Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.
Many hands shaped the clay in past months, but look to David Baker and Pat Christenson for the deepest fingerprints in the neutral-site ArenaBowl mold that will take shape in Las Vegas.
The idea of the two men came to life with Monday's announcement that the first Super Bowl-style event, complete with a weeklong celebration in town, for the Arena Football League will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center on June 12, 2005.
ArenaBowl XIX will be the first championship game in league history to occur outside of the home arena of the highest remaining playoff team.
The agreement between Baker's AFL and Christenson's Las Vegas Events is a series of three one-year renewable contracts. If the AFL chooses to complete all three years, the total value of LVE's commitment to the league will be in the "mid seven-figure" range, according to Baker, the league commissioner.
"What we did was bought a lot of time on NBC that we would have spent anyway," Christenson said. "To me, what we purchased was an opportunity to affiliate ourselves with the Arena Football League and NBC, all culminating in a big, big event in Las Vegas."
The league board of directors approved Baker's proposal for a neutral-site title game at its August meeting at MGM Grand, at which time the commissioner branded Las Vegas a leading candidate to host the game along with a quartet of other cities. In reality, Las Vegas already ranked as the overwhelming favorite.
About six months ago, LVE president Christenson honed a pitch two years in the making to create in Las Vegas a weeklong AFL celebration around its championship game. That is just about when the idea was already gaining steam in the league's New York office, with Baker as its champion.
"My comment was, 'Let me offer you a package,' " Christenson said.
ArenaBowl week is set to include a high-profile concert, league awards ceremony, all-star skills competition and other events still being planned. While Baker originally hoped to implement the plan in 2006, he felt league-wide enthusiasm for the idea warranted going forward this year.
In addition to solving logistical nightmares caused by not knowing its title game location until a week before it happens and creating a major attraction for its corporate sponsors and their clients, AFL officials wanted the advance location as an opportunity for fans to plan trips to the game. Tickets are already on sale through the league Web site.
Christenson said the league's major concern with the city is making sure the Thomas & Mack is filled for the game. The arena seats about 17,000 in its arena football configuration, but the Las Vegas Gladiators have averaged actual attendance between 6,500 and 7,500, making locals a less reliable source of ticket purchases.
ArenaBowl home teams traditionally have little problem filling their arenas for the championship, with a top attendance of more than 25,000 in Tampa Bay in 1995. Christenson said that, in addition to a season-long marketing campaign for the ArenaBowl, he hopes to tie in the entire week for fans not attached to the teams in the game.
"We did not want to depend on either of the two teams in the game to sell out the game," Christenson said.
While the AFL certainly caters to families with its post-game autograph sessions and other activities, ArenaBowl week will be more for mom and dad.
"We're looking at more of an adult-oriented fan base," Christenson said. "I'm sure there are a lot of kids that go to AFL games, but I'm not so sure there will be many parents that will be bringing them on this trip."
A private, nonprofit organization, LVE is funded by the hotel tax and serves as the exclusive major special events agency for the city.
Baker plans to give the neutral-site concept a chance even if it is not an immediate success, pointing out that the Super Bowl did not begin to take on its phenomenon until its third event.
"I think it's going to be something you've got to grow," Baker said. "And if the NFL has to grow the Super Bowl, I fully understand that we have to measure our expectations for what it is here."
Baker enjoyed full support from the Gladiators, who point to the league's commitment to the city as evidence of their intention to stay in town well beyond their upcoming third season.
"I thought we were going to make a serious commitment to demonstrate that we were here to stay," Baker said. "And I think that this does that."
Gladiators owner Jim Ferraro felt confident about the city's chances of getting the game from the first time the idea came up.
"When you compare Vegas to the other cities in the league, this was far and away the best choice," Ferraro said.
Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, eager to drive up the city's profile as a viable locale for a major league sports franchise in the wake of his pursuit of the Montreal Expos, quickly came onboard with the plan as well.
"Each time something like this happens, it just makes us more and more credible as far as being the next site for either a Major League Baseball team or an NBA team," Goodman said.
Goodman also hopes that the AFL's close bond with the National Football League can salve some of the wounds of the city's tangles about Super Bowl parties and TV advertising.
"This is huge because of the relationship with the NFL," Goodman said. "There's a very close bond between the AFL and the NFL. The fact that they're choosing Las Vegas to be the city for the championships is really giant because, of all the leagues, we've had our difficulties with (NFL commissioner Paul) Tagliabue and our Super Bowl problems."
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