By John Katsilometes
The back-and-forth between Las Vegas Events and the Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association in the continuing Wrangler National Finals
Rodeo saga is reaching yet another critical juncture this week.
The
future of the rodeo remains uncertain, with at least two municipalities
fighting for the lucrative event. But the WNFR could return to Las
Vegas, and that decision might be rendered as early as this week.
Eradicated
about a month ago was the idea that the rodeo is certain to be moving
to Osceola County, Fla. LVE officials have issued a deadline of Jan. 14
to receive a counteroffer of its proposal to renew the WNFR contract for
another 10 years after this year’s event concludes.
This is an
extension of the original deadline, which was Jan. 1, to give the PRCA
time to dissect the Las Vegas offer. But Tuesday is not the actual
hard-and-fast deadline set to determine where the WNFR will be held
after 2014. LVE is expecting to receive a counteroffer from the PRCA
Board of Directors this week, but this week is not an ultimatum for
these discussions.
It is possible, even probable, that Las Vegas officials will review whatever counteroffer is issued beyond the Tuesday deadline.
What
the PRCA is weighing, at least as far as has been reported, is a $16
million offer from Osceola County to hold the WNFR annually for 20 years
after it leaves Las Vegas. The offer from LVE, which includes prize
money and all the related costs of staging the rodeo in Las Vegas, is
$11 million to $12 million.
That offer was rejected during what
has become an infamous day in these negotiations, Dec. 14. That was the
date of the twin developments of the PRCA board’s rejection of the LVE
offer and the Osceola County Commission’s announcement that it was
entering a 90-day memorandum of understanding to negotiate with the PRCA
to uproot the WNFR from Las Vegas to Florida.
If the PRCA were
to agree on a new pact in Florida, the WNFR would be held this year at
Amway Arena (home of the Orlando Magic), then move to a new,
24,000-seat, $100 million arena planned for Gaylord Palms Resort and
Convention Center in Kissimmee in 2015.
What threw the future of
the WNFR in Las Vegas, its home since 1985, into doubt was the fact that
the PRCA turned down the LVE offer without issuing a counteroffer or
even making clear (at least initially) to Las Vegas officials that a new
offer would be discussed.
Simultaneously, the Osceola County
Commission announced that it was entering a 90-day MOU, leading LVE to
issue its own announcement that the rodeo was leaving Las Vegas after
this year’s event, which is not necessarily the case.
At least, not yet.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment