ACM Awards Leaving Las Vegas

With the 49th annual ACM Awards now a memory, plans are already in the works for the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Country Music's awards ceremony. As part of the big celebration in 2015, the show will move from Las Vegas, where it has been held since 2003, and instead be held in Arlington, Texas next year.

The 2015 ACM Awards will be held at the AT&T stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, as well as the venue for George Strait's final, sold-out show on his The Cowboy Rides Away Tour. ACM President Bob Romeo says moving to the 65,000-seat venue will allow more fans to join the party.

“People say, ‘That’s a lotta seats,’” he tells the Las Vegas Sun. “But we could have sold 30,000 easily in Las Vegas, so you’re going in half sold-out, and it’s not a big stretch to reach that figure in Dallas. It’s not as if we don’t want Vegas to be involved. There is going to be some integration of Vegas for 2015.”

Still, Romeo insists the move is a one-time event for the show's golden celebration.

“We couldn’t be happier with Las Vegas,” he insists. “We love Vegas. We just want to do an event for our 50th anniversary that will generate a lot of media interest.”

A new arena is being built in Sin City, on Las Vegas Boulevard, that Romeo hopes will be completed by 2016, allowing more fans to attend the show, as well as other events during ACM Awards week in Las Vegas.