The candles might have been blown out on the hundredth birthday cake, but the city of Las Vegas' Centennial Committee doesn't want the party to end.

Besides continuing to oversee the cash cow centennial license plates, the committee also could become a marketing arm for the city, striking deals with companies seeking to be the official soft drink or official vehicle of Las Vegas.

"We're a globally known name brand," said Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell. "I think there could be a huge market for this."

The funds raised from such marketing deals could be used by the committee for historic preservation projects and commemorative events, according to the proposal.

Cities such as New York, San Diego and Chicago all have used the strategy to generate revenue. The best known perhaps is Snapple's deal declaring it the official beverage of New York City, reportedly worth $166 million over five years.

At Thursday's Centennial Committee meeting, Esther Carter, the city staffer presenting the proposal to the board, said, "We can have things like the official soft drink, sell T-shirts."

"Or gin," interrupted Mayor Oscar Goodman, the committee's chairman and himself a pitchman for Bombay Sapphire gin. "We'll make a lot of money, I tell you."

Other cities, however, have placed restrictions on what products they become officially affiliated with, Fretwell said. Some have banned alcohol sponsorships, she said.

"I was kidding about alcohol," Goodman said. "Well, not really."

Las Vegas, with an international profile far greater than its population and an image burnished by years of tourism industry marketing campaigns, could prove appealing to companies and profitable for the city committee.

The Centennial Committee already has raised nearly $3 million, as of the end of March, from the sale of centennial license plates, which first became available in July 2002. That money has been allocated or spent on historic preservation projects like rehabbing the historic post office and courthouse downtown, and putting on events like the Helldorado Days parade.

Any extra money from marketing deals would also be used for events or historic preservation projects.

It's still early, staff warned, and the plan has not completely taken shape. The committee is likely to ask marketing companies to come up with proposals for how, exactly, to "sell" the city's brand.

One concern raised by board member Alan Feldman, a senior vice president for MGM/Mirage, was replicating the marketing efforts of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority and Las Vegas Events.

Feldman suggested that events the group sponsors in the future should be for residents. "There are not a lot of events we, as locals, can get our arms around and say, 'This is ours.'"

Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, is also a member of the committee.

Fretwell said city officials would come back with a more focused vision for the future of the Centennial Committee, which probably will change its name.

"I think we'll be looking at a more community-focused effort," she said.