Company dangles pro lure

A sports arena proponent hopes to win over Clark County commissioners today with his plan to draw professional basketball and hockey teams to the area.

Commissioners have resisted the idea of publicly funding a sports arena while the county struggles financially and prepares to lay off about 100 workers.

Three arena plans before the county would require subsidies. Commissioners will review a report from county staff about the proposals and their funding methods.

Chris Milam, president of Texas-based IDM, said that his project would require far less public money than most sports arenas in the country and that he has a strategy for luring top-tier pro sports teams.

While the new 20,000-seat arena is being built at the former Wet 'n Wild site, an NBA team could play at the Thomas & Mack Center, and the NHL team could play at an existing arena in a casino, Milam said.

"The NBA may approve the use of Thomas & Mack for a couple years," Milam said.

Also, he would let the University of Nevada, Las Vegas use the arena free of rent and keep all of the money from ticket sales, he said.

UNLV officials said they spoke with Milam, but nothing was decided.

"There are so many possibilities, but until possibilities become probabilities, it's all speculation," said Jim Livengood, UNLV's director of athletics.

Milam suggested that an NHL team could be housed at The Orleans' arena temporarily. A representative of Boyd Gaming, which owns the casino, said Milam and company executives had not discussed anything beyond the initial proposal.

Milam's $750 million stadium would be dubbed Silver State Arena and would be on 30 acres near Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. Archon Corp. owns the land. The company's principal owner is Paul Lowden, husband of former U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden.

Milam said he changed his financing plan recently. Redevelopment money would start flowing to the arena after it opens, and there would be no public bond to pay off, Milam said.

"We don't' want the county issuing bonds in our behalf because we don't want to take the risk," Milam said. "It's as good as it gets from the county's perspective."

His two rivals both propose developing arenas with a sales tax in the resort corridor and bonds.

Las Vegas Arena Foundation, a nonprofit group, wants to build a $488 million arena on property that Harrah's Entertainment owns behind Imperial Palace.

Developer Garry Goett is looking to build a $600 million arena on 260 acres he owns near Las Vegas Boulevard, south of the Strip.

Both had sought to have an advisory question placed on the November ballot to gauge voters' interest in a sales tax limited to the Strip area.

Both Goett and a Harrah's representative say they are discouraged by the commission's hard-line stance on no public financing and probably will not pursue advisory questions this year.

"We haven't given up on the idea of a sports arena," Harrah's spokeswoman Marybel Batjer said, adding that this isn't the right time to propose new taxes.

Goett indicated that his hopes are fading, too.

"We'll see what the commission does," Goett said.

Commissioner Steve Sisolak said he met with Milam on Monday and thinks the developer offers plenty of details but nothing that is certain.

"I'm hesitant. I have a lot of questions," Sisolak said.

Commissioner Tom Collins said he thinks a question should be placed on the ballot asking voters whether they want a sports arena.

"Is an arena something we'd like to have so we can continue to grow?" Collins said.

Three years ago, the NBA studied whether Las Vegas would support a basketball team and concluded that it would, said Robert Sarver, managing partner of the Phoenix Suns.

"Las Vegas is a market that has some good potential for an NBA team," said Sarver, who oversaw the committee that did the study.

Milam said the best prospects would be a handful of teams whose leases are close to expiring and whose fan bases are weak in their current cities.

He and the other applicants must contend with MGM Mirage opposing publicly financed arenas that would compete with the company's private ones. The casino company has privately built arenas in Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand.

Milam said the opposition frustrates him because MGM Mirage lacks an arena large enough for an NBA team.

"They don't plan to build one," Milam said. "They just don't want anyone else to. The whole community is getting pulled down."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.