Las Vegas' tourism brass is officially getting into the sports game at the executive level, signing off on a high-powered position meant to keep the city's events calendar packed all year long. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board voted this week to create a standalone chief sports officer role that will oversee everything from headline-making championships to the waves of youth and amateur tournaments that quietly fill Strip hotel rooms. The job was formally authorized at the authority's regular meeting, and officials say they expect to announce a hire soon.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the item was listed in the board's posted agenda book for the meeting on Tuesday, where members voted unanimously to approve the job classification and related documents. The agenda materials spell out the new position and the governance paperwork that goes with it.
Pay and Reporting Lines
As reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal, the board signed off on a salary range with a minimum of $248,600, a midpoint of $298,000 and a maximum of $347,400. The role will also be eligible for a bonus of up to 25 percent of base pay.
Once the chief sports officer is on board, the authority plans for its vice president of sports business development and vice president of event operations to report directly to the new executive. Until that hire is made, both positions will continue to report to LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill.
What the Chief Sports Officer Will Oversee
The new executive will concentrate on three core buckets of work - key marquee events, large-scale major events and youth and amateur tournaments - with a mandate to squeeze as much visitation and revenue out of sports as possible, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. "Each one of those we want to maximize," Hill said, pointing to examples like the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four and the College Football Championship as the kind of tentpole events the new hire will be expected to help land and support.
Infrastructure and the Sports Push
LVCVA officials argue the timing is right because Las Vegas has the hardware to back up its sports ambitions. Allegiant Stadium seats roughly 65,000 people, and the Las Vegas Convention Center is in the middle of a roughly $600 million renovation designed in part to better accommodate tournament-style play.
Those facilities, combined with other major projects on the Strip, give the city enough venue capacity to host multiple large events at the same time and to draw teams, families and event organizers back on a repeat basis.
Background and Ethics
The chief sports officer role grew out of a stretch when sports responsibilities were tucked into existing senior jobs. Brian Yost had been handling both operating duties and sports work before announcing plans to retire, as per LVSportsBiz.
The authority has also been dealing with procurement scrutiny this year tied to a College Football Playoff contract, which triggered internal reviews and additional ethics training as the organization reshapes its sports unit. Posted LVCVA materials indicate the authority expects to name a vice president of sports business development this week. That position, along with event operations leadership, is slated to fall under the new chief sports officer once the executive search wraps up. Until then, those roles will continue reporting to Hill while the authority looks for its first sports chief.
