Major soccer event coming to Sam Boyd stadium

Southern Nevada, your spring sports events calendar is filling up fast.

For the first time, the Major League Soccer Challenge and International Classic is coming to Sam Boyd Stadium. The event, to be held Feb. 15-17, is presented by USA Sevens, the same folks who will bring you the USA Sevens Rugby tournament, to be held just days before, Feb. 8-10. The soccer tourney also is being organized by the Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club, and will incorporate the 10-year-old Las Vegas Mayor's Cup into the weekend events.

At its December meeting on Tuesday, the board of directors of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority authorized a $50,000 distribution to Las Vegas Events for the soccer tournament. An estimated 14,100 visitors are expected, bringing an estimated nongaming economic impact of $9.5 million.

If soccer's not your thing, Mesquite is set to host the Mesquite Great American Off-Road Weekend from Feb. 21-24. The travel board approved a $14,000 expense for the event targeted to off-road enthusiasts, which Las Vegas Events is sponsoring. An estimated 510 out-of-town visitors are expected, generating an estimated nongaming economic impact of $52,530.

And continuing with a 28-year tradition, the board of directors approved a $300,000 sponsorship of the 2013 Big League Weekend scheduled for March 16 and 17 at Cashman Field. Games will feature the Chicago Cubs versus the Texas Rangers, and will be aired in both markets on WGN in Chicago and Fox Sports Southwest in Texas. Media value for both games is estimated at $1 million, and the authority is authorized to place a minimum of three banners on the stands in camera or television view.

The convention authority also stands to earn 15 percent of the ticket sales from the partnership.

In other travel board business, the board approved a $157,500 expense for 180 stainless steel trash cans. Atlanta-based Levent Industries is manufacturing the receptacles.

In case you're interested in what the new cans will look like, there's a prototype in the Las Vegas Convention Center foyer "for those of you particularly interested in trash cans or without anything better to do," said Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of operations for the travel board.

"That concludes my trash talk," said Jicinsky as he wrapped up the agenda item.

Before the trash talk truly was terminated though, board members Lawrence Weekly and Carolyn Goodman wanted to know what would happen to the old trash cans once new ones arrived.

Jicinsky assured them the old cans would go to a government auction program to be repurposed.