The size of the Las Vegas sports and entertainment market means it can accommodate a new 20,000-capacity venue every 10 years, according to Marc Badain, who has been hired to oversee Oak View Group’s (OVG) proposed $1bn arena as part of a planned retail and entertainment district.
OVG’s plans for the major development were unveiled in March, with the proposed district located south of the Las Vegas Strip and featuring a casino, hotel and amphitheatre, in addition to what has been described as an NBA-ready arena.
Earlier this month, the former president of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders franchise was named as OVG’s president of Las Vegas sports and entertainment venues, with Randy Morton unveiled as president of the company’s proposed Las Vegas hotel and casino.
The district is being designed by architecture firms Gensler and Populous, with the latter having been responsible for T-Mobile Arena, which opened in 2016 as the home of the Vegas Golden Knights NHL ice hockey team.
However, with OVG intending to break ground on the privately financed project next year and complete the development in 2026, Badain outlined to the Las Vegas Review-Journal why another major venue will not saturate the market.
“We’re looking to build the greatest arena on Earth, and Las Vegas needs it and Las Vegas deserves it,” Badain said.
“If you look at the trajectory of music venues and sports venues in Las Vegas of this size, it’s about every 10 years for a new one. You could go back over time and see that evolution of facilities.
“By the time we open our venue, it will be about 10 years since they opened T-Mobile (Arena) and it’s time to have a new venue in Las Vegas that’s worthy of Las Vegas. The market has shown its ability to absorb new venues and has enough capacity and enough programming to do it.”
OVG’s most recent opening was Moody Center, a new 15,000-seat arena for the University of Texas at Austin. Earlier this week, OVG officially commenced work on an extensive redevelopment of Baltimore Arena.
Main image: Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash
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