeals over transfers. He also created and still runs both the Holiday Prep Classic, one of the nation's premier winter boys basketball events, and the Big Time, the summer's largest AAU tournament.

DID YOU KNOW? McKay once drove a Coors beer truck in Twin Falls, Idaho; McKay's son-in-law, Trevor Insley, played in the NFL last season for the Indianapolis Colts and is now on the roster of the expansion Houston Texans.

QUOTE: "I've been working with Larry for close to 15 years and he's the ultimate professional. Las Vegas is fortunate to have a guy like him."-- Jerry Hughes, Executive Director, Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association

10. Michael Gaughan

OCCUPATION: Chairman of the Board, Coast Resorts, Inc.

ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: 1952

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: In addition to running Coast Resorts' four hotel/casinos, Gaughan owns a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race team, is building a 7,000-seat indoor sports arena on his Orleans hotel/casino property and is a board member of Las Vegas Events and the National Finals Rodeo Committee.

DID YOU KNOW? A former off-road racer, Gaughan won the High Desert Racing Association championship in 1978 and 1979.

QUOTE: "Michael has been instrumental in bringing (the National Finals) Rodeo to Las Vegas since the days of Benny Binion. He's one of the most discreet, unassuming guys you'll ever meet but he's a Las Vegas icon whether he likes it or not. He's a major sponsor out at (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and NASCAR is arguably the biggest event we do in Las Vegas. Between the NFR, auto racing and the stuff he's now doing with his own arena, he has had and will continue to have a strong impact on Nevada." -- Pat Christenson, president Las Vegas Events.

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