Pac-12 shuffle could lead to Vegas losing conference events
The upheaval in the Pac-12 has put the future of several of its events in Las Vegas in doubt.
While the Pac-12 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and football championship game will be played as scheduled in Las Vegas this coming year, what happens after that remains to be seen, Las Vegas Convention and Visitokrs Authority President and CEO Steve Hill said Tuesday.
A Pac-12 spokesman confirmed the conference’s events will still occur in Las Vegas as planned this season, but declined to comment on future plans.
The teams who participate in the annual Las Vegas Bowl would also shift. The LVCVA is contracted with ESPN for the Las Vegas Bowl through the 2025 season. A Pac-12 team is scheduled to be one of the two teams that plays in the game each season, with the SEC and Big Ten alternating each year to fill the other spot.
Losing a prestigious brand such as the Pac-12 would be a blow, Hill said, but the city’s growing reputation as a sports epicenter would likely attract future opportunities.
“We’ve got such a long relationship with the Pac-12 and it’s kind of sad to see the changes that are happening right now,” Hill said. “I realize the schools are making the decisions that make the most sense for them and that change happens. But when you have a partner that’s so close and you’re the center of their championships for the last number of years … I don’t know if disappointment is the right word, but the conference has been around for 100 years, so those kinds of changes are tough.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, UCLA, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Colorado have all announced they are leaving the Pac-12 effective next year. That leaves Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford and Cal remaining in the conference.
Las Vegas has hosted both the men’s and women’s Pac-12 conference basketball tournaments since 2013 and 2019, respectively.
The Pac-12 football championship game has also been held in Las Vegas for the past two years at Allegiant Stadium and is scheduled there again in December. Those games were both huge draws, with 45,856 fans attending the game in 2021 and 55,863 in 2022, according to Las Vegas Stadium Authority data.
“The demand for Las Vegas is as strong as it’s ever been and all of the elements are there to continue these things,” Hill said. “There’s just a different landscape in order to make that happen.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X, formerly known as Twitter.