UNLV looking to cash in remodeled campus venues

A private arena being built on the Strip is soaking up the media attention but UNLV is quietly remodeling Thomas &Mack Center and launching a naming rights initiative for the three-building sports complex of Thomas &Mack, Cox Pavilion and Mendenhall Center.

The move could be worth as much as $2 million to the university.

To capitalize on the Thomas &Mack’s $70 million upgrade, University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials are working with a sports facility consultant to draw naming rights deals in hope of generating more revenue from the venues off Tropicana Avenue.

“We want to maximize our naming and sponsorship income and take advantage of the remodel,” said Gerry Bomotti, UNLV senior vice president for finance and business. “The best opportunity for new revenue like this seems to us to be when the renovation is new and fresh.”

Mike Newcomb, executive director of Thomas &Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium, said the university has “just finished the collateral information packet so they can hit the streets and look for potential partners.”

Bomotti outlined other sponsorship ideas. UNLV is:

■ Replacing the Thomas &Mack roof and lighting it to allow rental of the space or a corporate name along with the UNLV name. That’s advertising aimed at passengers on aircraft taking off from and landing at nearby McCarran International Airport.

■ Adding a Strip-view-offering concourse overlook to Thomas &Mack that could offer a subnaming rights opportunity.

■ Exploring opportunities for new big video boards on the Thomas &Mack facade, so that space could also be used for sponsors.

Legends, the consultant with New York and Los Angeles offices that worked on the now-stalled UNLV campus stadium project, is advising university officials who manage the three venues on naming rights. UNLV partner IMG already handles corporate sponsorships.

Bill Rhoda, Legends’ president of global planning, said there are enough naming rights dollars to serve both UNLV’s arena and the $375 million venue being built by MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group behind New York-New York, 2 miles west of the university campus. The MGM Resorts-Anschutz Entertainment arena is set to open in April 2016.

“Both the (Thomas &Mack Center) and AEG new arena will provide opportunities for corporate sponsors to activate and create value,” Rhoda said. “Las Vegas is a unique market that does not necessarily operate like most other markets due to the influx of visitors and being the entertainment capital of the world.

“We think both arenas can be successful from a sponsorship perspective while offering different price points and market segments.”

Rhoda said UNLV’s venues host a wide variety of events that can appeal to a naming rights sponsor.

“The amount that a naming rights contract can generate is directly related to the building activity, market of the venue and their tenants and the potential ability of the sponsor to generate a positive return on their investment. Thus you see professional sports venues have a higher value due to the media exposure these venues receive on an annual basis,” he said.

Rhoda estimated that naming rights values for multipurpose venues without major professional sports teams, such as Thomas &Mack, can range from $250,000 to $2 million.

UNLV isn’t paying Legends for the consulting, Bomotti said, but is offering the job on a success fee basis. Legends makes money only if UNLV cuts deals, he said.

Planning for the Thomas &Mack makeover started in 2012 and construction began last fall. Most of the renovations should take a year and a half.