Greenspun group to run Internet travel site

Monday, June 13, 2005 | 11:10 a.m.

The operators of VEGAS.com figure they'll be getting about 800,000 new customers as a result of acquiring the rights to use the lasvegas.com domain name.

Howard Lefkowitz, president of VEGAS.com, announced on Friday that the company had signed a long-term, exclusive license agreement with Stephens Media Intellectual Property LLC for the name.

VEGAS.com is owned by the Greenspun family, which owns the Las Vegas Sun. Stephens Media Intellectual Property is a subsidiary of the Arkansas-based company that owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

With the new deal, VEGAS.com will operate both the VEGAS.com and lasvegas.com travel sites. Both sites will remain separate, with different looks, logos and branding. The sites will be hosted on VEGAS.com servers and will contain content and products created by VEGAS.com.

Each site will have separate phone numbers for customers and will be answered by the VEGAS.com contact center with the appropriate Web site name.

Media Metrix, a company that measures and reports Internet use, said VEGAS.com gets about 1.7 million unique visitors a month while lasvegas.com gets about 1 million unique visitors a month. Less than 20 percent of the total use both sites, accounting for the 800,000 additional audience.

"It was a multiyear process (to put the deal together), but in the end it was a deal that works for both sides and, more importantly, works for the local tourism community," Lefkowitz said today.

The deal was somewhat of a surprise, since the owners of the two companies were in litigation six months ago.

Both sides filed claims and counterclaims in Clark County District Court disputing who had the rights to acquire the lasvegas.com name when Stephens sought to lease it through a subsidiary.

Bryan Allison, senior director of marketing for VEGAS.com, said since the relaunch of lasvegas.com under Greenspun management Friday, the company has already begun making changes as the new owners become more familiar with the different audiences that visit the two sites.

"We plan to keep two sites, two URLs," Allison said. "Both names have value. Some people think Vegas, some think of Las Vegas. Either way, they'll be coming to us."

Lefkowitz noted that visitors to VEGAS.com "look more at Vegas as a lifestyle while visitors to lasvegas.com see it as a destination city."

Lefkowitz said the company would cater to each audience and determine what will work best for the two sites as they learn more about the lasvegas.com user demographic.

Greenspun and Stephens did not disclose terms of the agreement, but Lefkowitz said the length is "in the decades." The lease price also was not disclosed, but when the deal was in litigation, Greenspun offered $12 million for rights to the site name.

Sherman Frederick, publisher of the Review-Journal, could not be reached for comment this morning.