Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to host 2020 Skate America | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to host 2020 Skate America

lusterfan

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
I attended 4CC (2018-2019 Season) and Skate America (2019-2020 Season) which were fortunately (for me) both in the West Coast region. From what I recall, the Anaheim 4CC rink was more modern and better equipped (such as with a center jumbotron). With the Orleans Skate America arena, I've gotta say the hotel and rink itself are more old-fashioned. Not necessarily dirty, but the style was just older and less modern. Instead of a center jumbotron, there was a big screen on of the walls, though it was not HD quality and a bit fuzzy. Regardless though, the atmosphere was excellent in Vegas.

I think Skate America could really benefit from being in Vegas because the location is a pinnacle for entertainment. Maybe I'm biased, but I think not as many people (aside from diehard fans) would travel all the way to a city for figure skating alone. With Vegas, borderline fans might make a trip out of Vegas too - there are shows, buffets, etc to entertain yourself during non-skating hours. Other cities might have a few attractions, but not as densely packed or compelling to the general masses as Vegas. Also, non-skating fans do visit Vegas for shows and some might attend a figure skating event for the first time as it might be a "show" for them. This helps with bringing figure skating to a bigger audience. Clearly there was some strategy to naming Vegas 2 years in a row (and from what I saw in person, the events were generally well attended).

Random side note but one of my favorite skaters is Kaori. At both the events I attended, Kaori was present but made some big mistakes ... I hope I'm not the one cursing her performances with my attendance!
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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We especially liked the openness of the lobby at Little Caesars, the setup for food was great, the street car that ran up and down in front of the arena was helpful (even though it was SO cold!). Seemed to be well organized. I would go there again in a heartbeat.

I was super impressed with the staff. The disabled seating was plush and there were places to plug in our phones even. We also had one entire staff member for each row. I had left my sweater in the Motor City Club and didn’t want to miss the men’s long so Juan went all the way to the Motor City Club, took a picture of it on his phone, showed it to me to verify it was mine, and went back and got it. I filled out a comment card for him. Also a lady to help us in the restroom, unobtrusively directing me to the handicapped stall. It was cold, but I had a personal driver who picked me up at the hotel every day, dropped me off at LCA, came and got me at night and took me back to the hotel so the cold didn’t bother me.
 

Arriba627

TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION 🔥
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I was super impressed with the staff. The disabled seating was plush and there were places to plug in our phones even. We also had one entire staff member for each row. I had left my sweater in the Motor City Club and didn’t want to miss the men’s long so Juan went all the way to the Motor City Club, took a picture of it on his phone, showed it to me to verify it was mine, and went back and got it. I filled out a comment card for him. Also a lady to help us in the restroom, unobtrusively directing me to the handicapped stall. It was cold, but I had a personal driver who picked me up at the hotel every day, dropped me off at LCA, came and got me at night and took me back to the hotel so the cold didn’t bother me.

Wow, that's pretty amazing -- definitely VIP treatment. I would be hard pressed to think of one bad thing to say about the whole experience. Maybe just that it definitely was cold, even though we're rather used to it...BTW, I thought of you this evening when I was at Wal Mart and saw all the Valentine's Day plushies!
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
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Joined
Jun 27, 2003
The staff were so friendly at the arena! I loved them! The security staff, too, were wonderful. Kind, chatty. My best friend actually ended up becoming friends with one of them. :laugh:

The only complaint I remember anyone having was the food in the arena being pretty blah. I did not eat snacks other than popcorn (which was disappointing, I admit) and one night I had dippin' dots (SO GOOD). With the food in the Casino right there, I never felt the need to eat in the actual arena.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
i think it would be nice if fans could vote on venues for events such as US nationals :think: they could choose maybe 3-5 potential cities and have voters' answers weigh in as part of the final decision.
 

Carolla5501

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
??? The rink is a regulation size NHL rink - they play regulation hockey games there. Most Skate Americas take place on NHL size rinks because we have way more NHL size rinks than Olympic size rinks.

I think the rink looks small because one end is not open.
 

irriya

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
??? The rink is a regulation size NHL rink - they play regulation hockey games there. Most Skate Americas take place on NHL size rinks because we have way more NHL size rinks than Olympic size rinks.

I think there is a range of the rink size that's acceptable. But this rink is definite the smaller one. Also there is one less short end. It's just wield.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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i think it would be nice if fans could vote on venues for events such as US nationals :think: they could choose maybe 3-5 potential cities and have voters' answers weigh in as part of the final decision.

I don’t think there are 3-5 places a year that are wanting to host Nationals. I don’t think it’s been at Greensboro 3x in the past 10 years because USFS just loves Greensboro, it’s because Greensboro is willing to host it. It’s at least twice as big as SA (used to be even bigger when Novice and lower was included), and they were at a separate rink. For Juniors they basically are making nothing, the arena is almost totally empty. Pairs and ice dance the arena may be 1/4 full, men’s 1/2 full (which is a sin with the men we have), ladies as always in the US is the big draw, it appears sold out, might be a few empty seats but not many. Also there is usually at least one former elite skater behind the effort - I know Ryan Bradley worked really hard to bring Nationals to KC. Skate America, even though an International event, I would think is easier to host due to being much smaller in terms of participants/number of days of the event. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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I think Skate America could really benefit from being in Vegas because the location is a pinnacle for entertainment. Maybe I'm biased, but I think not as many people (aside from diehard fans) would travel all the way to a city for figure skating alone. With Vegas, borderline fans might make a trip out of Vegas too - there are shows, buffets, etc to entertain yourself during non-skating hours. Other cities might have a few attractions, but not as densely packed or compelling to the general masses as Vegas. Also, non-skating fans do visit Vegas for shows and some might attend a figure skating event for the first time as it might be a "show" for them. This helps with bringing figure skating to a bigger audience. Clearly there was some strategy to naming Vegas 2 years in a row (and from what I saw in person, the events were generally well attended).
Me: (Sorry, I couldn't make the quote of you do what it's supposed to do! Grrrr)

You're so right about this ^^^, and nevertheless it makes me grind my teeth! Detroit Institute of Art is close enough to go to and reasonable, and other great places so see that I can't think of right now because DIA is my favorite. I like to take my time there, just go for a couple of hours on any day. But compelling to the general masses ... yeah, Vegas. If I ever go to SA there, it's Cirque de Soleil for me, especially if it's their Beatles show.

Random side note but one of my favorite skaters is Kaori. At both the events I attended, Kaori was present but made some big mistakes ... I hope I'm not the one cursing her performances with my attendance!

Nah ... I'm sure you're not. I identify; it's such a high to see my favorites rock their skate; but it's deflating and sad if they don't.

I don’t think there are 3-5 places a year that are wanting to host Nationals. I don’t think it’s been at Greensboro 3x in the past 10 years because USFS just loves Greensboro, it’s because Greensboro is willing to host it.

You're probably right. But some reasons I love Greensboro are (1) the warmer weather, and (2) the southern hospitality, in the arena, and also in the areas around. Everyone was super friendly, helpful, and fun. It's also nice for us eastern-half-of-the-US people to go to a place with warmer weather than Boston, Detroit, KC, St. Paul.

Having said that, my experience of Detroit LCA was absolutely wonderful, just like yours and Arriba's. The seating and the rink are designed perfectly. I was surprised to be so impressed with it, because I hated to see the Joe Louis Arena not being used, when there was such history with the place. Still do hate that. But I'm completely sold on LCA and I hope another major competition will come to Detroit soon.
 

Arriba627

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^^^skylark, my skating friend and I made time to go to the Motown Museum and had a great time. We would have done more but of course were busy with the skating.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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I think Skate America could really benefit from being in Vegas because the location is a pinnacle for entertainment. Maybe I'm biased, but I think not as many people (aside from diehard fans) would travel all the way to a city for figure skating alone. With Vegas, borderline fans might make a trip out of Vegas too - there are shows, buffets, etc to entertain yourself during non-skating hours. Other cities might have a few attractions, but not as densely packed or compelling to the general masses as Vegas. Also, non-skating fans do visit Vegas for shows and some might attend a figure skating event for the first time as it might be a "show" for them. This helps with bringing figure skating to a bigger audience. Clearly there was some strategy to naming Vegas 2 years in a row (and from what I saw in person, the events were generally well attended).
Me: (Sorry, I couldn't make the quote of you do what it's supposed to do! Grrrr)

You're so right about this ^^^, and nevertheless it makes me grind my teeth! Detroit Institute of Art is close enough to go to and reasonable, and other great places so see that I can't think of right now because DIA is my favorite. I like to take my time there, just go for a couple of hours on any day. But compelling to the general masses ... yeah, Vegas. If I ever go to SA there, it's Cirque de Soleil for me, especially if it's their Beatles show.



Nah ... I'm sure you're not. I identify; it's such a high to see my favorites rock their skate; but it's deflating and sad if they don't.



You're probably right. But some reasons I love Greensboro are (1) the warmer weather, and (2) the southern hospitality, in the arena, and also in the areas around. Everyone was super friendly, helpful, and fun. It's also nice for us eastern-half-of-the-US people to go to a place with warmer weather than Boston, Detroit, KC, St. Paul.

Having said that, my experience of Detroit LCA was absolutely wonderful, just like yours and Arriba's. The seating and the rink are designed perfectly. I was surprised to be so impressed with it, because I hated to see the Joe Louis Arena not being used, when there was such history with the place. Still do hate that. But I'm completely sold on LCA and I hope another major competition will come to Detroit soon.

They’re currently tearing down the Joe Louis Arena if it isn’t already torn down. I too hope another competition comes soon.

You should like Nashville as well I would think.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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^^^skylark, my skating friend and I made time to go to the Motown Museum and had a great time. We would have done more but of course were busy with the skating.

Yes, I'm lucky if I can get one additional thing in when skating is what I'm there for. That's so cool that you went to the Motown, and had a friend to enjoy it with. Do they have that video running all the time that shows the African-American business community in Detroit in the 1940s and 50s? When the whole Motown exhibit was featured in the Henry Ford museum for a few years, I was fascinated by it.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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They’re currently tearing down the Joe Louis Arena if it isn’t already torn down. I too hope another competition comes soon.

You should like Nashville as well I would think.

Oh, I'd love to go to Nashville!

Honestly, I'm like a little kid with my eyes closed and hands over my ears, going la-la-la, about them tearing down the Joe Louis. When SA was there in 2013, I took a friend who knew nothing about figure skating and really enjoyed it. However, I think the real reason she wanted to go was to be so near the ice that Gordy Howell (or some other hockey star?) skated on. I think the presence of any place with history like that is so beneficial to community spirit. I'm sure there are countless people who felt/feel the same as my friend. I was somewhat mollified to see that all the statues and exhibits of hockey that had been in the hallways at JL are in a special room in LCA.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Joined
Feb 27, 2012
First, a huge disclaimer that I fully realize that all bets are off (no pun intended) as to the feasibility of any competition in 2020.

And I am not taking any position of any kind to whether or not Skate America can or should go forward in any form.

Strictly FWIW, a bare-bones version of https://www.2020skateamerica.com/ says at present:

"2020 SKATE AMERICA
OCTOBER 23-25, 2020
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA"

"Tickets will go on sale in summer 2020"

"Tickets and hotel information will be available in the summer of 2020!"

"Watch for the announcement of athletes coming in July 2020"​

The URL was dead when I checked within the last month or so. I do not remember whether it ever was working before the pandemic.
So the site either is new or recently revived.
 

sillylionlove29

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
I had posted about this is another thread a while ago, but the Orleans doesn’t even have it listed on their even calendar. ( I believe that’s where it originally said it would be). It wasn’t even listed back right when everything shut down. I hear Vegas might open soon but who knows? Maybe it will be at a other casino.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
All of my disclaimers from yesterday continue to be in effect (all bets are off, etc., etc.), but (again) strictly FWIW, the new (or recently revived) event site does specify the venue as the Orleans:

"The competition will mark the second straight year that Skate America will be held in Las Vegas. Orleans Arena, which is adjacent to the Orleans Hotel and Casino, hosts prominent sporting events concerts and other types of performances. Tickets will go on sale in the summer of 2020."​

In hindsight, I should have included that passage in my post from yesterday.

The event site also has a large photo of the Orleans Arena (which indeed was named in the original USFS announcement for 2020).
 
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