Sunday, October 24, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Optimistic Goodman still pining for NBA franchise

By STEVE CARP
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Joe Maloof Sacramento Kings co-owner says lack of NBA-quality venue is stumbling block Oscar Goodman Las Vegas mayor determined to persuade NBA to alter stance on gaming

Sitting in his spacious, 10th-floor office at City Hall, Oscar Goodman leans back in his chair and offers a proposition.

"I'll make you a bet we'll have an NBA team here before my term is up 2 1/2 years from now," said the self-proclaimed "Happiest Mayor in the World."

Was this just the eternal optimist in Goodman blowing smoke? Or does he possess inside information?

Optimist or pragmatist, Goodman remains firm in his belief that the greater Las Vegas area -- home to 1.6 million citizens -- needs major league sports to continue its growth.

To Goodman, being the "Entertainment Capital of the World" or "Gaming Capital of the Universe" doesn't quite cut it. He believed that when he was elected in 1999, and he believes it today.

"I think to be a major league city, you need a major league team," he said.

Is the NBA prepared to give Las Vegas its first major pro sports team? Not yet, according to people in the know, but the city might be inching ever closer.

Goodman believes Major League Baseball's inclusion of Las Vegas in its Montreal Expos relocation talks was indicative of the strides the city has made since the mayor met with NBA commissioner David Stern and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Sept. 28, 1999, in an attempt to obtain a franchise.

While Las Vegas has continued to grow in population and stature, one stumbling block hasn't gone away -- the existence of legalized sports betting.

Stern has reiterated that there can be no serious consideration of placing an NBA franchise in Las Vegas until sports books agree to take NBA games off the boards.

Not even Goodman denies that betting is an obstacle.

"It's going to be very tough," he said. "But if the (NBA team) owners voiced a strong enough position to change (Stern's) stance, I'd think the commissioner would have to listen."

Sacramento Kings co-owner Joe Maloof, whose family owns the Palms hotel-casino, said there are other obstacles greater than the gaming issue.

"Right now, I don't think Las Vegas is ready," Maloof said. "The biggest problem is there's no venue.

"You need a state-of-the-art building before you can get a team. There has to be a commitment from the city and the public. No one's going to come in here with private money and build an arena."

Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events, agrees. He said the only way NBA basketball would work in Las Vegas is if there was a 20,000-seat "neutral" arena -- that is, not affiliated with or attached to a gaming property. The arena, preferably downtown, would have the NBA team as its anchor tenant, but could also host high-profile events such as National Finals Rodeo.

Christenson said such a facility must include modern amenities such as luxury boxes, club seats, restaurants and an adjoining practice facility.

"You could do it for between $250 million and $300 million," Christenson said. "Between bonds, the naming rights, some sort of sin tax and having the owners of the team kick in a small percentage, you could pay for the building without public money.

"A neutral arena would have a great positive impact on the community, and having an NBA team would not only give the city a higher profile for something other than gambling, it would be something that can galvanize the community, bring it together."

While Goodman favors a downtown arena, he said he can't commit to one without a guarantee that Las Vegas would get an NBA team.

Even without an arena project on the drawing board, it would behoove the NBA to explore the idea of allowing a team in Las Vegas, according to Jerry Colangelo, chairman and CEO of the Phoenix Suns and chairman of the NBA Board of Governors.

Colangelo was the driving force behind Phoenix's entry to the NBA in 1968. He sees similarities in Las Vegas' situation.

"As it relates to growth, market and potential, Las Vegas rates very high," Colangelo said. "The gambling is still an issue. But as time goes on, it's healthy to have continued dialogue. You keep talking, things change and someday you have a team."

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he would have no problem with the NBA coming to Las Vegas. From his perspective, the sooner, the better.

"The owners I talk to, they love the idea of a team in Vegas," he said.

Tonight, approximately 14,000 fans will watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Phoenix Suns in an annual exhibition game at the Thomas & Mack Center. That may or may not impress anyone in the NBA's Fifth Avenue offices in New York, but the league is definitely paying attention.

"The league office keeps an eye on what's going on in Las Vegas," NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. "We're aware of the growth taking place and we're monitoring it."

The 30-team NBA has no plans to expand. There isn't even an expansion committee, so any talk of Las Vegas getting a team would almost certainly center on relocation.

Granik said one factor Las Vegas has in its favor is a lack of competition for pro sports dollars. Minor league baseball and hockey and the Arena Football League are the only pro sports in town.

"We've had a lot of success with markets that have just one (major league) team," Granik said. "San Antonio. Sacramento. Salt Lake City. Portland. Now Memphis. You don't have the competition to deal with, which we think is a good thing."

According to the most recent survey, Las Vegas ranks 51st among pro sports media markets.

Another factor in the equation: Would locals pay an average of $45 a ticket to watch NBA basketball?

"Would people leave the casinos to go to games? I don't know," Maloof said. "Some probably would. How many, I'm not sure. But the TV market needs to continue to grow."

Maloof acknowledges that the absence of other major league sports in Las Vegas would benefit an NBA franchise, but he said UNLV also would have to accept a team.

"I think you would need their blessing," he said. "They're the biggest show in town right now."

First-year UNLV men's basketball coach Lon Kruger has a unique perspective, having coached the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, and also at Illinois, Florida and Kansas State. He doesn't see a problem with the NBA in Las Vegas.

"The main positive is you'd have another group of people involved with basketball and that would generate more interest in the game, which I think is a good thing," he said.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said an NBA team wouldn't have much impact on the Rebels.

"Certain people have an appetite for college basketball," he said. "My feeling is if we put a competitive team on the court that does the things we need to do to be successful, we'll fill our building."

The city has proven it will support the NBA to a degree.

In the mid-1980s, the Utah Jazz played a handful of "home" games at the Thomas & Mack. In 1992, the Lakers moved a playoff game to Las Vegas in the aftermath of the Rodney King riots and drew nearly 15,000, and last year's preseason game between the Lakers and Kings sold out.

Still, the gambling roadblock exists. As long as Stern is commissioner, it's going to be difficult to get a team.

Nevada Gaming Control Board figures for fiscal year 2003-04 indicate that $1.94 billion was bet on sports in the state. Of that, $534.8 million -- roughly 28 percent of the total handle -- was wagered on basketball.

While the state doesn't differentiate between college and pro basketball, Ken White of Las Vegas Sports Consultants estimates that 65 percent of the basketball handle -- about $325 million -- was bet on NBA games.

Goodman, who was willing to negotiate with sports books to reach a compromise that would appease Stern, said he won't ask the books to take NBA games off the boards.

"I don't think that would be right," he said. "It would lend to the thought that there's some sort of impropriety, when the truth is there's nothing wrong with the books."

Jay Kornegay, executive director of race and sports at the Las Vegas Hilton, said he would welcome a visit from Stern, Granik and anyone else from the NBA, with an eye toward enlightening them about sports betting.

"They just don't understand the industry," Kornegay said. "We're not a smoke-filled room wondering how much the Clippers are going to lose by. If (Stern) came out here, he would see first hand how well it's regulated."

The Maloofs do not post NBA games at the Palms sports book, but Joe Maloof said that doesn't noticeably impact the casino's bottom line. In an age in which betting is as close as clicking a computer mouse, Maloof said it shouldn't be an issue.

"It's a form of entertainment," he said. "It's not taboo anymore. The more that negative stigma disappears, the more it won't be an issue."

Cuban said betting on NBA games in a tightly regulated environment is not an issue with many owners.

"I can't speak for the league, but I think the other owners would accept it," Cuban said. "This isn't 1956. We even have a WNBA team in a casino."

But, as Granik points out, there is no sports book at Mohegan Sun, the casino which hosts the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.

"Our view has always been we don't want people betting on our games," Granik said. "It's not something we sanction and that remains our posture."

That doesn't mean Goodman is going to easily relent.

"When (baseball commissioner) Bud Selig says Las Vegas is a great town and gambling's not an issue, it destroys a huge myth," Goodman said. "I like (Stern) very much. He's a man of great integrity. But we happen to differ on this one issue, and I'm going to keep trying to get him to change his mind."

TOP 50 MEDIA MARKETS

Despite the continued growth of Las Vegas, the city has not cracked the top 50 Designated Marketing Areas (DMAs), according to the most recent survey. Here is the complete list, with non-NBA cities indicated in bold:

1. New York

2. Los Angeles

3. Chicago

4. Philadelphia

5. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose

6. Boston

7. Dallas-Fort Worth

8. Washington D.C.

9. Atlanta

10. Detroit

11. Houston

12. Seattle

13. Tampa-St. Petersburg

14. Minneapolis-St. Paul

15. Phoenix

16. Cleveland

17. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale

18. Denver

19. Sacramento

20. Orlando

21. St. Louis

22. Pittsburgh

23. Baltimore

24. Portland, Ore.

25. Indianapolis

26. San Diego

27. Hartford, Conn.

28. Charlotte, N.C.

29. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

30. Nashville, Tenn.

31. Kansas City

32. Cincinnati

33. Milwaukee

34. Columbus, Ohio

35. Greenville/Spartanburg/

Asheville, N.C.-S.C.

36. Salt Lake City

37. San Antonio

38. Grand Rapids, Mich.

39. West Palm Beach, Fla.

40. Birmingham, Ala.

41. Memphis

42. New Orleans

43. Norfolk, Va.

44. Buffalo, N.Y.

45. Oklahoma City

46. Greensboro, N.C.

47. Harrisburg, Pa.

48. Providence, R.I.

49. Albuquerque, N.M.

50. Louisville, Ky.

51. LAS VEGAS

SOURCE: DIGITAL SYNDICATE