Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 | 10:21 a.m.
Media conglomerate Clear Channel appears set to take over a major role in promoting and producing the Las Vegas centennial celebration.
City officials and the city's Centennial Executive Committee want the commemoration of the 1905 land auction that started development of the valley to boost the marketing of the city worldwide. They expect the corporate muscle of Clear Channel will do that.
Clear Channel owns more than 1,000 radio stations as well as billboards, concert venues and concert promotion operations. The company also produced the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans in January 2002.
"What I would compare this to is the Super Bowl coming to Las Vegas," Bruce Eskowitz, president of national sales and marketing for Clear Channel, told the committee Monday.
After listening to Clear Channel's presentation, the committee members asked a few questions then told staff to continue negotiations on a contract scheduled to be considered Sept. 8.
The proposal in its draft form calls for Clear Channel to seek national level corporate sponsorship from such advertisers as beer companies, auto and soft drink companies. In exchange, Clear Channel would take 20 percent of the gross, give 20 percent to the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial, and use the rest to produce events.
In addition to a percentage of the sponsorship revenue, Clear Channel also would receive 25 percent of the gross receipts from merchandise sales, and receive fees for such work as production television programming and events.
Committee members questioned how the ideas would be developed, and were told they'd have the final say over promotions, production and merchandise proposals.
One member of the public complimented the committee -- a separate entity from the 27-member Centennial Commission -- for its work. Then Tom McGowan, a frequent public speaker at council and other meetings, warned them they ought to make sure the Clear Channel contract has an out clause.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman suggested seeking outside counsel to assist in making sure the contract fit the committee's needs.
After the meeting,Goodman said time is of the essence in planning the celebrations, now only 20 months away. Along with setting Sept. 8 as the deadline for the contract, the executive committee approved setting up the Centennial Commission as a not-for-profit entity.
With those actions, the focus will shift to the next step, which is a 90-day "asset review" of public spaces that can be sold for sponsorships -- at the airport, for example.
"Ninety days from (Sept.8) we'll find out if we are where we think we are -- the greatest, most marketable city in the world," Goodman said.
No estimate of how much money Clear Channel could raise through corporate sponsorship was given, although after the meeting Centennial Project Manager Stacy Allsbrook said she was hoping the Centennial Commission would end up with about $3 million. She said it was important that the taxpayers not get stuck with the bill.
"I don't want to prostitute the Centennial, but I want to make sure it pays for itself," she said.
Allsbrook said the event is proving popular already, with about 25 potential merchandisers calling daily, seeking an opportunity to cash in on the Las Vegas brand.
"If we can get a rifle done, do we want a Centennial rifle? Because I've got (a picture of) one in my office right now," she said during the meeting, drawing laughs from the committee.
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