Unusual cooperation among competitors
The Laughlin Events Center in Laughlin, Nevada plans an expanded calendar of events in 2015, says Mark Sterbens, assistant general manager and vice president of the property owned by Anthony Marnell III.
Marnell built the venue for $4 million. It opened in November 2013 and has hosted a dozen events in 2014 including concerts and rodeos. It may increase that number to 15 in 2015, Sterbens told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Most of the center’s patrons hail from Phoenix, Southern Nevada and Southern California, M.J. Smith, Laughlin Tourism Commission executive director, told the newspaper.
Marnell also owns the Edgewater and Colorado Belle resorts in Laughlin. And though he ostensibly represents the competition, other Laughlin hotel-casinos are buying bulk tickets that are then sold or given to their own guests, Smith said. The casinos benefit from the millions concertgoers spend on hotels, at restaurants and in casinos when superstars like Toby Keith come to town. A Keith concert can generate up to $5 million in visitor spending, Smith said.
“You would not see this level of cooperation among competitors,” Smith said. “If we didn’t have the support going in, we wouldn’t be able to attract the artists we do.”
Marnell said the event center is looking at expanding seating to 11,000 to 12,000. The site can hold a maximum of 22,000.
