Thursday, April 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GOING, GOING, GONE?

Major league source says Expos franchise will not relocate to Las Vegas

Parking lots behind the Bally's and Paris hotels have been proposed as the site for a stadium, which would house a major league baseball team. Photo by K.M. Cannon. Click image for enlargment.

A yearlong campaign to persuade Major League Baseball officials to relocate the Montreal Expos to Las Vegas has seemingly gained momentum in recent weeks. But the bid is only a long shot that will be shot down this summer, a well-informed major league source said.

"The bottom line is, there's little to no chance that Las Vegas would get the team. It's just not going to happen," the source said this week, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig last week called Las Vegas a "serious candidate" to lure the Expos, but the source said Selig is aware of studies showing Las Vegas lacks the population base and diverse business climate to support the franchise.

"It's simple economics. It just doesn't work," the source said. "I'm not saying it wouldn't work five years from now or 10 years from now. It's just not ready yet.

"There are a lot of offers on the table. There are other offers that are better than Las Vegas."

Selig formed a nine-member relocation committee to find a home for the Expos before the 2005 season, and has promised the committee will be ready to recommend a new owner and city by July.

The favorite in the Expos derby appears to be Washington, D.C., which, including Northern Virginia, has a population of about 5 million. The other contenders are Norfolk, Va., Portland, Ore., San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Monterrey, Mexico. The Las Vegas effort is being led by Chicago businessman Lou Weisbach and his Teamscape group of investors, who hope to buy the team and put it in a $400 million retractable-roof stadium near the Strip.

Las Vegas' reputation as an aggressive city where money can be raised and deals can be made quickly appeals to MLB, because, as another baseball insider said, "They're using Las Vegas to get a better deal somewhere else."

Mayor Oscar Goodman denies that is the case. In recent years, Goodman has loudly lobbied for a major league franchise for Las Vegas and said he supports Weisbach's group.

"I just spoke to somebody who is close to the relocation committee, and my information is we're right in the thick of things," Goodman said this week.

Several local companies are involved in the effort, including the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the public relations group Brown & Partners and Caesars Entertainment.

Real estate for the proposed stadium site, now parking lots behind the Bally's and Paris hotels near the new monorail, would be provided by Caesars Entertainment. Caesars spokesman Robert Stewart said the casino company would not have ownership in the team.

The stadium, expected to be privately financed, would have flexible seating to accommodate events other than baseball. It probably could be built before the 2007 season, but where the Expos would play in the meantime is in doubt.

The biggest obstacle in Las Vegas' path is its 2002 census estimate of about 1.52 million residents in Las Vegas Valley, which would make it baseball's second-smallest market, ahead of only Milwaukee (1.51 million). The Brewers ranked 25th of the 30 major league teams in attendance in 2003, averaging 20,992 per game.

The other side of that issue is the tourist element -- the LVCVA estimates a record 36 million people will visit the city this year.

"Certainly, the question is, how many people would be drawn to Las Vegas specifically because there is a team here?" LVCVA spokesman Rob Powers said. "If a team were to come here, it would be our role to maximize the marketing opportunities."

Weisbach hired Michael Shapiro of the San Francisco-area Centerfield Management Group to work as a consultant and help facilitate a deal with MLB.

Shapiro said he preferred not to discuss any plans in detail because negotiating through the media could hurt the cause.

"We're at a very sensitive phase right now and we're trying not to do too much publicly," Shapiro said.

Even Goodman has tried to keep a vow of silence. "I'm hesitant to comment because it's like walking on eggshells."

The Expos, in financial disarray because of years of poor attendance in Montreal, were bought by baseball's other 29 owners in 2002. The value of the franchise is approximately $150 million.

Several members of the relocation committee, chaired by Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, have studied the Bally's/Paris site. In a conference call last week, Selig said the location's proximity to casinos is not necessarily a negative.

MLB spokesman Richard Levin said baseball has no specific policy regarding sports books and whether wagering on the Expos would be permissible.

"The relocation committee is in the process of looking at a number of potential sites for the Expos, Las Vegas being one of them," said Levin, adding that the sports book topic could be addressed in the future if needed.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, $378.5 million was wagered on baseball in 2003, which was 20.3 percent of the state's sports book handle.

Robert Walker, sports book director for MGM Mirage properties, said he can't envision a scenario where casinos would agree to take baseball games off the betting board.

"I certainly wouldn't want to stop booking baseball to get a major league team. That's a precedent I don't want to see set. You never go back when you start on that path," said Walker, who fears the NCAA or the NBA might make a similar demand.

"I would be opposed to giving up any sports wagering. If you come to Vegas, that's just part of the deal. There is more money bet illegally across the country -- 100 times more -- than there is in Nevada."

Mostly because of Las Vegas' well-documented fan apathy toward attending sporting events at all levels, Walker said he would be "stunned" if MLB chose to come here.

If the Expos did land in Las Vegas, the next team looking for a new home would be the Triple-A 51s, the top farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Las Vegas 51s president Don Logan said his franchise, if forced to move, would be due about $15 million in territorial rights fees. But he said he gets the sense -- through talks with several baseball sources -- that the Expos-to-Vegas story is a piece of fiction.

"I hope it happens. Major league sports is eventually going to come to Vegas," Logan said. "But my gut feeling is the town is not big enough yet."