Devine Racing Debts Could Signal End For Its Las Vegas Marathon
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Devine Racing Debt Could Put
Halt To Las Vegas Marathon |
Devine Racing (DR), which owns the Las Vegas Marathon, owes "hundreds of thousands of dollars to local businesses and organizations, which could lead to trouble getting the 2008 event to the starting line," according to Patrick Everson of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. DR is "in arrears to at least a dozen vendors for the 2007 race, and the company still has not made good on commitments to several vendors from 2006." If DR cannot meet the commitments, it "could affect the company's ability to get permits" for this year's race, scheduled for December 7. DR owes "more than $100,000 in payments," according to figures provided by several vendors to the Review-Journal, and that figure "escalates rapidly with companies that were unwilling to go on the record, and several more vendors who could not be reached for comment." DR CEO Chris Devine Saturday in a statement "confirmed his company's financial problems" and said that the company "suffered a significant loss on the 2007 race." Devine added that the company is "'currently executing the sale of two significant assets, which are expected to close by mid-June' and that the sales will be used to address the company's issues with the Las Vegas Marathon." DR also owns the L.A. and Salt Lake City marathons, the Chicago Half Marathon, and has ownership in "several radio companies." Desert Entertainment, which provides staging for entertainment on the race course and at both the start and finish lines, is "apparently on a short list of vendors who have been paid in full," but Desert President Bill Fleming said that he is "unlikely to offer his services after the experience of the past two years." Fleming: "I'm not interested in dealing with them anymore. I'd rather not have the work and rather not have the headache" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/14).
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