Minor-league baseball in a major-league city

To the editor:

I, like most Las Vegas 51s season-ticket holders and fans, was disappointed to hear that the Los Angeles Dodgers have given up on Las Vegas and have moved their Class AAA affiliate to Albuquerque. I understand why they left ("Team can't wait much longer for new stadium," Tuesday Ed Graney column), but Las Vegas was the logical AAA site to support because of the city's proximity to Southern California.

I have no idea who plays for the Toronto Blue Jays, Las Vegas' new major-league partner. I'm sure I will become acquainted with them and the players on the Las Vegas club, as I'm planning on renewing my season tickets for 2009.

However, if I'm 51s President and General Manager Don Logan, I'm in a heap of trouble. His dilemma is that he needs a new ballpark in order to attract a more recognized or more proximate major-league affiliation which, in turn, will hopefully bring more fans. The $40 million to $50 million required to build such a park is a stiff cost for a team that has gotten lukewarm support over the years, even when it was affiliated with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has his own agenda, and it doesn't appear that a new AAA ballpark is on it. But the problem is even bigger. Let's say that a new park is built and a West Coast major-league team becomes affiliated with Las Vegas. Will the fans required to support such an investment then show up? I doubt it, and here's why: Las Vegas is a major-league city, not a Triple-A town. We have world championship fights, Olympic basketball and NBA training and NASCAR. Our hotels and casinos are world-class, our restaurants and chefs are second to none, and even our nightclubs, swimming pools and spas are the best anywhere. So why, then, would our locals support a minor-league team?

Mr. Logan would have had some leverage if the Dodgers had stayed and helped get both public and private funds to finance a new ballpark, but now that task is even harder.

Mayor Goodman has tried valiantly to attract any major-league sport, but look where that has gotten him -- nowhere. The logical reason why no team in any sport has bitten is the lack of fan support. Can a city of 2 million residents, with so many choices as to where to be entertained and spend their money, support a major-league team? I don't think so. Just look at the second-largest market in the United States, Los Angeles. It hasn't had an NFL team in years.

Baseball is a great sport, and I would love to have a new park, but I'm afraid that if I were a businessman, I wouldn't finance a new park if it cost $40 million to $50 million.

Steve Duprey

LAS VEGAS