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Wednesday, June 23, 2009 By Isaac Kuhlman The Orleans Arena announced plans to host two major sporting events in the future. The first is somewhat traditional. The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) will again host its Men's and Women's Basketball conference tournament at the Orleans Arena for 2011 and 2012. The second event is a big step for the Las Vegas market in its "sports draw" test. The af2 (Arena Football League 2) will host its 10th annual title game (known as ArenaCup Championship) in Las Vegas on August 22, 2009. With the bigger market Arena Football League (AFL) on the shelf for the year due to the economy, this could prove to be a big factor in the success of the af2.
The WAC Championship is a continuing step in Las Vegas' relationship with college sports and the conferences that host the major tournaments. The WCC (West Coast Conference) had their championship tournament at the Orleans Arena earlier this year with sold-out success. Also, the Arena has hosted a top-ranked college classic known as the "Las Vegas Invitational" every year since 2006. The renamed MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (formerly Las Vegas Bowl) has also helped bring college sports to Las Vegas over the years by bringing a PAC-10 vs. MWC college football bowl game to the city annually since 1992. Now there is a semi-professional sports league that looks to capture the little bit of success that Las Vegas has hosted in its relationship to football programs in recent history. The now unraveled XFL (Xtreme Football League) once had a successful stint in Las Vegas (though highly unsuccessful everywhere else), and the AFL has recently displaced the hometown Las Vegas Gladiators, who were very popular in the city, to Cleveland in an attempt to take the team to an even bigger market. That plan somewhat backfired as the season was cancelled anyway. Las Vegas will now get to host the championship game of the still running af2. Though it is a developmental league with its roots in some pretty small markets (such as Peoria, IL and Stockton, CA), the league maintains success by proper marketing, exciting action, high-level talent, and strategic team placement. The Orleans looks to help with this endeavor by hosting the ArenaCup 10. For more information on the af2, check out www.af2.com and for ticket information as it becomes available for either of these events go to www.orleansarena.com. |
