Because Las Vegas has hosted the Super Bowl, the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and many other major events in recent years, Clark County Commissioners have decided to create a more uniform structure for approving such events.

On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously approved amending a county ordinance to create a Sports and Special Events Division, the goal of which is to establish a preliminary review and approval process for planned high-impact special events.

Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick said the idea for the new department did not come from a single event; she began developing what the department would include in 2019, shortly before the effects of the pandemic were felt in early 2020.

“This doesn’t help one group or the other. This is like a grown-up process so that we as a county can plan for the impacts (of special events),” Kirkpatrick said Tuesday during the commission meeting.

Since 2019, Las Vegas has hosted several major events, including the 2022 NFL Draft, the Super Bowl last February and the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Several major events are planned for Las Vegas in the coming years, including more possible Grand Prix races and the 2028 Men’s NCAA Final Four.

How it works

The new department will not begin operations until January 1 to give the district sufficient time to set it up.

That means this year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, scheduled for Nov. 21-23, will not require approval from the newly appointed authority. Grand Prix officials have made several presentations to the commission this year, including one last month in which they also provided an update to the traffic plan for this year’s race.

Once the new Special Events Division is established, it will be required to pre-approve events before a special event permit can be issued. An event application must meet the guidelines set forth in the ordinance, including a conceptual transportation plan, a public safety plan, and anything else the head of the division may reasonably request.

The new department does not replace permits currently required by other departments for events, Clark County spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper said via email Tuesday.

After the start of the year, the Special Events Division may require applicants to appear before the Clark County Commission before their event is approved. Some cases that may require an event organizer to appear before the commission include when an event has 15,000 or more attendees, results in the closure of Las Vegas Boulevard, or requires significant county resources, including police, fire, and health departments.

Under the new rule, an event organizer or facility wishing to bring a special event to Clark County must submit a plan to the Special Events Division at least 60 days prior to the event. Once submitted, the county will issue a pre-approval or denial within 15 days. Incomplete or late-submitted plans may be subject to additional fees from the division.

Venues that are already approved to host large events, such as Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena, do not need to obtain approval from the Department of Special Events unless it is an exceptional event such as the Super Bowl.

Local business interests

Many business owners who had suffered economic losses due to the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix came out to express their displeasure at the creation of the new department.

These small business owners wanted the new rules to address the possibility of compensation for losses incurred by hosting large events and to improve communication with nearby businesses during the planning phase of events. The group of owners consisted primarily of establishments near Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, where a massive temporary bridge was built for last year’s race, and had been pushing for financial compensation for several months.

Gino Ferraro, owner of Ferraro’s Ristorante on Paradise Road, just north of Flamingo Road, used the meeting to highlight the impact hosting the Grand Prix will have on his business and others in the resort corridor and surrounding area.

“I’ve heard from thousands of people,” Ferraro said. “I’ve had guests show me taxi receipts, they paid $120 to $150 to get from Mandalay Bay to my restaurant on Paradise Road… Those people will never come back to us. They will never come back to Vegas.”

Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom noted that the special events division has been years in the making and was not created for Formula 1 or other special events. He said Tuesday’s measure creates the first regulations for future special event permit applications and that the county is open to modifying the ordinance if necessary.

“You have to start somewhere,” Segerblom said. “This is something that can be changed, so we are open to suggestions and changes in the future. But we have to start with something, and this is it. It didn’t just come out of nowhere, we’ve been working on it for five years.”

Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickaker on X.