New arena could entice NBA, NHL

The arena that Anschutz Entertainment Group and Harrah's Entertainment are set to build in Las Vegas has no anchor tenant.

But Tim Leiweke, the man overseeing the 20,000-seat, $500 million project, believes the NHL or NBA could have a team playing in the building when it opens in September 2010.

"We're talking to both the NBA and the NHL. There's no guarantees there'll be a team. But this is a growing market. One of the leagues, if not both, will eventually relocate a team or put an expansion team here," Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of AEG, said after Wednesday's official announcement that the arena would be built at the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, behind Bally's and the Paris hotels on land owned by Harrah's Entertainment.

Phoenix Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo came away from Wednesday's news conference at Bally's feeling positive about the project.

"Pretty impressive," Colangelo said. "A lack of a modern, new facility has been a major impediment for Las Vegas. This would eliminate that in one stroke."

The NBA has a seven-member committee of owners, chaired by Colangelo's partner, Robert Sarver, to study the viability of Las Vegas as an NBA market. Colangelo saw Wednesday's announcement as a significant step forward in the city's bid to join the NBA someday.

"The big thing is these guys have a proven track record when it comes to these kind of projects," Colangelo said. "Tim and AEG are well-known in the NBA. When they say they're going to do something, their word is their bond."

The NHL has no such committee studying Las Vegas. However, Bill Daly, the league's deputy commissioner, has been monitoring the city and its facilities. And with AEG owning the Los Angeles Kings, the NHL may be more in tune with the plans for the Las Vegas arena project than the NBA.

"Having a first-class, state-of-the-art arena facility is essential to any city's ability to host a major league sports franchise, so today's announcement positively impacts the prospects of Las Vegas attracting a major league franchise at some point," Daly said.

"That said, there is nothing new to report on the NHL's intentions regarding a franchise in Las Vegas -- or on league expansion, generally. That is a matter our board of governors would have to consider at an appropriate time."

Leiweke said AEG has an ongoing dialogue with a group interested in bringing hockey to Las Vegas. He wouldn't mention the group, but TV and motion picture executive Jerry Bruckheimer reportedly is heading a consortium interested in acquiring an expansion franchise and placing it in Las Vegas.

The timing of the arena's 2010 opening would fit almost perfectly with expansion for both leagues. Recent expansion franchises have had a two-year run-up before their first year of competition.

Should either league award an expansion franchise to Las Vegas next summer to coincide with the June 2008 groundbreaking on the arena, that would give the fledgling franchise two years to put together a staff and organization before commencing play in October 2010.

"2010 is an opportune time for locating a team in Vegas, either the NBA or the NHL," Leiweke said.

NBA commissioner David Stern said at the All-Star Game here in February that the league had no intention of expanding beyond 30 teams at that time. But if the owners committee recommends moving forward with regard to Las Vegas when the board of governors meets in New York on Oct. 25, an expansion committee could be formed.

The last time the NBA expanded was in 2003 when Black Entertainment Television CEO Robert Johnson paid $300 million to form the Charlotte Bobcats, who began play in 2004. There has been talk among people around the league that a Las Vegas expansion franchise fee could be as high as $500 million compared with $30 million if the league were to allow an existing franchise to relocate.

But Leiweke said the new arena doesn't need an anchor tenant or two to make it financially successful. He said the facility would do well with concerts, trade shows, awards shows and other sports. He added the new building could accommodate both the NBA and NHL.

"We currently have three teams at the Staples Center," Leiweke said, referring to the NHL's Kings and the NBA's Lakers and Clippers.