Mask mandatory policy shadow on ‘Death Star’

Article posted by Coliseum, August 16^th, 2021

Image: Vector Foiltec

Allegiant Stadium (US) lost two potential sellout events after the Governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak, issued a new indoor mask mandatory policy late last month.

The above step has been initiated taking into consideration the fact that of late, the United States has seen a huge upsurge in Delta variant cases and the casualty rate has also gone up.

The ‘Las Vegas Review-Journal’ stated that Chris Wright, Allegiant Stadium General Manager, told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority that the new mask mandate has impacted event booking.

Apply for membership

The 65,000-capacity Allegiant Stadium is a domed stadium located in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It serves as the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels college football team.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority is responsible for the ownership and oversight of the NFL stadium project created by Senate Bill 1 during the 30^th Special Session of the Nevada State Legislature. Stadium Authority roles and responsibilities include: Owning and Overseeing the Stadium and Land.

Wright observed at a virtual stadium authority meeting on August 10^th, “We started to get some significant traction on events in 2021 and 2022 and we were starting to run into some significant headwind related to the latest COVID-related mask requirements. We had a couple of shows in October that we were due to announce that we lost at the last second, prior to their announcement. Two sellout nights that we’ve looked for alternate dates, potentially rescheduled later in the year, but we’re having a struggle doing that.”

Added Wright, “There’s a lot of resistance to ticketed events, booking, announcing, and going on sale while we’re in the middle of the current restrictions, with respect to masks and attendees.”

He did not identify the two events that were canceled following the mask mandatory policy.

The ‘Las Vegas Review-Journal’ further stated that things are looking better for the stadium’s 2022 calendar, as Wright noted they had upwards of 150 events lined up at the stadium, including ticketed events, private events, live events, and corporate events.

Wright continued, “Hopefully, we’re not going to have a significant impact yet on the 2022 shows that we’ve been able to confirm. But there are more scheduled to go on sale in the short term. We’ve got a little bit of time there, so hopefully we can get past this latest bout with COVID and we can reach a point where we can go on sale with those shows.”

He noted that of those 150 events, ticketed events – major concerts or sporting events – account for over 40. Although optimistic, Wright said keeping all those events will hinge on how the pandemic’s impacts change in the near term.

Wright further added, “We feel like 2022 could have a very robust year as long as we’re able to move forward with what we have planned currently. We won’t really know that until we get into where we are with restrictions on attendees.”

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 250 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue