When it comes to a professional sports franchise ever making Las Vegas home, think of it this way: You are at a street fair and a car is being given away. You fill out one of those entry forms -- the ones that ask for more personal information than any National Security Agency database owns -- before depositing it in the large barrel with thousands of others. You allow yourself a minute or two to daydream about sitting behind the wheel but soon accept the reality that all you have really done is open yourself up to more calls from telemarketing wackos.

It's a sometimes frustrating but fairly sensible approach for those who desire the full-time presence of an NBA (possible) or NHL (maybe) or MLB (unlikely) or NFL (never) team.

As more and more world-caliber competitions choose to stage events here, the city's stature is raised in the eyes of the sporting world while also shining attention directly on an arena project that is approaching final presentation stages. Those meetings later this month should either lead to the answer of critical questions (where to build it, when to start and how much of the estimated $404 million will actually cost taxpayers) or bury the entire project under a mountain of red tape and political rhetoric.

The most important thing to remember: One hand shouldn't be needed to shake the other. Building an arena as a means to potentially lure a pro franchise is conceptually fine on its face but has no place as the deciding factor.

Society's infatuation with sports might defy logic, but it's still a cyclical business in terms of interest, or haven't you noticed how few people watched the World Series and how poor the (inflated announced) NHL attendance is this season?

In truth, and here's a part the passionate sports fan will most always refuse to acknowledge, an arena with a pro team could ultimately prove a worse economic deal in the long run than one without -- especially in a town that already owns a considerable competitive edge when bidding for marquee events.

In the last several weeks, Las Vegas has been awarded the 2007 world team trials and 2008 Olympic trials in wrestling and the 2007 FIBA Americas basketball championships, only re-emphasizing the fact there are few, if any, better cities that offer the amenities (airport access, hotel rooms, dining, entertainment) sought most by those searching for the best deals in which to showcase their product.

"From just the perspective of building a new arena for the economic impact of growing all the major events we already have, it would greatly benefit the city," said Pat Christensen, chairman of the arena task force and president of Las Vegas Events. "We don't have a peer for big-time special events, and our studies show the economic impact of having them in a state-of-the-art arena (an estimated $155.7 million annually) with the ability to sell suites and club seats and VIP amenities, like exhibit space and meeting rooms, would be more than any arena that houses both an NBA and NHL team.

"I believe we need a new arena for all those reasons, that it's not only a very pragmatic decision but a very practical one. After that, when you talk about whether you could fit in an NBA or NHL team, the market could then decide whether it would want to subsidize a professional franchise and what value that has for Las Vegas."

It's a significant point to remember because landing any pro team not only means additional taxes to support it but also revenue streams generated by the franchise being directly returned to it. It's pretty simple -- an NBA or NHL team brings certain advantages in terms of national perception about your city and would unquestionably increase the value and use of the building, but you pretty much sell your soul and a few limbs to get it.

Then there is this small point: There is no guarantee a team will ever come, that hosting NBA All-Star week in February and an annual summer league and Olympic-type tournaments might forever be the closest Las Vegas gets to having major league sports.

It's also not realistic to think building such a proposed arena -- 800,000 square feet, around 20,000 seats -- will happen without public funds, and it would be even worse if having a team meant restricting the kind of economic impact long-standing events (the National Finals Rodeo, PBR World Finals, world class equestrian) could produce once moved and expanded from the Thomas & Mack Center into a more modern facility.

The idea of having an NBA or NHL team or any major league sport is always attractive in theory and might prove even more so if ever becoming reality. But as Olympic-level sports such as wrestling and basketball continue to choose Las Vegas for their premier events, the focus should center on building a new arena and not if a pro franchise will ever call it home.

The best part: One day, we might even find out just how much it would cost us.

Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.