Kenneth Schneider, vice president and director of product development for Burns & Wilcox based in Farmington Hills, Mich., said the attack makes underwriters realize that such acts are probably "more dangerous than they perceive" and that it will bring more focus on safety issues. He said entertainment venues may be forced to erect safety barriers or something similar to protect patrons.

"It's going to make people look twice at the safety issue, but it will transcend a lot of entertainment venues, not only Las Vegas but other events such as alligator wrestlers and similar forms of live animal entertainment," he observed. "People have to come to grips with the fact that wild animals are just that, wild."

He said underwriters are going to begin taking a more serious look at the potential for incidents involving exotic animals.

The result may be that in some venues, capacity for those acts could dry up, but its not going to happen overnight, he emphasized.

New Century Global's Lee Orabona, president, and Carolyn Norton, senior vice president, for the New York City-based excess and surplus lines brokerage firm, noted that so far there has not been any confirmation of coverage for the act.

Ms. Norton said there has been no confirmation of claims activity to date.

Due to the amount of investment the Mirage laid out for the show, Mr. Orabona said he was sure they had some type of insurance program, possibly a captive plan.

After Sept. 11, the coverage for smaller entertainment venues became very difficult to find, said Mr. Orabona, and an incident like this makes it almost impossible to find anything in the traditional market.

"The Mirage has something out there, but not exactly in the traditional way we are use to seeing," he said.

David Bruce, divisional head in charge of the high net worth division for Hiscox, based in London, said typically high profile acts obtain coverage based on the contract. The policyholder can take all different forms, from the entertainer to the contract holder or an entertainer's partner.

He said policyholders could also be a spouse, advertiser, manager or anyone else with an interest in the act. It could protect the worth of the person or the investment of the establishment, the individual's life or health, or continuation of act. But it is all tied to the contract the entertainer has signed.

On this type of underwriting, Mr. Bruce said the incident in Las Vegas may cause underwriters to re-examine the amount of premium they charge, but it would not lead to a capacity problem.

"What this tells you is accidents can always happen, whether it is in entertainment or in sports," observed Mr. Bruce. "This demonstrates the need for insurance and the need to get coverage for the downside."