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Friday, September 17, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
NBA, NHL officials hold cards for LV franchises
Oscar Goodman will take valley leaders to New York to learn whether two leagues would support a local team.
By Mike Zapler
Review-Journal
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is heading to New York later this month to find out whether the city with legalized sports betting could have its own professional sports teams.
Goodman, other local officials and San Diego Padres baseball team owner John Moores are scheduled to meet Sept. 28 with NBA Commissioner David Stern and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Goodman said he will look the sports commissioners "in the eye" and ask whether they would support having franchises in Las Vegas.
"When we have those meetings, we will have an idea whether this is a real project or whether this is smoke," Goodman said. He and Mirage Resorts Inc. Chairman Steve Wynn are leading an effort to build a new 18,000- to 20,000-seat arena on vacant land south of the Spaghetti Bowl and adjacent downtown.
Wynn, who is interested in buying a franchise, said in June that Stern and Bettman were receptive to the idea when he met with them earlier this year. But Goodman said he wants to hear from the executives himself.
"If Stern says thumbs down, that's it," Goodman said Thursday morning at his weekly news conference.
Joining Goodman and Moores on the trip will be Clark County Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury, City Councilman Gary Reese, City Manager Virginia Valentine and Clark County Manager Dale Askew.
The main topic of discussion, Goodman anticipated, will be whether Stern and Bettman believe professional teams have a place in a city of gambling. The mayor said race and sports book officials have told him they are concerned about losing NBA and NHL bets if Las Vegas has its own teams.
One possibility would be for casinos not to accept bets on games involving Las Vegas teams, Goodman said. But that policy -- which is in place for UNLV basketball and football games -- could hurt casinos if the home teams advanced to the playoffs or championship, the mayor said.
"My own feeling is that the books should be able to place bets on the (home) team," Goodman said. If not, unregulated and illegal bookmakers will do so, he said.
A committee studying the feasibility of the arena and possibly a performing arts center met Thursday afternoon. But issues surrounding the $150 million to $200 million project were put on hold until after the meeting with Stern and Bettman.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released a July poll by GLS Research of San Francisco indicating NBA and NHL teams could draw an additional 1 million tourists to Las Vegas each year.
Needing further study, said convention authority President Manny Cortez, is whether the arena would draw people and events from existing venues such as the Las Vegas Convention Center and arenas at MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay.
Others mentioned the possibility of building the arena on land other than the downtown site owned by Union Pacific Railroad and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Cortez said a company called Great American Capital is planning a smaller arena for concerts and other events on 200 acres near Gibson Road and Boulder Highway.
But Goodman and others prefer the downtown location, saying an arena there could help revitalize the entire area.
Also Thursday, Goodman said he and Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone are looking to merge Las Vegas Municipal Court with the county's Justice Court.
Former Mayor Jan Jones and former City Councilman Matthew Callister proposed a merger in 1996 as a way to lower costs and cut city property taxes. But their effort fell short after negotiations with county officials broke down.
Goodman mentioned the idea in response to a question on whether he would like to be mayor of a combined city and county. Currently, the city and county are governed separately.
Consolidation is "what the people want," Goodman said. But merging the governments would take a voter referendum, and Goodman said he does not plan to make full-scale consolidation a priority.
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