Monster Energy Cup on tap, but promoter wants bigger venue

Bulldozers Thursday were preparing the 3,000-foot dirt race course packed with 24 teeth-rattling jumps, a 150-foot turn that extends into a seating section and a 100-foot triple-jump sending motorcycle racers airborne at this weekend's Monster Energy Cup at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Dave Prater, Supercross senior director, surveyed the crews fashioning the race track where motorcyclists will zoom 70 mph and observed that Feld Motor Sports, the event owner, could sell another 20,000 tickets on top of the 38,000 for Saturday's sold-out, all-star spectacle.

Multiply 20,000 more tickets at $50 per ticket and Feld could generate another $1 million in revenue if Las Vegas had a stadium the size of the venues typically rented by Feld for its three events in Las Vegas. Feld is also staging the Monster Jam World Finals monster truck event in March and the Monster Energy Supercross in May at Sam Boyd Stadium.

This weekend's action at Sam Boyd Stadium is going national this weekend because FOX Sports is broadcasting the races Saturday and also Sunday, when the races are broadcast before and after NFL games.

Feld officials also expect that at least 70 percent of the fans for this weekend's motorcycle event will be from outside Nevada, which drives up the spending impact to the local economy as out-of-staters spend money on lodging. And 12 percent of the out-of-state fans are visitors from outside the U.S.

Some 40 top riders will compete for 22 qualifying slots on Saturday and then vie for a $250,000 purse, including a $100,000 check for the winner and a possible $1 million prize for anyone who wins all three main events this weekend.

Feld's three annual events in Las Vegas generate a total of $100 million in fan spending, but the dollars could be much more if Southern Nevada builds a new stadium with modern amenities closer to the Strip. Feld stages motor sport events at Major League Baseball parks and professional football stadiums used by NFL teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants.

"I hope Las Vegas gets a stadium solution that's near the Strip," said Ken Hudgens, Feld Motor Sports chief operating officer. "I'm in love with the Las Vegas market. It's the home of our championship events."

UNLV officials are trying to buy 42 acres for $50 million at Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane across from McCarran International Airport as a site for an all-purpose stadium that would house the university's football team and also other events such as international rugby tournaments, concerts and football bowl games.

Don Snyder, UNLV's stadium point man and the former acting UNLV president who now carries the title of presidential adviser for strategic initiatives, said the ideal Las Vegas stadium would be a domed venue with seating for 55,000-60,000. He wants the new Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee to look at the stadium as a pivotal tourism need and recommend funding sources for it. The committee's next meeting is 9 a.m. Thursday at UNLV's alumni building.

For Feld, the stadium became a newsworthy issue when Hudgens told the tourism infrastructure committee last month that its motor sports events could use a bigger Las Vegas venue that's near the Strip. In an interview the the Review-Journal this week, Hudgens said the cost for the average Saturday event ticket is higher because of the smaller number of seats at Sam Boyd. Ticket prices are $50, $60 and $70, according to the UNLV tickets web site.

Prater estimated that if the Monster Energy Cup was held at a 60,000-seat stadium, the ticket average would be closer to $38-$40.

Hudgens said, "Out of 45 stadiums we play, (Sam Boyd) is at the bottom."

He would prefer a covered stadium in Las Vegas because it would allow schedule flexibility and events in the summer.

A domed stadium would come in handy this weekend. Spotty thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday and Sunday. And there will be some wind, too.

The motorcycle event will also use Sam Boyd's parking lot to hold other activities, including BMX free-style bicycling, Harley Davidson stunt teams doing wheelies and Trophy Truck off-road racers will be performing "smoke shows" with their wheels. There will even be four mixed martial arts fights staged by Bellator, Prater said.

And Prater appreciated Sam Boyd Stadium's operators at UNLV building a concrete pad outside the stadium to allow the dirt race track to continue outside the venue.

"It's not the most glamorous place," Prater said of Sam Boyd, "but it's hard to badmouth their house."

Feld is renting Sam Boyd while the UNLV football team plays Friday at Fresno State. Feld used a thick plastic cover to protect the stadium's new turf and will have the dirt moved out by Tuesday afternoon, Prater said.

"We don't want to hurt the new turf," he said.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com Follow him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel