$40 million: Estimated tax rebates for the entire project. (Not a bad trade for pumping $2 billion-plus into Downtown.) +3
110,000: Combined number of attendees at the last two WMC conventions. (A larger crowd—by 20,000—than the biannual MAGIC convention.) +3
$186.4 million: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's estimated nongaming impact for WMC in 2005. (Comdex-goers dropped $170 million in 2002.) +3
Two: Only Golden Nugget and Four Queens made the list of 20 properties recommended for the summer show, July 30-August 30. (What happens Downtown is paying dividends on the Strip.) -5
Yo, Diana Paul (city of Las Vegas spokeswoman), what can you tell me about WMC's economic impact on Downtown? "We don't have the information you are requesting, but I can tell you about the owner participation agreement the city has with WMC, [which] allows for tax rebates for all future phases of the project. To date, the city has only approved rebates for the first phase of the project: $10,422,167 for 20 years (at present value), or approximately $1,064,683 per year." Lack of data: -2
Final Score: +2. (WMC is doing more good than harm, but it's neither transformed Downtown—crime's still a big issue—nor diversified our tourism-driven economy.)